Love in Cultivating Latinx Communities

"Latinx communities" refers to the various communities of people of Latin American heritage that live in the United States. An ethical and political question for these communities is how open they should be towards (potentially hostile and hegemonic) Euro-American outsiders, on the one hand, and towards the arrival of immigrants from other regions of the world who are sometimes perceived as competitors rather than friends and allies in adapting (without assimilating) and thriving in the United States. This paper discusses Latin American philosophical conceptions of “love” — by Octavio Paz, Maria Lugones, and others — that may serve as practical principles or guiding habits to help Latinx communities to remain inclusive and open towards others while they safeguard the wellbeing of their most vulnerable members, such as undocumented immigrants.