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Looking at it from an eagle’s perspective our nation’s calendar is an exercise in memory. Days, weekends, and even entire months are turned into occasions for all sorts of diverse eulogies, including those to religious figures (Christmas), love and family (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day), defining political events (Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Presidents’ Day, Holocaust [...]
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The swearing-in of Sonia Sotomayor, on August 8, 2009, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the first Puerto Rican to reach such a prestigious institution, ought to be a moment of jubilation.
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For centuries Hispanics have felt alienated in, from, and by the legal system. Too many of us are on the wrong side [...]
The arrest for disorderly conduct of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., at his Cambridge home, on July 16, 2009, has left a sour aftertaste. Responding to a 911 caller who described two men breaking into the Cambridge house, Sgt. James M. Crowley was greeted by Professor Gates, who quickly became annoyed that a police [...]
The nomination by President Barack Obama of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice for the seat left vacant by Judge David Souter is reason to celebrate. A full-fledged confirmation is in store in which not only the Senate but the American people need to find out her views on a number of decisive [...]
Turning the past into history is always fun. The effort isn’t a summation of what occurred at a particular time but what we think happened. In other words, the act of writing history is nothing more than interpretation. Making that interpretation appealing to readers is the dream of any historian. And even when the target [...]
I’m worried about Barack Obama’s Hispanic base—or lack of it.
To explain my worries, let me explain that I’m certainly not the only Latino pleasantly surprised by the support he received from Spanish-speaking people in California, Texas, New Mexico, and even Florida in the concluding stages of the campaign. His astute staff managed to overturn the [...]
Welcome to "En mi opinión," a blog hosted by Ilan Stavans, Advisory Editor of The Latino American Experience, a full-text reference tool exploring the history and culture of U.S. Latinos.
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