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12. Latino/a Identity and the Search for Unity: Alcoff, Corlett, and Gracia
- University of Notre Dame Press
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271 [ 1 2 ] latino/a identity and the search for Unity Alcoff, Corlett, and Gracia eliZaBetH MillÁn anD ernesto rosen velÁsQUeZ recently within the anglophone philosophical world, the topics of race, ethnicity, and nationality, topics that in the wrong hands have been used to justify oppression and bloodshed, have been used instead to serve the ends of social justice and to enlarge the borders of philosophy itself. Philosophy as a discipline has, for far too long, suffered from a kind of provincialism and all sorts of monsters born of this provincialism (sexism, racism, cultural xenophobia , among others). in taking up the issues of race, ethnicity, and nationality in the context of the problem of latino/a identity in the United states, philosophers have addressed a philosophical topic central to the latin american philosophical tradition and transplanted it to a new environment, thereby broadening philosophy and redefining the problem of latino/a identity. linda Martín alcoff, J. angelo corlett, and Jorge J.e. gracia are three philosophers currently working in the United states whose work on the problem of latina/o identity has shaped discussions of this central 272 Elizabeth Millán and Ernesto Rosen Velásquez issue within the latin american philosophical tradition. since these three philosophers do not share the same view, it is valuable to look at the differences in their positions as a way to crystallize how the discussion of latino/a identity has developed in the United states. in what follows, we present the ways these thinkers approach the problem of latino/a identity and discuss how their approaches, carried out in the U.s. context, are different from the discussion of identity in the latin american philosophical context. We begin with a discussion of a founding figure of the latin american tradition, then briefly trace the migration of the issue of identity from latin american to U.s. soil and go on to sketch some methodological differences between gracia and alcoff. gracia puts forth what he calls a “familial-historical view,” to shed light on the problem of latino identity, whereas alcoff offers what she calls an “ethnoracial view.” in the second section we discuss gracia’s familial-historical view in greater detail and explore the metaphysical aspects of the problem of latino/a identity. the third section considers how treatment of the problem of identity shifts when public policy issues are central, as they are in the work of corlett. alcoff’s ethnoracial view is revisited in section four, as we consider the merits of her hybrid approach to the problem of identity. We conclude with a discussion of how these views offer valuable lenses through which to examine the problem of latino/a identity, a matter that has, since its articulation, vexed thinkers on both sides of the rio grande. tHe general in His laBYrintH: Bolívar anD tHe searcH For UnitY as the territories of spanish america began to break from spain’s colonial clutches to form independent nations, a new ordering was put into place and questions regarding the identity of the peoples of the region were articulated. Famously, in his speech at the inauguration of the second national congress of venezuela at angostura (February 15, 1819), simón Bolívar trenchantly expressed the identity crisis facing the peoples of the new republic: [54.144.233.198] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 10:55 GMT) Latino/a Identity and the Search for Unity 273 We are not europeans; we are not indians; we are but a mixed species of aborigines and spaniards. americans by birth and europeans by law, we find ourselves engaged in a dual conflict: we are disputing with the natives for titles of ownership, and at the same time we are struggling to maintain ourselves in the country that gave us birth against the opposition of the invaders . thus our position is most extraordinary and complicated.1 this diagnosis of an identity crisis inaugurated a tradition of thought devoted to gaining clarity on what it means to be latin american, to exist in a “most extraordinary and complicated” position of a hybrid identity. Bolívar “the liberator” was no armchair philosopher. He successfully led northern south america to independence from spain and was the founding father of five republics (colombia, venezuela, ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). as colonial subjects became citizens of newly independent republics, critical issues of identity were bound to take center stage. these concerns with identity were clearly expressed by Bolívar as...