Latin American Studies Center Cafe Break Series

University of Maryland, College Park

Latin American Studies Center

Café Break Series

“Legacies of the Southern History: Power, Politics, and Latinas/os in Arkansas” 

Perla M. Guerrero, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park

Wednesday, September 19
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
2120 Francis Scott Key (Merrill Room)

Why hasn’t Arkansas enacted punitive anti-immigrant legislation like those in Alabama or Arizona, especially when we consider that towns and cities that were 99 percent White in 1990 are now more than 30% Latina/o? Drawing on her recent ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Latinas/os and immigrant allies, Guerrero addresses some of the legal, political, and labor struggles Latinas/os face as well as how alliances between religious figures, business leaders, and educational champions have carved out tenuous opportunities. More importantly, however, Guerrero explores power and politics in Arkansas and how the legacies of Southern history are shaping Latina/o Arkansans’ lives.

Perla M. Guerrero is Assistant Professor in the Department of American Studies and the first core faculty member in the U.S. Latina/o Studies Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California in 2010. Her research and teaching interests lie comparative race and ethnicity, immigration, space and place, labor, and 20th century U.S. history. Guerrero has held a Latino Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow as well as Goldman Sachs Junior Fellow at the National Museum of American History. She is currently working on her book manuscript tentatively titled, "Latinas/os and Asians Remaking Arkansas: Race, Labor, Place, and Community" which explores how regional history and the labor sphere shaped social relations.

For more information about this event please contact the Latin American Studies Center at lasc@umd.edu or by phone at 301-405-6459.