MY AMERICAN HISTORY

Diaz blends history, political commentary, and memoir in this non-fiction book.

As an 86-year-old, the author has witnessed some of the major events of the 20th century, from the attacks on Pearl Harbor and subsequent wars in Korea and Vietnam to the revolutionary 1960s and conservative counterrevolution of Ronald Reagan at the end of the century. The book’s early chapters survey the author’s family history in a small, 19th-century mining town in Chihuahua, Mexico. Though Diaz’s father abandoned the family, the author recalls a lively childhood growing up with a network of uncles, aunts, and grandparents as he ran around his Tio Chito’s store and hacienda-style home that looked like it came straight from “the Western cowboy movies.” Blended into Diaz’s personal narrative—from his service in the United States military and menial work in a tortilla factory to his successful consulting work and investments—are his views on the historical events that shaped his times. As a self-described non-voting Democrat who began to embrace conservative causes after 1991 (one prominent photograph in the book features Diaz with Newt Gingrich), the author offers a distinctly right-wing view of American history: Franklin Roosevelt’s economic policies are described as “unconstitutional,” and “hippie America haters” are blamed for “a loss of honor, honesty, and respect” in the 1960s. Interspersed throughout the book are the author’s thoughts on contemporary politics, such as his belief that Donald Trump is the victim of “politically charged hate.” Problematically, the book lumps communists, socialists, progressive, liberals, and Democrats into a singular strawman acronym, CSPLD+U2 (the U2 stands for “Uneducated Too”) which is blamed in nearly every chapter for America’s woes, past and present. The book’s skewed historical narrative is backed by an unimpressive bibliography mostly composed of Wikipedia entries and YouTube videos. Most concerning is the book’s handling of race and gender, as the author takes pride in maintaining his belief in the pseudoscientific racial theories he was taught as a child and expresses fears that “the Left, gays, and feminists” want to replace “the alpha male…with beta males.”

An intriguing memoir undermined by haphazard political commentary.