Are Hispanics “making it”—achieving the American dream following the pattern of other ethnic groups? This controversial book shatters the myth that 20 million His panics—fast becoming the nation's largest minority—are a permanent underclass. Chavez considers the radical implications for bilingual education, immigration policy, and affirmative action.

The compelling history of how Latino immigrants revitalized the nation's cities after decades of disinvestment and white flight Thirty years ago, most people were ready to give up on American cities. We are commonly told that it was a "creative class" of young professionals who revived a moribund urban America in the 1990s and 2000s. But this stunning reversal owes much more to another, far less visible group: Latino and Latina newcomers. Award-winning historian A. K. Sandoval-Strausz reveals this history by focusing on two barrios: Chicago's Little Village and Dallas's Oak Cliff. These neighborhoods lost residents and jobs for decades before Latin American immigration turned them around beginning in the 1970s. As Sandoval-Strausz shows, Latinos made cities dynamic, stable, and safe by purchasing homes, opening businesses, and reviving street life. Barrio America uses vivid oral histories and detailed statistics to show how the great Latino migrations transformed America for the better.

Are Hispanics “making it”—achieving the American dream following the pattern of other ethnic groups? This controversial book shatters the myth that 20 million His panics—fast becoming the nation's largest minority—are a permanent underclass. Chavez considers the radical implications for bilingual education, immigration policy, and affirmative action.

Judith Ortiz Cofer's Pura Belpre award-winning collection of short stories about life in the barrio! Rita is exiled to Puerto Rico for a summer with her grandparents after her parents catch her with a boy. Luis sits atop a six-foot mountain of hubcaps in his father's junkyard, working off a sentence for breaking and entering. Sandra tries to reconcile her looks to the conventional Latino notion of beauty. And Arturo, different from his macho classmates, fantasizes about escaping his community. They are the teenagers of the barrio -- and this is their world.

"This book offers the reader the best example of how a great idea can, eventually, create a revolution and change a whole community. I met Frank Cruz years ago on the streets of Los Angeles. He witnessed the Latino wave from its beginnings. Frank is a pioneer, a creator, and a fantastic journalist. I doubt he ever expected to be writing his own story. But, if you want to understand us, read this book." Jorge Ramos, Journalist and Author "Frank Cruz has cracked open that unmarked box tucked away in America's attic. So afraid to reveal its contents, we forget the jewels it hides. Through his story, Frank lets us peek into our history. A diverse, complicated people with a textured history. Grit, faith and ingenuity -- we shouldn't hide that. Bravo, Frank. " Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California Latino Public Broadcasting is dear to my heart and its legitimization of our stories exists because of the guidance and expertise of my compadre Frank Cruz. His wisdom and leadership developed as he broke through barriers in multiple industries and ultimately rose to the top in each of his careers, as he has recounted in this memoir. Through his own story, Frank continues to teach, inspire, and give voice to the Latino experience. Edward James Olmos, Actor, Director, Producer, and Activist "Frank Cruz has lived a life of accomplishment and contributions. He paved an untrodden path of Latino journalistic professionalism and was courageously and determinedly true to his vision. In so doing, he touched many lives and set a stellar example." Henry Cisneros, former HUD Secretary and San Antonio Mayor "This important story is very well told and full of good anecdotes, reflections and advice. Frank Cruz's graduate work in history, experience in journalism, and ability to make a point by telling a compelling story, are all put to good use in telling his own unique story which will inform and inspire." Felix Gutierrez, Journalism Professor Emeritus, USC

Freighted with meaning, “el barrio” is both place and metaphor for Latino populations in the United States. Though it has symbolized both marginalization and robust and empowered communities, the construct of el barrio has often reproduced static understandings of Latino life; they fail to account for recent demographic shifts in urban centers such as New York, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles, and in areas outside of these historic communities. Beyond El Barrio features new scholarship that critically interrogates how Latinos are portrayed in media, public policy and popular culture, as well as the material conditions in which different Latina/o groups build meaningful communities both within and across national affiliations. Drawing from history, media studies, cultural studies, and anthropology, the contributors illustrate how despite the hypervisibility of Latinos and Latin American immigrants in recent political debates and popular culture, the daily lives of America’s new “majority minority” remain largely invisible and mischaracterized. Taken together, these essays provide analyses that not only defy stubborn stereotypes, but also present novel narratives of Latina/o communities that do not fit within recognizable categories. In this way, this book helps us to move “beyond el barrio”: beyond stereotype and stigmatizing tropes, as well as nostalgic and uncritical portraits of complex and heterogeneous range of Latina/o lives.