Multiple origins, uncertain destinies : Hispanics and the American future /

At the request of the National Research Council of the National Academies, Tienda and Mitchell assembled a panel to identify key issues regarding Hispanics in the US. They detail the identified topics in this two-year analysis based on research from the major governmental and nonprofit research agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, US Census Bureau, and Pew Hispanic Center. Topics include demographics, identity, race, language, integration, family, work, health, education, and the resulting policy implications. One of the book's goals is to predict the potential cost of the current underinvestment in Hispanic education and marginalization of a large and growing undocumented population. Since 1950, the Hispanic population has increased 900 percent, following the same patterns of assimilation and integration as that of previous immigrant and ethnic groups, although becoming increasingly racially identified in the process, unlike those who came from southern and eastern Europe. This pattern of cultural adaptation without full equality of opportunities has created devastating gaps in education, income, and health that ripple throughout the entire US economy. While addressing familiar issues, the insightful analysis and language make this a compact must read. ^BSumming Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. S. M. Green California State University--Chico