How did Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Cubans become known as “Hispanics” and “Latinos” in the United States? How did several distinct cultures and nationalities become portrayed as one? Cristina Mora answers both these questions and details the scope of this phenomenon in Making Hispanics. She uses an organizational lens and traces how activists, bureaucrats, and media executives in the 1970s and '80s created a new identity category—and by doing so, permanently changed the racial and political landscape of the nation.
Some argue that these cultures are fundamentally similar and that the Spanish language is a natural basis for a unified Hispanic identity. But Mora shows very clearly that the idea of ethnic grouping was historically constructed and institutionalized in the United States. During the 1960 census, reports classified Latin American immigrants as “white,” grouping them with European Americans. Not only was this decision controversial, but also Latino activists claimed that this classification hindered their ability to portray their constituents as underrepresented minorities. Therefore, they called for a separate classification: Hispanic. Once these populations could be quantified, businesses saw opportunities and the media responded. Spanish-language television began to expand its reach to serve the now large, and newly unified, Hispanic community with news and entertainment programming. Through archival research, oral histories, and interviews, Mora reveals the broad, national-level process that led to the emergence of Hispanicity in America.

在中国抗日战争最艰苦的1939年，著名历史学家顾颉刚先生在《益世报》《边疆周刊》发表一篇题为《中华民族是一个》的文章，明确提出中国只存在一个“中华民族”，把中国的汉、满、蒙、回、藏等群体都称为“民族”，是帝国主义分化和瓦解中国的策略和阴谋，“伪满洲国”即是一例。文章发表后引发了关于“中华民族”定义的激烈争论。有人支持，有人反对，费孝通先生曾撰文明确表示不同意见。距离当年那场围绕“中华民族是一个”的争辩已经过去70多年，今天中国固然没有面临帝国主义侵略和瓜分的直接威胁，但一些地区民族关系的发展趋势令人担忧。中国的“民族构建”（nation-building）究竟应当以“中华民族”为单元，还是以56个“民族”为单元，直至今日这个问题并没有真正得到解决。本书汇集了1939年围绕着一议题的重要论文以及对这一争论的回顾文章，希望读者能够了解当年这场大讨论的原貌并思考应如何理解今天中国的民族问题。