NEW BOOKS
FROM THE GASTON INSTITUTE

Following its rapid growth over the past twenty years, the Latino population of Massachusetts is now the largest racial and ethnic minority group in the state. It is also one of the poorest. During the "Massachusetts Miracle" of the 1 980s, the Latino poverty rate in the Commonwealth was twice that of blacks and six times that of whites. And with Latino children dropping out of school at a rate three times that of white children, the economic future of these young adults is bleak indeed.

Unlike blacks-who are concentrated in Boston-Latinos are dispersed geographically throughout the state. This distribution, combined with their limited economic and political power, has made Latinos victims of public indifference and neglect.

These two volumes of original essays are designed to education policymakers and other concerned individuals about the particular needs of Latinos in Massachusetts. They address issues of education and economic development and suggest strategies to facilitate Latino empowerment in ways that preserve ethnic identify, language, and cultural expression.

Edwin Melendez is associate professor of economics and the director of the Gaston Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Miren Uriarte is a research associate at the Gaston and a former dean of the College of Public and Community Service at the same University.

Ralph Rivera is associate director of the Gaston Institute and assistant professor at the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Sonia Nieto is associate professor in the School of Education, the University of Massachusetts Amherst.