Hispanic America (1980)

Duration: 13:19

Year Published: 1980

Sound: sound

Description: Produced by CBS Evening News and distributed by the Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’Rith, this 1980 television documentary interviews a few of the many Spanish-speaking Americans that make up what will become the nation’s largest minority population. CBS Evening News host Walter Cronkite introduces the program, while correspondent Ed Rable reports. After briefly refuting racist stereotypes, the documentary travels across the country to highlight predominant Spanish-speaking groups and cultures, such as Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto Ricans. Featured locations include Miami; New York City; Chicago; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Los Angeles; and San Juan, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. Rable also chronicles the ongoing efforts by minority leaders to develop greater political power in the struggle for civil rights and racial equality. Please note, this film makes dated comments to describe certain Latinx groups, indicative of the time in which it was produced. The Texas Archive of the Moving Image does not condone the use of such language, but presents this film as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as to claim this term never existed.