Magical Urbanism Summary

Superior Essays
Although the US has had a greater number of Latinos in metropolitan cities, it has also tried to limit it growth through deportation and stifling its influence over US society. Mike Davis in Magical Urbanism tries to present the contemporary experiences of Mexican and other Latino groups in the US, whether it is the higher demography, the racism faced by many, or the chances for the Latino group to succeed in the US. The experience of Latinos in the US has followed the same experience as those of Latin Americas relation with the US since many face the racial bias against them such as the scandal from Steven Woods death, the exploitation of immigrants seen through the maquiladoras and the emphasize of US customs being superior to that of Hispanic …show more content…
The exploitation of Mexican labor has been a rather constant in US, where the most prominent example was the Bracero program but an example of Latinos in the border presents the harsh reality that some Latinos face. Although the border seems to separate the countries, the reality is that it is as much a zone of the US whether in a place like El Paso or Ciudad Juarez, and one major site of exploitation are the Maquiladoras. Factories on the Mexican side that mainly has women, has faced the environmental issues of industrialization. NAFTA allowed international companies exploits the labor of Maquiladoras, considering that Ciudad Juarez barely gets 1.5 million in taxes from the various Fortune 500 maquiladoras. The major environmental decay in these sites was done through toxic waste going down the river where it can contain every known viral and bacterial microorganism that can kill a person in the western world. One of the most tragic result of the exploitation comes from the mass deaths because many maquiladoras have women as workers, and as they ae dehumanized to be only cheap labor, there has been mass disappearances and deaths since they are not valued as much if they were of a different race. In all, NAFTA …show more content…
In the statistics of Latinos in school, the high school dropout rates are abysmal at level in which 30 percent in 1997. In many effects, the decrease of returns for Latinos comes from Anglo American have invested less in schools with Latino plurality. A more significant loss for Mexican and other Latino groups is the bilingual programs in K-12. With programs like English Only, it repeats the view of Americans since the imperialism age of viewing their culture as superior to that of Latin America. Another major example was that of Ford in Fordlandia in which he believed that his system of production and ideology could be implanted in Brazil without any modification. As a counterpoint, Davis emphasizes the way that the English only programs are not successful, as the National Academy of Science has rejected the one size fits all. The major concern of Davis in Disabling Spanish is the idea that Latino children would prosper in Bilingual programs if they have the resources such as well-trained teacher, dedication of parent and money for supplies, but that is hard in communities which mainly have working class poor Latinos. As many Latinos have faced losses in the education system, they can have some gains whether in education of in a political union with African

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Some charter schools do very well, and on average they do better at educating poor students from low income families. The level of self governing given to charter schools has made it possible for charter school educators to work effectively in educating English language learners and Latinos. In public school everything is usually taught in English but the educator in the charter school uses native language instruction programs to assist them in learning. Latinos are growing and will continually grow in this nation’s school aged population. By the year of 2050, they are expected to grow by 166 percent.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mexican-American life in Los Angeles as described by Luis Rodriguez presented a harsh reality that frequently found conflict and contradiction in its narrative. When a teacher would tell young Rodriguez that he was full of intellectual potential, a sheriff would soon remind him that he was simply a vehicle for absent-minded violence. Each stereotype and identity suggested to him wound up as a shoe that did not fit. Rodriguez’ journey through gang culture, Mexican-American life, and a challenging American reality was inherently driven by the conflicting aspects of selfhood. Transitions between neighborhoods, gangs, schools, and individuals in his life created a constantly moving space in which Rodriguez struggled to find himself amidst a variety of stereotypes and expectations.…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While Rodriguez speaks from his personal experience about bilingual education, his experience can not be extrapolated to all bilingual people. Espada’s arguments focus more on fairness and justice for bilingual people as a…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Elena Gutierrez discusses the impact that negative stereotyping has on innocent immigrants that are targeted by a nativist approach to policy making. Furthermore, Charles Berg discuses the concept of negative media stereotyping of Latinos, which as seen through the Lemon Grove case, causes wrongful perceptions of Latinos that results in exclusion from society. As seen in the Lemon Grove case, the Mexican children were seen as “incompetent” unfit for an all white school, furthermore, the Mexican children were seen as a burden and inferior to the white children. The Lemon Grove Incident serves as a constant reminder that Latinos oppression continues to be a problem in contemporary politics, but as scholarly work shows, Latinos continue to fight against these accusations and reach the equality they…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Ray Suarez’s book entitled Latino Americans he shares the rich history of Latinos who helped to shape the United States. Latino Americans share the personal success and struggles of what it means to be an immigrant and the obstacles they have faced. The book offers a rich history of immigration and certainly reflects present day events of the United States. It tells the story of how people from different regions and continents across the globe came to be one.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Always Running: Deviance Luis J. Rodriguez speaks to his readers through elegant, but brutally honest, rhetoric. From word, to sentence, to passage, to chapter his story unveils the truth of struggles among minorities. He reveals the trials of tribulations of a Hispanic’s life in LA as they really were, and in some cases still are. Rodriguez’s real life experiences shows how deviance was only natural because of the type of environment he was in. The special thing about La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. is not only does it talk about his deviant acts and those of the people around him, but why those deviant acts were performed.…

    • 1765 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Rodriguez grew up in a Spanish speaking family thriving and eager to expand his education and vocabulary in the “loud, booming with confidence” English language. According to Rodriguez, bilingual educationists have strong disbelief in the idea that schools should be assimilated with bilingual education because the students lack “a degree of ‘individuality’” This sense of individuality is absent in public society because often your heritage sets you apart from most others around you.…

    • 73 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This caused a feeling among students that their culture was not welcomed or allowed in American schools. Because discrimination in schools was so predominant, many Mexican American students did not finish school. According to Daniels, “in 1987 only 45 percent of Mexican Americans twenty-five years of age and older had a high school diploma” (Daniels, 318). When students are in schools that are severely underfunded and punished for speaking their language in their free time, it can be expected that many are not going to continue their education.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    is so far behind in advancements academically and socially. Every other country encourages and supports bilingual education. In each claim and argument Rodriguez presents there are harmful consequences that the reader takes away from them. He believes that one’s native language and the public language are unable to coincide, not based on research or statistics, merely based on his own personal experience with not being able to handle the two. The takeaway from this belief is that there should only be one language in America, the public language.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Magic City was written with the purpose of explaining a black boy’s coming of age and trying to understand the world around him, while growing up in 1950s Louisiana. In each poem Yusef Komunakaa shows the reader snapshots of the narrator’s life and the steps of losing innocence while becoming an adult. He does an excellent job of creating a childlike honesty through out the book. The author creates such brilliant poems that unite to make a holistic view of a young boys’ life. Komunyakaa uses many types of writing styles to help show the narrators life for example metaphors, irony, motifs, and imagery.…

    • 2083 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Rodriguez made sacrifices by giving up his culture and language in order to proceed farther in society and fully assimilate to the English language as well as American culture. Rodriguez claims that it is necessary to give up your culture in order to fully Americanize yourself because these sacrifices are required in order to step up and develop more in the society he is in. Quan gave up her language, but as a result she was further alienated as a result. Supporters of bilingual education believe that bilingual schooling will help students acquire skills required for public success while also giving an identity. Rodriguez’s viewpoint…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rodriguez properly targets his audience through the use of constant examples of people not being able to understand their heritage blending with their American culture. Within the essay Rodriguez explains that a boy named Michael was taught speak up and to stand straight. When that child went home and talked with his Chinese father, he was ridiculed because of his American ways. The targeted audience is towards those who do not understand how life in America is shaped by culture, as well as those who want a deeper explanation about American culture. The essay is written from the point of view of a Mexican American author, Richard Rodriguez.…

    • 1074 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hispanic Stereotyping Many Hispanics come to America seeking a good life, amazing education, and the “American dream”. Many of these Hispanics are discriminated or assumed they are illegal immigrants that need to be deported. Many Latinos are seen as gang bangers, lazy, criminals, and Drug addicts. But they are so much more than that, and without them the U.S wouldn’t be as successful as it is today. Many people today discriminate Hispanics because of a lot of efforts to remove illegal immigrants.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The inability to be able to speak English efficiently can be a detrimental setback to their academic success. Not to mention, Latino students may face discrimination in school by peers and even by unfair treatment by the school and staff, leading them to become even more disengaged with school academics and activities. Inarguably there are various common reasons why our Latino students are failing in school, however, each individual student has unique variables that affects their success in…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the 1990’s alone Mexican manufacturing wages fell 21%. Although not all of Mexico's problems are caused by NAFTA, many have a direct link to it. As an example, under NAFTA, about five hundred thousand jobless Mexicans have migrated into the U.S. per year forced to leave their jobs because of competition or poor wages. As a result of the problems NAFTA has caused, 25 percent of the population (about 32 million) lives in poverty, and on top of that one fifth of all Mexican…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays