Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Though the concept of "Latino" is something that in today's society is assumed to be a given category, it is necessary to examine how and why people from distinct ethnic groups embraced a panethnic Latino identity.This dissertation challenges the conventional knowledge on panethnic identity formation.Previous scholarship situates Latino identity as political in nature and a result of 1960s and 1970s activism.My research on Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Grand Rapids, Michigan from the 1920s to the 1970s, shows that panethnicity is not only rooted in Spanish-speaking people's relationship with and to the state, but rather also emerges from individuals' desire for human connection.Their familiarity with religion, cultural practices, and shared language helped Mexicans and Puerto Ricans ward off loneliness in their new surrounding.Also, panethnic community and Latino identity formation emerged in Grand Rapids in the 1950s, well before other works suggest.Though there was occasionally tension between some Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, many established affective and kinship bonds through interactions in the Catholic Church, on baseball fields, at dances, and even more when they intermarried.Their decades of social and cultural interaction and their shared experiences with discrimination, led this community in the late 1960s to create the Latin American Council and participate in the federal Model Cities program.This moment of unity was also iii marked by tension rooted in the complexity of Latino identity that rested on the varying intersections of ethnicity, class, and generation.While some community activists quarreled, others worked together within the Latin American Council to provide social services and cultural programming, greatly improving the quality of life in Grand Rapids.Other activists worked closely with African Americans to change the City of Grand Rapids' hiring requirements and to pursue community control over policing of Black and brown communities.As Latinos continue to grow in number and diversity, this dissertation serves as a model to understand how Latinos developed interethnic solidarities and intimate social relations that often served as the precursor to working towards collective goals.iv Dedication For Porfirio and Juanita Murillo, Pío and Luisa Fernández, and sus compadres, comadres, compais, y comais who took a chance on Grand Rapids in hopes of finding better lives for themselves and for their families.v Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without various sources of support.I am especially thankful to Grand Valley State University for maintaining their McNair Scholars Program in the face of constant threats to cut the program.McNair is a federally funded program to increase the number doctorate degrees awarded to students from underrepresented segments of society.This program changed my life.I am extremely grateful to Dolli Lutes and David Stark who instilled in me the confidence I needed to apply, attend, and finish graduate school.TRiO works.
Author: Delia Montero Fernández
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2279514992