View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.
"Bender's got a noble goal: to show that the stereotypes
Americans heap on Latino immigrants don't just make for rude
conversation, they directly shape policy decisions. The book
compellingly articulates just how deeply ingrained the images of
lazy, thieving, drunkard Latinos and sexually voracious, fertile
Latinas are in American culture."
--"City Limits"
"Is any society able to exist free of stereotypes? Steven Bender
tackles the question head on as he dissects the cornucopia of
Latino types, prototypes, and archetypes that populate our
mendacious imagination. His answer takes us into the realms of
politics, jurisprudence, and cartoons. It involves an attack on
poverty, a strive for an equal, more honest educational system, and
the 'reinvention' of the future tense in American English. Let
Bender challenge your ignorance!"
--Ilan Stavans, author of The Hispanic Condition and On Borrowed
Words
" is a typically insightful work by one of the most creative
critical writers of our time."
--Berta Esperanza HernAndez-Truyol, University of Florida College
of Law
"A hopeful and empowering challenge to those who work to
transform American life."
'Gerald Torres, University of Texas School of Law
Although the origin of the term "greaser" is debated, its
derogatory meaning never has been. From silent movies like "The
Greaser's Revenge" (1914) and "The Girl and the Greaser" (1913)
with villainous title characters, to John Steinbeck's portrayals of
Latinos as lazy, drunken, and shiftless in his 1935 novel "Tortilla
Flat," to the image of violent, criminal, drug-using gang members
of East LA, negative stereotypes ofLatinos/as have been plentiful
in American popular culture far before Latinos/as became the most
populous minority group in the U.S.
In Greasers and Gringos, Steven W. Bender examines and surveys
these stereotypes and their evolution, paying close attention to
the role of mass media in their perpetuation. Focusing on the
intersection between stereotypes and the law, Bender reveals how
these negative images have contributed significantly to the often
unfair treatment of Latino/as under American law by the American
legal system. He looks at the way demeaning constructions of
Latinos/as influence their legal treatment by police, prosecutors,
juries, teachers, voters, and vigilantes. He also shows how, by
internalizing negative social images, Latinos/as and other
subordinated groups view themselves and each other as inferior.
Although fighting against cultural stereotypes can be a daunting
task, Bender reminds us that, while hard to break, they do not have
to be permanent. Greasers and Gringos begins the charge of
debunking existing stereotypes and implores all Americans to
re-imagine Latinos/as as legal and social equals.
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