Critical Thinking Question Chapter 14 #3: What does the growing significance of Latin music by performers such as Gloria and Emilio Estefan and Ricky Martin suggest about ethnicity in the United States?
Perhaps this will sound somewhat cynical, but the first thought to come to mind is that the growing significance of Latin music has everything to do with money. When an ethnic or racial group achieves large enough numbers to become a market force, businesses are going to target them for profit. Businesses recognize that there is a growing Hispanic/Latino population, that they would probably buy music by Hispanic performers, so therefore, they are going to target them by creating products that they will spend money on – in this case, music by Hispanic performers. The growing significance of Latin music suggests that the Hispanic population has grown large enough for big businesses to target the potential profit to be made from them.
On the less cynical side, however, many non-Hispanics not only enjoy music by these performers, they also buy the music. By being exposed to music that is “non-White” (or “non-Black” or whatever), those who are not of Hispanic/Latino background have been enriched by this music, have had their appreciation and recognition of the talents of people other than their “own kind” raised, and at the same time, the bridge of “difference” has been shortened, if not quite crossed yet.
Therefore, the growing significance of music by Hispanic/Latino performers suggests that this population has grown to a size large enough to be a target for profit. At the same time, it has increased the appreciation of Hispanic/Latino music by people outside of the Hispanic community, therefore, increased the appreciation of the Hispanic community as a whole by non-Hispanics.
Written for Professor Swanson’s Sociology I class at Pikes Peak Community College, 8th December 2003.
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