Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Hispanic Americans. Edited by Paul McCaffrey. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 2007. 1 vol. 199 p. $50.00. ISBN 978-0-8242-1067-0.

Students wishing to research Hispanic Americans will find the ethnic and racial distinction is much broader than most others. As far as race is concerned, the rates of intermarriage between indigenous peoples, white settlers, and African American immigrants produced a broad spectrum, and this designation includes white, black and brown skins. This group includes Spanish and English speakers and other dialects, and members can be a Cuban or Dominican exile or a Mexican American. They may live anywhere in the U.S., with Cubans living in Florida, Dominicans on the east coast and Mexican Americans most often in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. However, Hispanic Americans are moving elsewhere, as evidenced by the recent controversy in northeast Pennsylvania where the mayor was concerned about the presence of illegal aliens in his small town. The population of this group is growing rapidly, and it is predicted to continue at a rate that is six times as fast as the rest of the population. Articles here are from recognized newspapers and periodicals, and they are grouped under "The Hispanic-American Experience: Demographics and Beyond," "Hispanic Americans and the Immigration Debate," "The Growing Political Clout of the Hispanic Americans," "Cultural and Economic Influence" and "Education and the Bilingual Debate." Inset boxes such as "Six Myths about Bilingual Education," accompany Stephen Krashen's article. The bibliography provides lists of books and Web sites and annotations to additional periodical articles. As with others in this series, this title is highly recommended.