Content area
Full Text
Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America (2012), is a documentary film about Latino immigration to America that emphasizes how US policies affect Latin American migrations to the United States. It is based on the popular history and widely used textbook Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos (2nd Edition, 2011) by Juan González. For the first time, Latino immigration and settlement is placed within the transnational historical framework of American Imperialism in Latin America and the Caribbean in a popular, introductory medium.
The general public will appreciate Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America , and will benefit from a balanced perspective of the United States' role in Latin America, and of Latino immigration. The film is excellent for high school and college classes that deal with Latinos, race, ethnicity, civics, sociology, history, political science and diplomatic studies. Non-profits can use it to generate discussions about a variety of topics. Although it sacrifices detail for breadth, it creates opportunities for discussion and further research.
Unlike most films of its kind, Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America highlights the century-long presence of the United States in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Lawyer and poet Martín Espada describes Puerto Rico as a prize of the Spanish-American War of 1898, like Cuba and the Philippines. Unlike those nations, however, Puerto Rico remains a colony of the United States. Dominican-American author Junot Díaz notes that "I am here because the American Republic invaded my country; an illegal invasion ...," which also summarizes the interventions in Cuba, Nicaragua,...