Tierra y Libertad

Steven W. Bender

Published by New York University Press 2010

Tierra y Libertad

Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing

Steven W. Bender

Volume 8 in the series Citizenship and Migration in the Americas

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814791257.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

One of the quintessential goals of the American Dream is to own land and a home, a place to raise one’s family and prove one’s prosperity. Particularly for immigrant families, home ownership is a way to assimilate into American culture and community. However, Latinos, who make up the country’s largest minority population, have largely been unable to gain this level of inclusion. Instead, they are forced to cling to the fringes of property rights and ownership through overcrowded rentals, transitory living arrangements, and, at best, home acquisitions through subprime lenders.
In Tierra y Libertad, Steven W. Bender traces the history of Latinos’ struggle for adequate housing opportunities, from the nineteenth century to today’s anti-immigrant policies and national mortgage crisis. Spanning southwest to northeast, rural to urban, Bender analyzes the legal hurdles that prevent better housing opportunities and offers ways to approach sweeping legal reform. Tierra y Libertad combines historical, cultural, legal, and personal perspectives to document the Latino community’s ongoing struggle to make America home.

Author information

BenderSteven W.:

Steven W. Bender is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Seattle University School of Law. He is the author of Greasers and Gringos: Latinos, Law, and the American Imagination (NYU Press, 2003), and One Night in America: Robert Kennedy, César Chávez, and the Dream of Dignity.

Reviews

S. Lawson-Clark, Wake Forest University:
This book will draw in readers who want to explore the historical, political, economic, and social contexts of the recent foreclosure crisis for Latinos pursuing the American dream of home ownership. . . Bender does and exceptional job of investigating Mexican American experiences while opening the door for future studies of other Latino group experiences.

Louis DeSipio:
Tierra y Libertad: Land Liberty and Latino Housing offers an overview of the challenges that Latinos have face over the past 160 years in achieving and maintaining homeownership.

Richard Delgado,author of The Rodrigo Chronicles:
Nothing is more vital to dignity and wellbeing than a home of ones own. This fine book describes Latinos struggles to achieve home ownership in a society that has placed obstacles in their way at every turn.

Dolores Huerta,co-founder of the United Farm Workers:
Steven Benders Tierra y Libertad is interesting, his research is great, and the information is long overdue.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. Loss
1. Loss and Lettuce The César Chávez Legacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2. Southwest Ranchos Land Grants and Land Loss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
3. Fields of Dreams Farm Worker Housing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
4. Loss in the Tortilla Flats Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
5. Lenders and Loss The Destructive Legacy of Subprime Mortgages in Latino/a Communities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Part II. Exclusion
6. Exclusion of Undocumented Immigrants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
7. Exclusion by Public Law Zoning Laws Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
8. Exclusion by Private Law Restrictive Covenants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Part III. Geographic Examples of Loss and Exclusion
9. Born in East L.A. The Legacy of Loss and Exclusion in Southern California Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
10. Little Havana Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
11. Spanish Harlem Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Part IV. Reclamation and Reform
12. Tierra y Libertad Reclaiming Individual and Collective Space Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
13. Policy Considerations in Formulating Housing Reform Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
14. Lowering the Cost of Housing and Credit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
15. Equity for Latino/as and the Poor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Keywords: Tierra; Libertad; Steven; Bender; traces; history; Latinos; struggle; adequate; housing; opportunities; from; nineteenth; century; todays; anti-immigrant; policies; national; mortgage; crisis

eBook

Published: September 29, 2010
ISBN: 9780814739136