Historical, political, and economic reasons explain the presence of Latinos in the United States. These factors must be understood to interpret the importance and impact of Latinos across all areas in our society. Today, the unquestionable presence of Latinos in the United States is well represented in the frequently heard phrase "the Latinization of the U.S." This phrase does not mean the United States is becoming a Latino country, it recognizes the influence of this population in the fabric of the nation. (Holvino, 2013)Latinas are one of the fastest growing groups of women in the U.S. labor force, but remain one of the least represented in the top positions at Fortune 500 companies according to the Network of Executive Women. This paper will make special recognition of Dr. Martha Bernal, an influential female figure in the field of psychology particularly and her overall outstanding contributions to psychology in the public interest.
The Positive Advancement of Latinas in America
Latinas possess valuable skills such as bilingualism and biculturalism making them extremely competitive candidates for filling top positions in the private and even public sector to serve the growing minority segment in the U.S. such as it is the Latino population. However, several societal factors often compromise the career objectives of high-achieving Latina women, for instance, the roles of family, community, discrimination, and strategies to counteract discrimination. Martha Bernal is an excellent representation of overcoming those factors in her effort to attain educational and professional success. More than an academic assignment, this subject has become of personal interest craving further research. This research pays special attention to...
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...ge education increases economic opportunity for this nation, and any other for that matter. Discrimination is a very painful reality for women and persons of any minority group, as a result Latina women must be empowered to proceed in the channel of education to obtain master’s degree and a doctorate to allow the closure of the society gaps of gender and race.
Works Cited
Vasquez, M. T. (2002). Complexities of the Latina experience: A tribute to Martha Bernal. American Psychologist, 57(11)
Vasquez, T. (2009, April 29). Latinas in Corporate America. Industry Leaders
Holvino, E. (2013, May). Latinos y Latinas in the Workplace: How Much Progress Have We Made? Retrieved from Chaos Management, Ltd.: http://www.chaosmanagement.com/about-us/evangelina-holvino
Awards for Distinguished Contributions to the Public Interest. (2001). American Psychologist, 56(11)
In Bettie’s analysis of Mexican-American and white girls, she finds that race, gender and class are extremely crucial in the outcomes and futures of these girls. The unmentioned and hidden effects of class, race, and gender provide the explanation for much of the inequality seen between the white middle-class girls and Mexican-American working-class girls. Much of this inequality is itself perpetuated within the school system, both by the faculty and students.
Harvest of the Empire is a valuable tool to gaining a better understanding of Latinos. This book helps people understand how varied Latino’s in the United States are. The author also helped give insight as to how Americans reacts to differences within itself. It does this by giving a description of the struggles that every Latino immigrant faced entering the United States. These points of emphasis of the book were explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
The Chicano Movement was a time that pressed forth for the equal opportunity of the Latino community and proved to America that Mexican Americans were a force to be reckoned with. In the documentary Latino Americans – Episode 5: Prejudice and Pride, it centralizes on the success of the oppressed community through significant leaders in that period. Union activists César Chavez, along with Dolores Huerta, playwright Luis Valdez, teacher Sal Castro, US Congressman Herman Ballido, and political activist José Ángel Gutiérrez all contributed to egalitarianism of Latinos across the nation. This documentary reflects on the importance of equal prospects within the workplace, the academic setting, and the social and political features in society.
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000.
Latina women are suppressed through Hispanic culture with the ideology that a woman’s domain is within the walls of her own home. However, there has been a greater turnover rates in high school graduates amongst Latinas they are still falling behind due to lack of resources and the restricted patterns of opportunity perpetuated through transformative assets.
Print. The. Fernandez, Lilia. "Introduction to U.S. Latino/Latina History. " History - 324 pages.
Oboler, Suzanne (1995). "So far from God, so close to the United States": The Roots of Hispanic Homogenization. In M. Romero, P. Hondagneu-Sotelo, & V. Ortiz (Eds.) Challenging Fronteras: Structuring the Latina and Latino Lives in the U.S. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. "The Myth of the Latina Woman." Bullock, Richard, Maureen Daly Goggin and Francine Weinburg. The Norton Field Guide to Writing. Ed. Marilyn Moller. 3rd. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2013. 806-812. Print.
Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland. 1998. De Colores Means all of us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century. U.S.: South End Press.
Montoya, Margret E. "Masks and Identify," and "Masks and Resistance," in The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Albeit the politics of immigration target cultures of the highest population at a given time, these laws and politics can often affect immigrants of other cultures in a different way virtually having an inversion positive result. The lives of the immigrant Latina women seeking opportunity and education in California compared to the immigrant Iranian women seeking liberation from traditional oppressive life of Iran proves an impeccable example of this. The politics on the immigration of Latina women have i...
In the story Jubilee by Kirstin Valdez Quade A young very bright Latin American woman, Andrea, struggles with feeling like she’s been accepted in today’s society despite all of her achievements. These feelings tend to peak and turn negative whenever she’s around the family of her father’s lifelong employer, the Lowells, and in particularly their daughter Parker. Although the Lowells, as a whole seem to love Andrea and her family, she finds that their success and good fortune directly correlates to her family’s second rate citizenship. This story reveals that obsession with being accepted as an equal can be an ever increasing stressor that can severely damage a child’s identity, social skills and ultimately lead to misplaced resentment and
Kanellos, Nicolás, Felix M- Padilla, and Claudio Esteva Fabregat, eds. Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1994. Print.
Judith Ortiz Cofer, a professor of english and creative writing, tackles gender roles as well as cultural stereotypes in “ The Myth of the Latin Woman” and challenges them by attempting to replace the stereotypes with the realities. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” Cofer discusses her life in America as a Puerto Rican woman. She also shares her stories of when she was stereotyped and how gender roles play a role in how Latinos are viewed. Stereotypes will follow you around because of your appearance and how the media portrays Latinas.
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria, an essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, discusses the racial stereotypes Cofer struggles with as a Latin woman who travels across America. Throughout her life, Cofer discusses her interactions with people who falsely misjudge her as a Latin woman. Additionally, Cofer mentions other Hispanic women she has met in her life, who also suffer with racial assumptions. Although several people would disagree with Cofer and claim that she is taking racial remarks too seriously, racial stereotyping is a significant issue that should not be overlooked in our society. People should not base someone’s worth by their outward appearance or their ethnic background.