COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright 2011 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
E-ISBN 978-0-231-52178-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Delgado, Melvin.
Latino small businesses and the American dream : community social work practice and economic and social development / Melvin Delgado.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-15088-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-231-15089-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-231-52178-9 (e-book)
1. Hispanic American business enterprises. 2. Small businessUnited States. 3. Social serviceUnited States. I. Title.
HD62.7.D455 2011
338.64208968073dc22
2011007619
A Columbia University Press E-book.
CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-book at .
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
WRITING A BOOK on Latino small businesses is similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle that has hundreds of pieces without having the picture on the box as a guide. Although from the beginning I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted this book to look like, it was neither crystal clear nor highly detailed. Putting a puzzle together invariably involves both high expectations and an awareness of the difficult path that lies ahead. Similarly, in writing this book, with its wide-ranging subject matter, there were both ups and downs: I experienced moments of joy when I would stumble on a new piece of information that I had not imagined existed or would see a topic in a totally different light, but there were also times when I made little progress. Nevertheless, I always hoped that the next day I would uncover a key piece that would help me complete the puzzle.
Latinos have been the subject of numerous scholarly undertakings, but most studies have either ignored or only touched on the topic of Latino businesses. This book attempts to bridge the gap between knowledge of Latino small businesses and the field of economic and social development by illustrating how to identify and mobilize community resources to provide services to Latinos. Latino businesses can be supported in a manner that is culturally competent, thus opening up numerous possibilities for collaboration between the Latino community and community social workers and their sponsoring organizations. Cross-sector collaboration among public, private, and civic organizations and businesses takes on a critical dimension in urban communities of color, helping to increase the likelihood of a synergistic effect by encouraging creativity, learning, and innovation (Nowak 2007).
The importance of collaborative partnerships across conventional and unconventional spheres, as I advocate in this book, is summarized in the charge put forth regarding Latinos in California: What now? California needs a plan to carry out the short-term goals, one that can help unleash the economic potential of Latinos. The reality is that no one institution by itself can achieve the long-term goal. Cooperation is needed from many different agencies and institutions. These institutions include, but are not limited to, churches, schools, universities, community colleges, mediums of communication, and philanthropic agencies (Lopez, Ramirez, and Rochin 1999:40).
This book addresses six interrelated goals that merge theory, qualitative and quantitative data, history, and case illustrations to bring to life the critical role that Latino small businesses play in their community and how community social work can help to shape these institutions. These goals are:
to ground the reader in the function of ethnic, urban-based enterprises;
to explore the potential role of Latino businesses in providing a range of social, health-related, and economic support;
to illustrate, through the use of examples, how community and economic techniques can be applied to business creation, sustenance and community social work practice;
to provide an updated picture of the economic role that Latinos play in the United States and draw implications for how Latino businesses can continue to grow and influence social, economic, and political aspects of urban communities;
to examine Latino demographic trends and their implications for community development; and
to show, through review of the literature and use of case illustrations, how community social workers can interface with these establishments in ways that fulfill the mission of social work.
I am sure that some of these goals are more attractive to the reader than others. This is quite natural. My favorite analogy is that of a tool box. Community social workers work with many different tools. Some tools are preferred over others, and workers may be more adept at using particular ones. Nevertheless, we never have the luxury of abandoning tools because that would severely limit our ability to start and complete a job. The same can be said for the goals listed above. These goals do not exist in isolation from one another or tap a set of values that are antithetical to one another. They are essentially a complete set that can and should be used in combination.
This book brings together many elements I have written about in the more than 125 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and 19 books I have published over the years, yet it is distinct in character. I often decide to write a book on a particular subject when the subject matter inspires me and I conclude that there is no other book on the subject. Mind you, it is not that I am afraid of competition. Instead, I believe that the subject matter is too important to have been overlooked from a book perspective. Despite an upsurge in Latino scholarship, there is little competition for this book from a business, social science, or social work perspective. This is both an opportunity and a sad commentary on the state of knowledge concerning this dimension of the Latino community in the United States.
This is not to say that there are no books on how to market to Latinos (Perkins 2004; Korzenny & Korzenny 2005; Sato 2006; Faura 2006). In fact, there seems to be an endless supply on how dominant-culture corporations can better understand the Latino market, with plenty of advice on how to analyze segments and surmount cultural barriers, and the best methods to advertise to this growing market. This book is not about those topics.
