The Neighbors Next Door...

With the threatened winter weather conditions it was a good weekend to stay in, watch football games and rented movies, and catch up on some reading. The following excerpt is from the January selection of the Urban Engagement Book Club, The Latino Wave by Jorge Ramos.

The majority of Hispanics in the United States don't wear sombreros, have beards, or sing like famous Mexican crooners Pedro Infante or Luis Miguel. We don't joke around like comedians Cantinflas or Alvarez Guedes, we don't dance when we walk, we don't cook pork and lamb on our patios, or have a carpentry or paint shop at home. We don't wear guayaberas to the opera, we're not all undocumented immigrants, and we don't all quit school before finishing the twelfth grade.

You won't usually find workshops set up on our patios, or exotic flora and fauna in our bathrooms, and it's even less likely that you'll find us digging pits in our backyards to cook meat in. We are just as likely to be astronauts or investors as farmers or restauranteurs. We keep our money in banks, not under our matresses. We invest in securities and have 401K plans so we can retire in our sixties....We support our troops, wherever they may be. We may have doubts about the true reasons for starting a war, but once committed, we respect the bravery of the soldier in the battlefield more than the thought given to the decision that got him there.