Translation Nation
I’ve been reading some interesting books lately. One that has both enlightened me and frustrated me is
Hector Tobar is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist for his coverage of the LA riots in the early ’90’s. Tobar is a child of Guatemalan immigrants who currently lives in Mexico.
His book is like a travel guide across the U.S. He explores different Spanish-Speaking communities, exploring the new americanismo unfolding across the U.S., changing the cultural map and dynamics of the U.S. The shift in American identity is profound. He divides the country into English-speakers and Spanish-speakers, polarizing them it seems to me. I loved the individual stories, history and topography that he covers in the book. However, some of his comparisons are a bit over the top - comparing the U.S. border to the Berlin Wall and the journey of Spanish-Speakers to Americaness as the “underground railroad” - that was the biggest stretch to me, comparing slavery to modern day immigration woes.
Nevertheless, I learned much from him and am interested to see where we go from here. It’s timely with all the recent coverage of protests regarding undocumented workers in the U.S. The way LA has changed over the years because of immigration and economic trends is also fascinating. The problem, however, is there’s a bottle neck economy now, too many low income jobs usually filled by uneducated poor immigrants, a tiny middle, and a larger top. It’s getting harder and harder for people to get out of the bottom. The infastructure of cities like LA is having a difficult time with such an economy, looking at overcrowded schools and health facilities especially.
Tobar has another book, a novel 
that explores the psychological scarring of refugees, homelessness in LA and the tensions leading up the the LA riots.
The Los Angeles Times also had a great series on remittences with a number of countries. It focused on Mexico, Haiti, Kenya and the Phillipeans. These countries rely heavily on their native workers going overseas to find work in other countries and then sending the money back home. It’s billions of dollars. Fascinating stuff.
Aiden just said, “Hold me mom and look into my eyes forever.”