Description
Nationalism, education and history are powerful, interlocking concepts that shape the identity of Latinos(as) and therefore affect Latino(a) Evangelicals. History is the collection of narratives that form a group's identity; or as Ashcroft states, "Clearly,what it means to have a history is the same as what it means to have a legitimate existence" (Ashcroft 317). Education is the vehicle for transmitting history. This transmission can occur in a formal context, as through schooling and curriculum, or in an informal context, via orally tradition, myths, and media; in the case of Latinos(as) telenovelas, variety and celebrity gossip shows, and Spanish-language news broadcast are particlularly powerful. Harnessing both history and education to create a sense of belonging to a particular place, people or political identity, produces nationalism. Another definition has been given by Fanon, “a national culture is the whole body of efforts made by a people in the sphere of thought to describe, justify and praise the action through which that people has created itself and keeps itself in existence.” (Ashcroft 117)

Nationalism is an incredibly strong force in the Latino community. This is evidenced by the way in which nationalism is perpetuated and maintained by Latinos, who are far from their nation of origin and quite possibly multiple generations removed; nationalism is maintained via a collective history and unique means of education. Each Latino(a) nationality has it's own set of histories and educational methods to maintain it national identity. By contrast "Latino(a)" is a pan-national political identity. Though Latinos(as) have come to use this category for their own political purposes, in non-political situations Latinos(as) will almost always identify themselves by their country of origin or ancestral origin. "[Latinos(as)] identify themselves first by country of origin, then race. Nationalism is very strong." (Pastor Carlos Acosta). “Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Cuban U.S. citizens and non-citizens indicated an overwhelming preference for national-origin labels as opposed to pan ethnic labels (Hispanic, Latino, etc.)…Mexican and Cuban noncitizens have the strongest preference, with 87.7% and 88.5% respectively choosing their national origin, but even U.S. citizens (all Puerto Ricans are citizens) prefer the national-origin label." (Ortiz 24)

Education is a critical concern for the Latino community because of the alarming low levels of educational attainment. 41.1% of Latinos do not have a high school diploma and only 12.1% have bachelors degree or higher. (Latino Datanotes: Profiles of the Latino Community, 2.5.07) In relation to nationalism, this lack of educational achievement may have two effects: 1) A very low identification with being “American” (See Representation). Formal education is the primary method for creating nationalism and because of the limited formal education, the imparting of American nationalistic identity is truncated. “It is also interesting to note the extremely low percentage that prefer being called “American,” from 0.3% from Mexican noncitizens to 16.7% for Cuban citizens” (Ortiz 24). 2) The power of informal education fills in the gap of formal education producing a high identification with their nation of origin as cited above. In the Latino context, the informal education is largely via Spanish-language television. “They [Latinos in the Santa Ana, CA neighborhood of the church] all watch it” (Pastor Daniel Jiminez). “Univision’s Spanish-Language Presidential Forum Outdraws English-Language Debates Two-To-One. Nearly twice as many adults 18-49 view Univision’s Forum as ABC, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC debates (Hispanic PR Wire, 9.10.07). “NBC and Univision claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.2 million and 4.4 million average viewers, respectively. FOX followed in fifth place with an average audience of roughly 3.8 million average viewers.” (Nielsen Wire, 12.4.08)

In today's globally connected world telenovelas, as a form of informal education, have become powerful transmitters of nationalism. Each major Latino nationality produces its' own telenovelas representative of their unique cultural history and social concerns. These locally produced telenovelas have been imported to the U.S. and broadcast on major Spanish-language stations. Latino(a)-Americans are fiercely loyal to their nationalities' telenovelas as a means of remaining connected to their national roots. (reference Museum of Broadcast Communication and Harnessing the Potential of Entertainment-Education Telenovelas by Arvind Singhal).

Stories
This discussion of nationalism, education and history has critical implications on Latino(a) Evangelicals, who are not statistically different from the data above. The power of nationalism, the low educational attainment, and the pervasive influence of Spanish-language media are challenges and opportunities for the Latino(a) Evangelical church. The following is part of a recent report presented to the Association of Theological Schools: “The need to develop Latino religious leadership is particularly dramatic. A vast majority of those serving the fastest growing sector of America’s religious communities have little or no formal theological education. Only a tiny number of Latinos who are called to ministry have the academic credentials and the economic means necessary for a seminary education. Consequently, in a nation that is 13 percent Hispanic, only 3.9 percent of students in accredited theological schools are Latino or Latina. The numbers of full-time Latino(a) seminary faculty members are strikingly similar at 3.2 percent” (Garcia and Hernandez 2).


Dreams
Some dreams for Latino(a) Evangelicals involve harnessing the positive, dignity-producing aspects of nationalism, such as the celebration of distinction histories, values and languages. Latino(a) Evangelicals could also be self-critical and prophetic in addressing cultural sin that have also been part of its national history and identity. These dreams would require transformation at all education levels, both formal and informal. In the formal setting, Latino(a) Evangelicals would need to work for educational equity for Latinos(as). At the seminary level, much work would be required in recruiting and retaining Latino(a) students and faculty. Ismael Garcia and Edwin I. Hernández lay out the same dream and helpful next steps in their presentation, Consultation for Hispanic/Latinos(as) in Theological Education: The Present is Mestizo, A Summary of Proceedings . (Also refer to Daniel O. Aleshire's presentation Hispanic Presence in North American Theological Education.) In the informal educational sphere of Spanish-language media, Latino(a) Evangelicals could influence the content and programming as well as the advertisement by corporate sponsor. Univsion reaches 99% of all Latino households in the U.S. and is increasing viewership while English-language networks are declining (Hispanic PR Wire, 11.28.07). If Latino(a) Evangelicals could influence Univision's programming it could have huge societal influence not only on Latinos(as), but the greater U.S. culture. Maybe Latino(a) Evangelicals and their non-Latino(a) Evangelical brethren could influence Telemundo, which is owned by NBC, a subsidiary of General Electric.


References