The Great Progression: How Hispanics Will Lead America to a New Era of Prosperity

by Geraldo Rivera

Book Overview

In this prophetic and profoundly hopeful book, Peabody and Emmy(r) Award-winning journalist Geraldo Rivera details the myriad ways Hispanics will help revitalize our declining economy, energize our distressed troops, and invigorate our national government. Featuring candid and revealing interviews with prominent Hispanics from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451228812
• ISBN13: 9780451228819
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Celebra
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

A Fresh Look at Immigration

Mr.River's new book, The Great Progression, is an excellent account of the Latino immigrant situation here in America. Written in a breezy,punchy style, it's full of current and relevant information. Who knew of the buying and selling power of recent immigrants? The hope that Latinos might save Social Security? That Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of America?!! Mr. Rivera makes a point of separating the immigrant problem from the drug-cartel problem. I'm going to recommend this balanced, comprehensive overview to my political discussion group[ Great Discussions/Katonah].Handled correctly, the Hispanic immigrant situation could become a WIN situation for America. Maureen Adams-Cross River,Ny.

The great melting pot.

Mr Rivera writes a great book about how our new (and old) hispanic heritage citizens will serve to benefit the county as a whole. Change is inevitable, and the smoother the better. The book gets into the multitude of various ethnic hispanic groups and what their relative contributions are. I also learned something I didn't know-Mr Rivera is half Jewish on his Mother's side. I guess this makes him like Juan Epstein of Welcome Back Cotter (the TV show from the 70's with John Travolta). In any case America has been, is, and always will be the great melting pot. Geraldo Rivera does a fine job of explaining the hispanic melt.

Clear statement of future America

Thanks for Geraldo's collection of points demonstrating clear trends leading to America's future with an emphasis on our need for political sanity today. One reason the party in power is in power is because they both see the trends and respect the people that set it. Ignore or insult and you lose. Geraldo points out the sanity comes from all sides but is predominantly on the side of the Democratic Party and emphasizes Barack Obama as significant on that side and explains why, with a turn of position, McCain is not. This is a comforting book because the thesis gives hope that not all is lost. Community will still be important and grow despite the trends of many in the status quo to remain in a selfish culture while living dependently on others willing to support it. I notice in support of this view Tim Rutten says in a book review of "Reflections on the Revolution in Europe" by Christopher Caldwell that "Though he's at pains to point out that most Americans oppose continued large-scale immigration into this country, Caldwell also argues that the issues raised by the mass movement of Muslims into Europe are nothing like those connected to mostly Latino migration into the United States. Latinos, he writes, simply speak another European language and bring with them a culture "that is like the American working-class white culture of 40 years ago. It is perfectly intelligible to any American who has ever had a conversation about the past with their parents. . . . [I]t requires no fundamental reform of American cultural practices or institutions. On balance, it may strengthen them."" Exactly.

Fascinating insight into America's future

"The Great Progression" by Geraldo Rivera argues that our country's success in the 21st century will be increasingly bound up with the fate of its burgeoning Hispanic population. Mr. Rivera, who is one of the most recognizable Hispanic personalities working in the media today, brings a lifetime of personal and professional experiences to this important topic. Mr. Rivera's access to leaders in business, government, news and entertainment has enabled him to develop a mature and sensible perspective. The author shares his thoughts in an accessible book that provides fascinating insight into America's future. Far from the economic liability that some would want us to believe, Mr. Rivera points out that young Hispanic workers are critical to economic prosperity. At a time when a large block of the Anglo-American population is trending towards retirement age, Hispanics are providing the workers and consumers needed to keep the economy on track while providing tax dollars essential to keep the government afloat, especially with respect to the funding of the social security system. Looking ahead, Mr. Rivera believes it is in our collective interest to ensure that Hispanic children are properly educated and able to fulfill their social obligations and the leadership opportunities that will inevitably await them. Mr. Rivera contends that the presidency of George W Bush has tainted the Republican Party for an entire generation of Hispanic voters. The author discusses how the Bush administration's abuse of its Homeland Security powers to raid workplaces has done little to curb illegal immigration while allowing violence along the Mexican border to flair up almost uncontrollably; how its hard-line diplomacy with Cuba and Venezuela has backfired as leftist governments have sprung up in many more countries in Central and South America; how its high-ranking Hispanic officials including Alberto Gonzalez and General Sanchez were setup to take the fall for the administration's failures in Iraq and Abu Ghraib; and of course, how its abandonment of comprehensive immigration reform has allowed this important issue to fester, leading to increased social tensions and sporadic violence. Against this backdrop, it is perhaps not too surprising to learn from Mr. Rivera that Hispanic voters proved to be pivotal in boosting the Democratic Party to victory in 2008. Interestingly, Mr. Rivera suggests that Obama's mixed-race lineage is key to understanding much of his appeal, pointing out that most Latinos are multiracial and value both their Latin American and U.S. cultural identities. As his own Puerto Rican family has undergone a process of acculturation over several generations of living in the U.S., Mr. Rivera demonstrates that most Hispanics are both adapting to and influencing mainstream American culture. Assessing the myriad contributions that Hispanics have made in the arts, entertainment, baseball, unions, the military and more, Mr. Rivera shows how a growing Hispa

"Next!"

Geraldo Rivera has two great ideas in "The Great Progression" and he writes them in a way that can help to facilitate a larger nation discussion. First he argues that in the 2008 election the Hispanic community turned its back on John McCain and the Republicans and swung the election to the Democrats. Using demographic data he shows that the large pro Obama Latino vote was critical in Florida, Nevada, Indiana and other swing states. He goes on to predict that, George Bush was right, without a substantial part of the Hispanic vote the Republicans will have a tough time competing nationally in the near future. Second he shows through stories, anecdotes and metaphors that the current wave of Latino immigrants is very similar to the previous waves of immigrants. That they are being absorbed. That they are acculturating and that they are good American citizens just like the Irish, Jews, Italians and all of the others before them. "The nation" he writes in his conclusion "will change us (the Latinos) more than we change the nation." I'd like to note one interesting side point. In his prior book Hispanic published in 2008 Rivera called for George Bush to issue an amnesty to all of the undocumented workers in the country. He does not call on Barack Obama to do the same.