Ada Maria Issi-Diaz Analysis

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz writes:
In spite of this difference, many people believe we Hispanics could have become as successful as the European immigrants. So why haven’t we? For one thing, by the time Hispanics grew in numbers in the United States, the economy was no longer labor-intensive. Hispanics have lacked not “a strong back and a willingness to work,” but the opportunity to capitalize on them. Then, unlike the European immigrants who went west and were able to buy land, Hispanics arrived here after homesteading had passed. But a more fundamental reason exists: racism. Hispanics are considered a nonwhite race, regardless of the fact that many of us are of the white race. Our ethnic difference has been officially construed as a racial difference: In government, businesses, and school forms, “Hispanic” is one of the choices under the category race. (48)
Díaz argued Hispanic immigrants did not become as successful as European immigrants in America not because they lacked ability and effort, but rather because they lacked opportunity. She blamed racism as the main
Also, she claims that racism stems from the fact that Hispanics are “considered a nonwhite race”. Asian immigrants are a nonwhite race, but their educational achievements disproves that racism creates an indestructible barrier to success. Being that both Asians and Hispanics are part of the nonwhite group, they should face the same amount of racism, and thus share a similar degree of adversity. The 2000 census shows that 44% of Asians over the age of 25 held a four-year college degree, 26% of Whites over the age of held a four-year college degree, and 10% of Hispanics over the age of 25 hold four-year college degree, thus proving that being a nonwhite does not ultimately limit educational opportunities.