Book Review: Stranger: The Challenge of a Latino Immigrant in the Trump Era

Can you imagine being hated simply because you exist? Can you imagine being hated because you are different? Can you imagine being hated because you want a better life for yourself and your family? I have been fortunate. Because of a roll of a die, I was born into the majority of at least this country, the United States. However, people hate others because they come from a different race, culture, religion, or gender. Even if you hold citizenship in a country, people can treat you like a stranger. Jorge Ramos lays this out in his book, Stranger: The Challenge of a Latino Immigrant in the Trump Era.

Jorge Ramos on Identity and Belonging

Jorge Ramos is an award-winning journalist who has dual citizenship (US and Mexico). He is now considered a stranger in both countries. He observed that this sense of rejection intensified after President Trump assumed office. President Trump has preyed on the fears of others. Trump has demonized non-Whites. This has had dangerous consequences. There has been an increase in attacks on non-Whites. Yesterday, “A woman told police she rammed a teen with her car because the girl was ‘a Mexican’.” This was the headline from The Washington Post.

Stranger is 206 pages long and spans twenty chapters. In the book, Ramos described his experiences living in America.

Ramos explained why he came to America, why he stays, and why he applied for citizenship. He also shared that it is possible to love two countries equally. He accepts both the good and bad of each nation. But he feels it is an obligation of every citizen to work and correct what is broken.

Why Ramos Wrote Stranger

It was his questioning of then-candidate Trump and the response that sparked the need to write Stranger. Here is that exchange:

Ramos has lived in the US for over thirty years. He has experienced the increased hatred the majority (Whites) have expressed. He has noticed that the rise has been considerable since President Trump took office. I have also become more aware of this hostility, and it is unsettling. When one stokes fear and hatred, unpredictable things can happen. As someone who cares about this country, I am deeply concerned about our current path. I am afraid that it will take a long time to put the hatred genie back into the bottle.

The Importance of Speaking Up

There was a quote that Ramos included that jumped out to me. It is from Elie Wiesel, an Auschwitz survivor. I am also going to share what Weisel said.

“That is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.” (cited by Ramos, 2018, p. 164).

Reading to Build Empathy

I am going to take a moment to make a plug for reading or watching movies about people who are not like you. Most of the problems of the world originate from a lack of understanding, a lack of empathy, or a fear of what is different. I want to understand. I hope you do as well. Movies like Hidden Figures, 42, Green Book, and Red Tails make me shake my head in disbelief about how we treat others. I find this especially disturbing when we have documents, statues, and monuments with phrases like:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” ~ Emma Lazarus

By the time I finished Stranger, I am more than convinced that we need to improve our immigration system. The system we have in place is not adequate for the current global situation. We also need to learn how to better accept those who differ from ourselves. For a nation that likes to tell others how to enact human rights, we do it poorly at home. Review our history.

Stranger was a very thought-provoking book. I initially picked it up to fulfill a Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenge. It was necessary for me to find a book in translation. I am really glad that I read it. It was eye-opening. I definitely recommend others read it.

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