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A review by boredacademic
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan González
4.0
I added Harvest of Empire to my physical book shelf awhile back. Several friends recommended this to me over the years, and I scored a lightly used copy from a local used bookstore soon after their recommendation. I knew the importance of this work in history courses about Latin America, but I could not find inspiration to read this until immigration and immigration reform became the issue it is currently. Only then was I able to find the motivation to delve into the book. (What can I say, I’m honest.) I regret that it took me this long to do so.
Harvest of Empire covers the history of Latino countries as they relate to the United States: Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, Honduras, and El Salvador. What I anticipated for this book, and part of the reason I failed to find reading motivation earlier, was a more simple documentation of which groups came when, why, and what they brought to the country. I was expecting more of a cultural history of these countries, encouraging us to recognize and embrace the influence of Latinos on our food, music, movies, etc. What I was not expecting was such a deep and thorough explanation of the political history that brought these immigrants to the United States.
Gonzalez’s thesis is that the current (and by current, he is talking pre-9/11, but just as current today) immigration crisis we face in the United States, in terms of Latin American immigrants, is the fault of the United States trade and foreign policies; policies that effectively destroyed the economies of multiple countries in Central and South America and forced the people to immigrate to seek work and a liveable wage. Gonzalez traces the history of the United States’ actions in each of the 7 Central and Latin American countries showing exactly how American greed–for more land, for cheaper labor, for their own increased bottom line–led to the political actions that put the natives of each country in such dire straits that they fled to the United States. Gonzalez does not overlook United States policies that encouraged migration from certain countries and later policy that attempted to cease immigration from some countries.
I grew up in the United States, so I grew up with the whitewashed version of history we are taught in school (or were taught in the late 1990s, though I doubt it’s changed much since). There was so much I did not know before reading Harvest of Empire, and so much I wish I knew well before now. Gonzalez is detailed in his sources as well, so a reader can trace any statement he makes to support this thesis.
Harvest of Empire covers the history of Latino countries as they relate to the United States: Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, Honduras, and El Salvador. What I anticipated for this book, and part of the reason I failed to find reading motivation earlier, was a more simple documentation of which groups came when, why, and what they brought to the country. I was expecting more of a cultural history of these countries, encouraging us to recognize and embrace the influence of Latinos on our food, music, movies, etc. What I was not expecting was such a deep and thorough explanation of the political history that brought these immigrants to the United States.
Gonzalez’s thesis is that the current (and by current, he is talking pre-9/11, but just as current today) immigration crisis we face in the United States, in terms of Latin American immigrants, is the fault of the United States trade and foreign policies; policies that effectively destroyed the economies of multiple countries in Central and South America and forced the people to immigrate to seek work and a liveable wage. Gonzalez traces the history of the United States’ actions in each of the 7 Central and Latin American countries showing exactly how American greed–for more land, for cheaper labor, for their own increased bottom line–led to the political actions that put the natives of each country in such dire straits that they fled to the United States. Gonzalez does not overlook United States policies that encouraged migration from certain countries and later policy that attempted to cease immigration from some countries.
I grew up in the United States, so I grew up with the whitewashed version of history we are taught in school (or were taught in the late 1990s, though I doubt it’s changed much since). There was so much I did not know before reading Harvest of Empire, and so much I wish I knew well before now. Gonzalez is detailed in his sources as well, so a reader can trace any statement he makes to support this thesis.