Latino identity in the civil rights movement

Abstract

The subject of the Latin American heritage and history in our public school system is indisputably
one of the most underestimated subjects. Latin American culture is in fact underrepresented
across most subjects such as social studies, reading, and writing or language arts. The Latino
population in public school systems has grown and it is expected to increase rapidly due to
floods of immigrants from Latin America in the last 40 years. According to the Pew Research
Center, the Latino population since 1970s has increased six fold. In 2012, the Latino population
in U.S was 53 million. While waves of Latino immigrants flooded the metropolitan areas such
as New York City, Los Angeles, and New Jersey in search for job opportunities, 1 the general
assumption was that these newcomers needed to become integrated or assimilated into the
mainstream culture. However, one must also take into consideration that the newly-arrived
immigrants already carry a Latino identity that cannot be ignored. That identity makes up the
rich diversity and cultural outlook of our schools and classrooms