Reflection Post # 1 Ethnic Label, Latino Lives

Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: Indentity and the Politics of Representation in the United States by Suzanne Obloler has been my favorite reading so far. I know we have not discussed it yet in Lecture but I feel as though I have grasped the basics. The reading is divided into three sections of different movement in the United States. I think this is so interesting because when ever I think of the civil rights movement the only group I think about is African Americans, but indeed Latinos were included in this process. Puerto Ricans started the Young Lords Party that urged their community to reasert their collective national and individual pride in Puerto Ricans's history, culture and values. The Mexican American and chicano movements started many groups all based upon the same values of their cultural legacy. Unlike previous cultural support groups like LULAC these new group of the 60s emphasised pride in their culture versus the old days of assimilation. I believe many of these new groups are part of the many reason Latino-Americans are different from many Euro-Americans in that they hold extremely strong ties to their traditions and culture.