After a well-publicized brawl in 1988, involving white power skinheads that left him with a broken nose and a recent shouting match on The O’Reilly Factor , it’s easy for many of us to forget that Geraldo Rivera is an attorney, accomplished journalist- who has won over 170 recognitions, including a Peabody and Emmy Award- and now, an author.

In his insightful, well-researched and timely book, His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics, Rivera takes a penetrative look at one of this country’s most divisive issues: illegal immigration. Using historical data and his own personal experience as the son of Hispanic and Jewish parents - who themselves struggled to be “real” Americans- and the lawyer of the Young Lords Party during the 1970s, he is able to dispel the belief that this is first time the United States has ever been unwelcoming to the arrival of ethnic newcomers.

From present-day concerns over the supposed loss of jobs, terrorism and the spread of diseases to the Elian Gonzalez fiasco and the unsettling resemblance between the nativism of today’s Minute Men and the Know-Nothing movement of the mid-nineteenth century, His Panic analyzes each topic, exposing the dangerous racism and fear that has politicians, law enforcement, business owners and ordinary citizens up in arms.

In His Panic’s first chapter “Proud to be an American”, Rivera- who is a born and raised New Yorker- makes it clear that his book’s objective isn’t to lambaste our society for its faults but instead, to help us hold ourselves accountable for the unalienable Rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that we claim America stands for.

Geraldo Rivera’s Website