Legal Commentary

Joey Gonzalez: Great American!

Read this review of this book.

From the review...

Soon after landing a newspaper job in my early 20s, an editor asked if my parents were really proud of me.

The question perplexed me, and it was only years later that I understood the implication.

What the editor meant was ?Hey, you?ve graduated from college and have a good job as a journalist, AND you?re a Hispanic woman. Your poor underprivileged parents must be beaming.??

In Joey Gonzalez, Great American, Tony Robles tells the story of a third-grader who dreams of studying hard, learning a lot and growing up to be a great American.

Then one day, his teacher says that because he is something called a ?minority,? he isn?t smart enough to become a great American on his own. But there was something called ?affirmative action?? that could help him compete.

According toTony Robles, a Puerto Rican who grew up in New York, affirmative action has hurt many black and Hispanic children, who learn early on that they will never get the credit they deserve for working hard and trying to succeed on their own, so why bother?

Full post as published by Discriminations on March 29, 2008 (boomark / email).