A smart and empathetic analysis that seeks to understand, but not to condone.
A piercing look at the phenomenon of Latino right-wing extremism—not new, but ever more pronounced.
It defies logic, suggests Vice News/MSNBC correspondent Ramos, that Latinos should be found among the ranks of the Proud Boys and other far-right groups, but there they are. In the wake of the El Paso Walmart mass shooting of 2019, she writes, “it was so clear in my mind that Latinos’ common enemy was the anti-immigrant, white nationalist voice.” And yet, there was the likes of Enrique Tarrio, who, though of at least 40 percent African origin, “had turned into one of the far right’s most ardent spokespersons.” Ramos identifies three cultural strains that contribute to Latinos’ prominence in the ranks of the white supremacist/right-wing/nationalist movement. The first strain is tribalism, the need to identify with a group and, in doing so, sometimes to stand in opposition to another group, presumably inferior to one’s own; while not exactly a case of Stockholm syndrome, somehow the white nationalists’ fear of non-whites “replacing” them has become part of the political baggage of a sizable number of Latinos, most but by far not all young men. The quest to become “real Americans,” Ramos hazards, “could be increasingly driving some Latinos toward extreme nativism, for there is nothing more nationalistic than making immigrants, a sworn enemy of many white Americans, your enemy as well.” Another aspect is traditionalism, which reinforces leanings toward stances such as Christian nationalism and anti-LGBTQ+ activism; still another is the trauma of racism and its poisonous, ego-destroying effects. While decrying the result, Ramos suggests that only when Latinos embrace “both the beauty and the darkness of our roots” will the population, by then the demographic majority—sometime around the year 2045, she adds hopefully—become self-confident, independent, and even “liberated.”
A smart and empathetic analysis that seeks to understand, but not to condone.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780593701362
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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