Jorge RamosBesprekingen

The events that occurred were awful. I think Ramos covered the topics he did with sensitivity. I give three stars for the -style- he chose in his writing. The first time I read this a few years ago, I had never heard of the tragedy. I was heartbroken, chilled, and infuriated all at once. I didn't have the emotional capacity to put my thoughts into words, so I didn't review the book. It took two days for me to process it emotionally, that first read. Now, I wondered if I could, so here I go.

Ramos, in the introduction, says he's telling the story that four survivors told him. He makes a big deal of saying readers should check out court stuff and various other things related to the tragedy...and thens pends half the book detailing the things he said he wouldn't cover. I was glad for the information but annoyed that he forgot immediately he'd stated differently in the introduction. On second read, I read it as an ebook. I didn't want to wait, and it was available immediately, so. The ebook formatting was not one I responded to well, to such a degree that if affected my reading experience and I lowered the rating a little. Nothing to do with Ramos' writing. He seems to hold back in terms of--something. Both times I read this, I couldn't help but think how well he'd probably write a short story. His writing is vivid and speaks of details he may have possibly edited out for brevity. I don't know journalism, so don't quote me on that. He clearly chose, to my mounting annoyance, to be incredibly repetitive every few pages, with entire paragraphs being similar except for synonyms. Often, he mentioned something he'd detailed in a few pages previously. Did he thing readers were losing interest or something? I was not. Did he think readers forgot things? Not really.

This was not told in chronological order. It flipped back and forth several times per chapter. Ramos used cultural differences between the US and the Central American countries the late immigrants were from to further humanize the tragedy. It worked. He'd abruptly switch, though, into another aspect of the investigation, and it was tiring after awhile. Another thing he did throughout the book that got on my nerves was, he'd write straightforward factual sentences and then ask a question after. You're the journalist. You tell me. These were often tragic sentences, too, and then he'd--the following questions were clumsy, bordering on insensitive, sentences designed to drum up emotions. It's already sad! Quit asking if I am sad. Quit trying to made me sadder with your questions when your facts already are.

Ramos chose to portray a wife-beater as a misunderstood guy and "both sides"-es the issue of domestic violence. He spends two sentences on the fact that the wife-beater also kidnapped--took without permission or knowledge of his wife, who was the biological mother of--his child. This action led to his son's death, as they were both in the truck. Paragraphs upon paragraphs are splattered in this book about what a loving father who just made a bad choice, this man is. To quote playwright Philip Dawkin's play "Charm": "The best gift a man can give is to respect his child's mother." That was not present, and I was enraged at Ramos' apologia. Due to it, I won't and haven't read any of his other books.

How he chose to end the book was no doubt supposed to be emotional, with quotes from people involved in different ways, but it made me weary.

Historia local de EE:UU, Canadá, América Latina

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 cast of a die, I was born into the majority of at least this country, the United States. However, others are hated because they are from a different race, culture, religion, or sex. Even when you are a citizen of a country, you can be treated as a stranger. This is laid out in Jorge Ramos' book, Stranger: The Challenge of a Latino Immigrant in the Trump Era. Read more

Another one of the books I read in early 2005. The following are notes about the book from my journal:

>>According to the author, "this book's central argument is that Latinos are changing this country in many significant ways" (226). When the book was advertised, it was billed as a book about how Latinos will elect the next President of the U.S. And he does address that using the example of the 2000 Election and the techniques Republicans used to court the Latino vote. But this book is about so much more.

One way to look at this book is as a primer about Latinos in the U.S. The author does an excellent job of highlighting our differences and yet showing what traits and issues we share in common. Issues like education and poverty are issues we all share.

The book also explains and illustrates the benefits of immigration, especially the economic contributions that immigrants, legal and illegal, make to the U.S., even illustrating how more often than not those immigrants give more to the U.S. than they get, no matter what the racist anti-immigrants say. They probably should read this book and think a bit, but odds are they won't since railing against immigrants is easier than fixing problems and dealing with the issues. The U.S. has a pattern of often using immigrants as scapegoats. But, as Ramos argues, the Latino Wave is here, and it is inevitable. By 2059, whites will no longer be the majority. And most interesting is that while America (the U.S.) is getting "latinized," Latinos are getting "americanized" as well, even as they preserve their culture. Many second and third generation immigrants do not speak Spanish, yet they are proud Latinos. Just one example that things are not simple, but rather diverse. We should embrace this diversity, why can't others see it?

Overall, this is for me a highly recommended book. Anyone wanting to learn more about Latinos in the U.S. without some stuffy academic text should read this.

Jorge Ramos describes the feelings of being an immigrant in a wonderful way that any immigrant could identify with. But, he also explains the increased level of hatred immigrants are feeling since the election of Donald Trump. This is an ideal book to see America through the eyes of an immigrant to the country.

Excellent portrayal of what the Latino people have to deal with in the Trump era.

This book about a girl who is just like his mom and is interested in the things she does. Her mom gives her a mirror and points out other family members she looks like. Then she realizes the things she realizes she likes things she does with her dad.

A girl and a boy who can see in the way they are and do thing the similarities with their parents, being proud of it they know wherever they go family will go with them.
Ages 3-6
tacoma library

Stranger is a book about the Latino immigrant experience in our current system and laws, as well as how the changes to both are effecting that particular group of people. To a large degree, I think a lot of what he describes as far as how it feels to be an immigrant, feeling like an outsider to the new country, never quite fitting in is an experience all immigrants have felt throughout history. I know this is true for some of my grandparents as well as millions of others. The experience of discrimination based solely upon one's race or country of origin is not new or unique either. For generations, "new" Americans knew that feeling all too well. My grandfather had his back broke at 17 yrs. of age simply because he was Italian, and ended up having to change his surname because of the difficulty in finding decent employment-- and before him, it was the Irish, and after, it was the Chinese. In no way does it ever justify inhumane treatment of others; but we have seen this before as a nation, and the world, for millennia. Some of the statements that Mr. Ramos said, though, could be seen as inflammatory by those looking to pick apart what someone says that they already have a prejudice against. Such as, when he said "This is our country, not theirs.".... exactly the type of statement that the haters are looking for to fan flames, to pick apart and to read into what they want. Who, exactly, is the "theirs" and "ours" he is referring too? I think this is part of the problem with all of the extreme sides being taken-- how so many seem to see everything in terms of "us against them"... how can any change for the better ever happen until all peoples come to the table and are willing to put aside their differences, start at what they can agree on, and try to look at things from another's perspective? It seems too many people any more are more than willing to look at the actions of a fringe few, listen to the hate filled speech of a handful and claim that those few represent many. Too many are more than willing to jump to conclusions about what others think or what motivates them without truly wanting to begin a conversation and understand. This is a volatile situation and something must change. People seem to be too willing to be offended. This is a vast departure from what had been-- it seemed years ago people were much more tolerant than what we see now. Even if they had private prejudices, at least they usually were polite and kept much of that to themselves. I don't see all the hate throwing as progress or evolution-- in fact just the opposite. I was raised to "not say that-- it's not nice" out of respect for others, but that common courtesy seems to have become an old-fashioned sentiment. But, I do think "Stranger" by Jorge Ramos could provide an important starting point for talking about a much bigger and deeper issue, that of immigration and laws. He examines many issues that are impacting them in our country the way it is now, and the perspective of issues from the immigrants' point of view. I think it is important, when trying to understand others, to put oneself in their shoes. I think true understanding is impossible otherwise. So, I don't totally agree with all he says in the book, but I think it is a good beginning. I love my country and am extremely patriotic, but just as with my family whom I love, I am not always happy with what it does. Unconditional love does not meet blind acceptance of all the behavior. I love my children, though sometimes not what they do. The same goes for America, not only presently but also parts of its history.
I received this book from the publisher for an honest review... my thanks to Random House.
Read for twogalsandabook.com

Este libro muestra una cara de los Estados Unidos que muchos no conocen o que temen conocer. Estados Unidos es mucho más que la Casa Blanca, Disneylandia y la NASA. Estados Unidos tiene a millones de personas viviendo en las sombras, con el temor constante a ser descubiertos y deportados. Sin embargo, estos inmigrantes ayudan enormemente a que funcione la sociedad norteamericana.
Escrito en un lenguaje sencillo y directo, Jorge Ramos?el conductor titular del Noticiero Univision y autor de varios libros?nos presenta en breves pero poderosos relatos, las vidas de la gente que no sale en la televisión, en los periódicos ni en las revistas, pero que es fundamental para la economía y la cultura estadounidense.
Ramos, un mexicano radicado hace más de dos décadas en Estados Unidos y con una maestría en Relaciones Internacionales, es uno de los periodistas más reconocidos e influyentes de Norteamérica. En esta versión actualizada, con los últimos datos sobre el eterno debate migratorio, Ramos muestra el constante dilema de Estados Unidos: que a pesar de ser un país de inmigrantes, muchas veces no sabe qué hacer ni cómo tratar a los recién llegados. Este es un libro fundamental para entender a fondo la verdadera naturaleza de la única superpotencia mundial. Aquí vemos lo que otros no quieren ver. Es la otra cara de América.

In 2003, 19 would-be migrants, mostly from Mexico, died of heat (estimated to have reached over 150 Fahrenheit in the Texas summer) in a hermetically sealed, uncooled transport trailer. In writing this book, the author interviewed four of the survivors as well as the mother of Marco, aged 5, the youngest of the migrants and the only minor to die. Incidentally, Marco was a victim of parental abduction as well as the venality of human smugglers; by the time his mother learned that he had been removed from Mexico by her estranged husband, the child was already in the fatal truck.

Although published two years after the debacle occurred, this book reads as if it had been rushed into print. First, Ramos relied very heavily on only four interviewees who originally appeared in a TV documentary with him. I do not know whether additional informants could have rounded out the book, but I suspect it would have helped. Certainly delaying publication until the trials of the smugglers were complete would have given the book some closure. There was much mention of the fact that the prosecution was seeking the death penalty for the driver of the truck, an atypical development in a human trafficking case, but the book ends without any further detail on the fate of Tyrone Williams. From my internet research I learnt that apparently his trial, unlike the single trial that had occurred when Jorge Ramos wrapped up the book and sent it to the publishers, was rather dramatic and revealed information about the victims' last hours that Ramos did not have, writing that it "would be impossible to prove one way or another [as only] Willams and his companion, Fatima Holloway, know what they heard." It is an understatement to say that the book suffers from this omission.

Less importantly, but still frustratingly, Ramos also fails to give much of a sense of the survivors' lives in the aftermath, beyond the bare fact that they have nightmares.

The thought which the author wishes us to take away from the book is found on page 149-50: "If, instead of hunting down immigrants and penalizing illegal border crossings, both countries could find a way to regularize the entry of immigrants in an orderly fashion so that Mexico might provide the US economy with the workers it needs, border deaths would become a thing of the past, and the countries would finally legalize something that occurs every single day, regardless of the law."

Ramos writes a lot of books. He's known as a TV talking head for Univision but he calls himself a journalist. This book was published in 2004 although the beginning chapters show a high regard for Bush and his early attempts to court Latinos and afterwards is called pandering by Ramos. This book is dated even as it points to the race which Obama will win. Ramos never mentions Obama although he does repeat Democrat points of view near exclusively. Ramos goes far beyond those at the final chapters. He gives readers a few chuckles with some of his references to examples to prove his points. He quotes Peter Jennings (hero), Rod Blagojevich (hero), President Salinas (looted the government), President Fox (promised to stop government bribes (mordida) haha). So he picked a few winners that will be forgotten by me reading this in the final days of 2015.
The first chapters were hard to read as he tells readers that he had an education of UCLA Extension classes before going into a long tirade about how bad the USA is. He says that he is OK with this criticism of America because this is the place to reinvent oneself. He doesn't seem to understand that that could be done anywhere besides Mexico (his birthplace) but obviously why go anywhere else when no place is better. So his point of view is contradictory in that he's not a native American but feels free to criticize America being an aggrieved immigrant while still fighting to stay in this so called Imperialist nation. He says that America took parts of Mexico for itself, being an economic Imperialist country. Because America is an Imperialist country, it is acceptable to undermine it flooding it with more immigrants in a cultural Reconquista.
Ramos mentions that Vasconcelos conceived The Cosmic Race as being Latin American. The reality is that The Cosmic Race is America as Ramos argues numerous times in the book. With populations in America oftentimes equaling other capital cities in Latin America, the reality is that Mexico could never rival America for the true location of The Cosmic Race.
Ramos concludes that the best solution would be to have open borders throughout Latin America & the USA, like the European Union (which is now close to collapsing from debt from its members (Greece) and mass migration). Ramos also endorses the creation of a World Migration Organization to supervise and monitor countries' policies.
I found this book thought provoking but poorly thought out in its conclusions and weak in argument.
The beginning chapters use the 'cite a statistic and draw a conclusion which does not logically follow necessarily' method. It's kid's cartoon argumentation.
For some reason, Ramos feels free to criticize America but never finds reason to do the same for Mexico. He has no plans make improvements there anytime soon. I don't plan on reading any more books from Ramos, although this one touched on subjects that do interest me.

My review was deleted somehow (not the first time!!! what's with this app!?!?) and I'm not going to re-write it but I'll summarize with a quick: wow... hard book to listen to but great story, great narrator (audiobook). Recommend.

Girls knit. Boys play soccer.

This is the perfect book for children growing up in a bilingual family.This book is EXCELLENT in both Spanish and English and what a wonderful theme -- about family and how we carry our elders within us.

By the end of the book one it is just as upsetting that the author, the immigrants, & Mexican officials blame American immigration policies for the deaths rather those responsible. Those crossing the border illegally are breaking the law & they know the risks involved.
I am in no way saying that they deserved what they happened to them, but over seventy-five percent of the immigrants crossing over on the ship William Brown who died tragically & they were entering the country legally. Is it not to be considerd one of "the worst immigrant tragedies in American history" just because it was so long ago?

Surprisingly boring.

On May 14, 2003, nineteen people died while en route from a small Mexico/Texas border town to Houston, Texas, in what at the time was called the "greatest illegal immigrant tragedy in modern history." An estimated 73-84+ undocumented immigrants – most of them Mexican citizens, with a small minority hailing from other Latin American countries, such as Honduras – were packed into the back of a hermetically-sealed, locked-from-the-outside tractor trailer, without water, air conditioning or fresh air. Over the course of four hours, 17 people asphyxiated to death before the truck's driver finally pulled over to rest. When Tyrone Williams – who was contracted by coyotes to transport the immigrants to Houston, on what should have been the final leg of their trip - opened the trailer and discovered the dead, he fled from the scene. Most (if not all) of the immigrants were apprehended by local police and ICE, and were given temporary work visas so that they could remain in the U.S. and testify against their human traffickers. Two more immigrants died at the hospital, bringing the death toll to 19. The coyotes were charged with a variety of offenses, including murder.

Jorge Ramos, a native of Mexico and anchor for Noticiero Univision, weaves survivor, witness and official accounts of the tragedy together in DYING TO CROSS. The bulk of the story is told from the perspective of the half dozen or so survivors who were willing to speak to Ramos. The account of the perilous four hours spent in the trailer, for example, are primarily survivor accounts, with liberal use of direct quotations interspersed with medical explanations of what the victims' bodies and minds would have been going through, given the circumstances. Ramos also offers brief biographies of a few of the immigrants, as well as accounts of how they came to buy a spot on that fateful trailer. The book concludes with a description of the aftermath, however, as there was no real trial to speak of, this section of the report is almost anti-climactic. Ramos attempts to use this tragedy to illustrate failings in U.S. immigration policy as well as U.S./Mexican political relations, but his analysis seems a little scattered and superficial. (It's not that I necessarily disagree with his conclusions, rather, I don't feel as though he made a very comprehensive argument in favor of a more open and humane border policy.)

Given the book's subject matter, DYING TO CROSS is surprisingly boring, and I can't really pinpoint why. It seems as though the survivors' accounts of the trailer ride should have been more nail-bitingly suspenseful – but, not so much. There was a lot of talk about prayer, Satan worship, God-begging, etc., which got really tiresome, really fast. Case in point: all of the women passengers survived; one of the surviving men attributed this to the fact that the women started praying to God immediately, while the men "wasted" their energy on "frivolous" activities – like banging on and rocking the trailer, in a failed attempt to get the driver's attention. Um, yeah. Trying to stop the truck – what *were* they thinking!? Plus, the women's 100% survival rate couldn't possibly be due to the fact that women's bodies tend to retain more water than men's, for a variety of reasons including menstruation and oral contraception, right? (Ramos loses major cred for failing to counter these superstitious claims with scientific explanations.) Naturally, the survivors all thanked God for sparing them, proclaiming it a "miracle," etc., which begs the question of why God favored them and not the nineteen who died – one of which included a 5-year-old boy. But hey, maybe that's just the cantankerous ole atheist in me.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2009/04/16/dying-to-cross-by-jorge-ramos/

I was hopeful about this book as the topic is very interesting. BUT sadly, I was just bored. Yes, it is VERY tragic what happened to the people in the back of the truck. But the way it was written, I couldn't follow. There were way too many people and names and everything jumped all around. I couldn't keep straight who was who. Plus, I don't really see why this was made into a book. There wasn't that much to say about the incident honestly. It's a news story, not a book. Yes, it brings to light a lot of immigration policy issues, which is good. But I just don't think it was worth making into a book.

LAS ENTEEVISTAS UNICAS Y LA MIRADA IMPLACABLE CERTERA DEL AUTOR DETRAS DE LA MASCARA

ENSAYO.CRONICA