Figures just released from the 2000 U.S. Census reveal what demographers have predicted for the past decade: Latinos are surpassing African Americans as the country’s largest minority group. Yet because of differences in national origin, physical appearance, historical memory, class, and religion, no single group identity exists for this rapidly growing population. In part because of this diversity, in the 2000 Census, respondents, for the first time, could select more than one racial category. Clara Rodríguez’s newest work on Latinos in the U.S. examines difficulties in categorizing this group as part of a broader discussion of ethnicity and race in the United States. She chose as her lens the U.S. Census Bureau because census categories and definitions reveal a society’s “dominant ideals and beliefs” (p. xiv) and such definitions shape how peoples and individuals see themselves and others. Rodríguez’s aim is to demonstrate through the Latino experience that race is...

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