A. K. Sandoval-Strausz is director of the Latina/o studies program and associate professor of history at Penn State University. He is the author of Hotel: An American History and coeditor of Making Cities Global. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania.
"Barrio America is a path-breaking book. A.K. Sandoval-Strausz
meticulously chronicles the dynamic social and economic
contributions Latin American immigrants have made in transforming
cities into vibrant spaces while generating new cultural forms and
businesses of every sort. Challenging previous histories of the
urban crisis, Barrio America excites the imagination and forces all
of us to rethink the rampant xenophobia of our day." --Ramón A.
Gutiérrez, Preston & Sterling Morton distinguished service
professor of American history, University of Chicago
"Barrio America is the strongest, most sophisticated rebuttal to
the idea that immigration from Latin America has destroyed our
country. In prose as eloquent as it is prescient, A.K.
Sandoval-Strausz upends the notion that America's cities were in
decay from the 1960s to the current moment of revitalization. He
shows how Latinx initiated this recovery and have sustained it in
the face of xenophobia, public divestment, and neglect. Finally,
someone has honored the sacrifices of the most-maligned immigrant
community of our time."--Matt García, author of From the Jaws of
Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm
Worker Movement
"Barrio America offers a welcome narrative for our demoralizing
political moment.... Sandoval-Strausz does a masterful job here of
weaving together interviews with current and former residents of
the barrios, along with language from newspapers and government
reports from the past 60 years, to piece together how racial logic
operates."--Slate
"Barrio America shows that immigration is rejuvenation. In this
compelling, persuasive history, Sandoval-Strausz shows how Latino
and Latina immigrants acted as a grassroots-level force of urban
revitalization. With a message urgent for our times, it reminds us
that immigrants have for centuries infused our cities with life and
promise, and that Hispanics are a vital part of this long American
tradition."--Becky Nicolaides, research affiliate, UCLA Center for
the Study of Women and Huntington-USC Institute on California and
the West
"[A] judicious account of the role that Latino immigrants have
played in revitalizing American cities over the second half of the
20th century.... By documenting the opportunities provided to
Latino immigrants as a secondary effect of white discrimination
against blacks, Sandoval-Strausz presents a helpful guide to
understanding the mechanisms of systemic racism, and he reminds
readers that the current immigration debate is grounded in decades
of local and national policy."--Publishers Weekly
"[A] thoughtful, provocative, and well-written study of why
Hispanics have been and continue to be vital to the health of
American cities. Likely to become a staple in Latinx and urban
studies."--Library Journal
"A fascinating book on how Latino immigrants have revitalized dying
American cities in recent decades, Barrio America is as
illuminative as it is necessary, upending longstanding
misconceptions about urban renewal and migration. A.K.
Sandoval-Strausz enriches his historical analyses with the
compelling voices of new immigrants. Highly recommended."--Cristina
García, author of Dreaming in Cuban
"A.K. Sandoval-Strausz's Barrio America tells the untold story of a
powerful force in revitalizing America's cities: Latin American
immigrants. Instead of erecting walls to limit immigration, America
should open its arms to those whose talent, hard work and ambition
contribute so very much to our economy and our great
cities."--Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class
and The New Urban Crisis
"As Barrio America points out, Latin American neighborhoods helped
establish these common bonds of identity and memory, but in the era
of New Urbanism and the creative class, the appeal of these kinds
of communities usher in economic forces that can disrupt or destroy
that very community building. This has been a source of tension as
Bishop Arts continues to clone, driving up property values and
forcing many original residents out. This new book reminds us that
those economic forces do more than displace; they disrupt the
fundamental social fabric of the neighborhood and destroys the very
thing that made it a neighborhood in the first place."--D
Magazine
"By illuminating national trends in urban policy and bringing Latin
American migrants to life through their personal oral histories,
A.K. Sandoval-Strausz underscores why you can't understand American
cities without studying Latinos. In Barrio America, he expertly
explains how Latinos renewed our urban spaces through
homeownership, contributed to cities' cultural vibrancy, and how,
through their actions and presence, they opened the doors for our
current urban reality."--Rosina Lozano, author of An American
Language: The History of Spanish in the United States
"This book is a gripping, necessary, and eye-opening addition to
the voices calling for equality in America....Barrio America is
documentation of the resilience, power, and positive influence of
Hispanic immigrants and migrants with a focus on the neighborhoods'
individuals. It's a fact-based and more modest version of a
from-rags-to-riches story that celebrates community and the
underappreciated people who persevere and improve life in a place
that may not always be particularly welcoming."--Porchlight
"This essential, timely book recounts the history of urban America,
often told in white and Black, through the wide lens of Latino
immigration... Deeply researched, full of insights, and with a
powerful message, powerfully told, the story of American cities
remains a story of migration."--Booklist
"Today, as the country grapples with a resurgence of anti-immigrant
hatred, this fascinating history couldn't be more timely...Barrio
America weaves together several strands of urban studies to tell a
story that transcends what might seem like irrevocable barriers of
race and class."--Texas Observer
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