Joined: 24 Jun 2006 {Posts: 64 } Location: Tampa, Florida.
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 06:49 Post subject: Latinos bring racism from home.
According to this article Latinos bring racism towards Blacks with them from their home countries. Which is really no supprise because anybody who knows half of anything about Central & South America and Mexico should know that blacks aren't treated much(if any) better than they are in North America.
Some people say that Mexicans have a reputation for being racist towards Blacks. And I've also heard Cubans are known to harbor a lot of racism towards blacks as well.
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White residents in Durham actually have a more positive view of blacks, leading researchers to conclude that Latinos’ negative views were not adopted from whites.
Wow! It's hard to believe that southern whites hold blacks in higher regard than latino immigrants do. And kinda sad too.
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More than 78 percent feel they have the most in common with whites, and 52.8 percent said they have the least in common with blacks.
Interesting, do you think their heavily white(Spanish) influenced culture might have something to do with this?
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Whites do not feel the same connection to Latino immigrants. Nearly half of whites -- 47.5 percent -- reported they have the least in common with Latinos. Just 22.2 percent of whites see themselves as having the most in common with Latinos, while 45.9 percent say they have the most in common with blacks.
This doesn't supprise me, because i believe that White Americans and Black Americans do have more in common with each other than they do with latinos. Same language, Same food(with a few minor differences), same religion(most whites and blacks both are protestant Christians). And nearly all Black Americans have English or other European names.
According to this article Latinos bring racism towards Blacks with them from their home countries. Which is really no supprise because anybody who knows half of anything about Central & South America and Mexico should know that blacks aren't treated much(if any) better than they are in North America.
The article suggests this as one of many possible reasons, but as usual when the media is dealing with Latinos or race in general, there’s very little substantive thinking.
First off what kind of Latinos are these Latinos in South Carolina? Are they legal immigrants, illegal (known by the euphemism “undocumented”), or are they U.S. born and bred? Where are they from? Are they from a variety of places or just Central American and Mexico?
Second, though I agree that many Latinos come here with their own racial hang-ups, and ultimately they are responsible for their own racism, I would argue that depending on the Latino nationality and where it is located, Latinos’ racism against blacks may be due to a variety of factors and not exclusively due to ideas they bring with them.
Like other immigrants, including black ones, their ideas about blacks may be based on exposure to certain segments of African American population. As the article states, Hispanics saw blacks as lazy, shiftless, dangerous, etc., In contrast, local whites had a more favorable view of blacks comparatively. One could conclude that local whites, which would include a sizeable number of people who harbor negative views of blacks as well, have more experience with a broader cross section of the area’s black population. In comparison, local Hispanics because of low skill levels, education levels, and lack of English facility are more likely to live in lower-income black neighborhoods or live adjacent to them. They may be more exposed to crime from the criminal element in that community, as well as mistreatment from some segments of that population. Consequently, in the Durham case, their racism may be based on limited bad experiences with local black folks. The article doesn’t raise this as a possible reason for their negative feelings towards blacks in Durham.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 13:48 Post subject: Latinos
G-Man wrote:
... Where are they from? Are they from a variety of places or just Central American and Mexico?
Second, though I agree that many Latinos come here with their own racial hang-ups, and ultimately they are responsible for their own racism, I would argue that depending on the Latino nationality and where it is located, Latinos’ racism against blacks may be due to a variety of factors and not exclusively due to ideas they bring with them....
Right on!
The attitude towards Black people will vary a lot depending where those Latinos are from. A White Brazilian for Northern Brazil, that grow up sourrounded by Black black friends, relatives and even some girlfriends will have a very different attitude with Blacks than a Mexican from a heavily Mestizo-Indian town that have not seen a single Black person in his life.
When people don't know each other stereotypes predominate. And Latinos are not inmune to racism. Latinos tend to tolerate people they have know and have mixed before, but something different to their knowledge could be discriminated as well.
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 {Posts: 282 } Location: 51st State
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 15:01 Post subject:
G-Man wrote:
Quote:
According to this article Latinos bring racism towards Blacks with them from their home countries. Which is really no supprise because anybody who knows half of anything about Central & South America and Mexico should know that blacks aren't treated much(if any) better than they are in North America.
The article suggests this as one of many possible reasons, but as usual when the media is dealing with Latinos or race in general, there’s very little substantive thinking.
Article is news and communications from Duke University.
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First off what kind of Latinos are these Latinos in South Carolina? Are they legal immigrants, illegal (known by the euphemism “undocumented”), or are they U.S. born and bred? Where are they from? Are they from a variety of places or just Central American and Mexico?
Lower income and education level immigrants from mostly Mexico, and Central America.
Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants’ Views of Black Americans
Abstract
The United States is undergoing dramatic demographic change, primarily from immigration, and many of the new Latino immigrants are settling in the South. This paper examines hypotheses related to attitudes of Latino immigrants toward black Americans in a Southern city. The analyses are based on a survey of black, white and Latino residents (n=500). The results show, for the most part, Latino immigrants hold negative stereotypical views of blacks and feel that they have more in common with whites than with blacks. Yet, whites do not reciprocate in their feelings toward Latinos. Latinos’ negative attitudes toward blacks, however, are modulated by a sense of linked fate with other Latinos. This research is important because the South still contains the largest population of African Americans in the United States and no section of the country has been more rigidly defined along a black-white racial divide. How these new Latino immigrants situate themselves vis-à-vis black Americans has profound implications for the social and political fabric of the South.
The 2000 Census confirmed what many Americans already suspected--dramatic demographic change was underway in the United States. The country was becoming increasingly more racially and ethnically diverse with Latinos being one of the fastest growing racial and ethnic groups. The U. S. Census Bureau estimates by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will be only 50.1 percent of the population, while Latinos will be close to one-quarter of the population (U. S. Census Bureau 2004). Some of the demographic changes are attributed to increasing Latino immigration into the United States, with areas of the South experiencing some of the most dramatic demographic change.1 A number of Southern states, such as North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, reported substantial increases in the size of their Latino populations from 1990 to 2000 (U. S. Census 1990, 2000). Notwithstanding, far less attention has been paid to the changing demographics in the South, as this region has not been the recipient of large numbers of Latino immigrants in the past.
1The U. S. Census Bureau estimates that 53 percent of the growth in the Latino population is the result of immigration.
Latinos, by and large, are an entirely new population in the South. Unlike other regions of the country, the South, for the most part, has had no experience with immigrant populations of Latin American origin. The large-scale settlement of Latinos in the Deep South is no more than 10-15 years old (Durand, Massey, and Carvet 2000). Most of these Southern areas are what Suro and Singer (2002) refer to as, “New Latino Destinations” (Hernández-León and Zuñiga 2005). Areas with increasing sizes of Latino populations include cities such as Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, Greensboro-Winston Salem, and Raleigh-Durham, NC; Nashville and Memphis, TN; and Greenville, SC, among others. Between 1990 and 2000, the Atlanta MSA experienced a 388 percent increase in Latino population (55,045 to 268,851 comprising 7 percent of the MSA population); Charlotte, Greensboro-Winston Salem, and Raleigh-Durham MSAs saw the Latino population increase 685 percent (9,817 to 77,092 for 5 percent of MSA), 809 percent (6,844 to 62,210 for 5 percent of MSA) and 631 percent (9,923 to 72,580 for 6 percent of MSA) respectively; Nashville and Memphis MSAs have seen a 454 percent (7,250 to 40,139 for 3 percent of MSA) and 265 percent (7,546 to 27,520 for 2 percent of MSA) increase respectively in their Latino populations; and the Greenville MSA underwent a 358 percent (5,712 to 26,167 for 3 percent of MSA) increase over the decade (Suro and Singer 2002:12-13).
What accounts for this increased Latino immigration into the South? The limited research suggests several reasons. Major shifts in the global economy and new trade policies, such as the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), encouraged the migration of labor and capital restructuring regional, national and global economies. Older industries in the South, such as agriculture, steel, textiles, furniture, and clothing were damaged by the new economy, which included foreign-owned auto plants, high-tech research and manufacturing, biomedical research, and new food processing plants for poultry, hogs, and seafood (Griffith 1993). From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, the economy of the South outperformed all other regions of the country resulting in a need for large numbers of unskilled and inexpensive labor (Duchon and Murphy 2001: 1; Kandel and Parrado 2004). In order to fill this expanded labor need of unskilled low-wage workers, these industries began to actively recruit immigrant workers from Mexico and Central America, but primarily from Mexico (Torres 2000).
Coupled with the pull of economic changes in the South was the push of the ongoing economic crisis in Mexico. This continuing crisis pushed many legal as well as undocumented immigrants into the Southern part of the United States (Massey, Durand and Malone 2002). Many of these Latino immigrants have settled in southern towns and rural areas, but large numbers have chosen urban areas as well. Those who settle in urban areas tend to be employed in non-union, low-wage jobs, such as service workers, cleaning hotels, working for other types of cleaning companies, construction and landscaping firms, and building maintenance (Massey, Durand and Malone 2002).
The new Latino immigrants are entering a region where race has defined the context, structure and life chances of black and white Southerners for centuries. As V. O. Key highlighted in Southern Politics (1949), the politics of the South is the politics of race. While much has changed since Key’s book was published more than a half-century ago, few would argue that race has ceased to be a salient factor in the political and social fabric of the region. What effect is this demographic shift going to have on the structure of intergroup relations in the South that has historically been entirely based on the relationship between blacks and whites? Relations between the new Latino immigrants and established Southern black communities have the potential to be fraught with conflict. But it is also possible these two groups will see each other as having lots in common as racial minorities in a Southern environment. How these new immigrants relate to the established black and white populations is of critical importance in analyzing how they will adapt to the region and how these established populations will adapt to them. Drawing on data from a study of a Southern city that is undergoing tremendous demographic changes, the findings in this paper suggest that relations between black Americans and Latino immigrants are likely to be one of conflict rather than a joining together based on shared minority status in the South.
Two Historical Cases of Racial Distancing
Given the recent nature of Latino immigration into the South, it is not surprising that little scholarly attention has been paid to the topic, although some research is beginning to emerge (Murphy, Blanchard, and Hill 2001; Mohl 2003; Ciscel, Smith and Mendoza 2003; Torres 2000; Kandel and Parrado 2004; Cobb and Stueck 2005; Peacock, Watson and Matthews 2005). The exception in the literature has been research on Miami and the effect of the influx of post-1959 Cubans. Before Miami, however, there was a prior historical instance of the introduction of a new foreign population into the black-white dynamic of the South--the Chinese in Mississippi. Their introduction was probably one of the first moments in post-Civil War United States history where the black-white biracial paradigm was confronted in any real way. The reaction of both of these new immigrants to black Americans might give us a sense of how the new Latino immigrants will react to and position themselves in relation to the Southern black American population. Both Chinese immigrants to the South during the late-nineteenth century and Cuban immigrants during the mid-twentieth century pursued a strategy of racial distancing, seeing themselves as being in economic and social competition with black Americans rather than as natural allies in the fight for social and political equality.
Chinese in Mississippi The Chinese entered Southern history during Reconstruction as part of a strategy devised by Southern planters to retain political power and economic control over the newly freed blacks (Loewen, 1971; Quan, 1982). The planters’ strategy was the importation and employment of Chinese men in occupations previously held by blacks (Quan, 1982: 5). From the planters’ perspective the Chinese were ideal. On the one hand, they would take jobs from blacks forcing them into a subordinate position, while on the other, they were barred from citizenship, could not vote, and thus would not present a potential political threat (Loewen, 1971: 22). This attempt, however, was an utter failure, and by 1880 there were only 51 Chinese inhabitants of the Mississippi Delta (Loewen (1971: 25).2 These numbers increased, however, as Chinese men brought over Chinese brides.
The Chinese were immediately confronted with the South’s racial hierarchy where they were classified with blacks and subject to some of the same segregation laws (Loewen, 1971: 23-4). Despite the cordial relations Chinese apparently shared initially with blacks, they forcefully resisted their social and legal designation with blacks. In fact, Mississippi Chinese filed one of the earliest legal challenges to school segregation in the United States in 1924.3 Historians agree that the Chinese actively sought white approval and, sought to distance themselves from blacks (Loewen, 1971; Quan, 1982). Moreover, to insure their middle position between whites and blacks, the Chinese told whites that they were not interested in marrying whites and were definitely not interested in marrying blacks (Loewen, 1971: 79).
2 According to the 2000 Census, there are 3,099 Chinese in MS presently, and a total Asian population, including East Indians, of 18,626. The most plentiful group is Vietnamese.
3The Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as cited by Loewen (1971:67) and Quan (1982:45), stated that “separate schools shall be maintained for children of the white and colored races, and because the Chinese were not of the White race they were considered of the colored races.” In the case brought by Gong Lum, a grocer in Rosedale and a U.S. citizen (Gong Lum v. Rice. 1927. 275 U.S. 390), the Supreme Court upheld the Mississippi Supreme Courts decision upholding segregation of Chinese with blacks.
They were successful in convincing whites that they were more like whites than they were blacks (whitening up), and they shared whites’ negative attitudes toward and approved of their treatment of blacks.
During the Civil Rights Movement (CRM), relations between blacks and Chinese were strained even further. Blacks knew the Chinese community favored whites, and the CRM served to make that choice more obvious. In 1970, when school desegregation came to Mississippi, both whites and Chinese enrolled their children in private academies (Loewen, 1971: 177). The Delta Chinese saw the CRM as threatening the system of racial segregation that enabled them to occupy a middling space in the oppressive Mississippi environment (Loewen, 1971; Quan, 1982). In brief, in order to attain a certain degree of social standing, the Mississippi Chinese had to actively distance themselves from blacks to show whites that they had no sympathy with blacks and their plight. As such, the Mississippi Chinese began to see themselves as having more in common with whites than with blacks and acted on that perceived commonality.
Cubans in Miami
Miami is probably the best-known instance of the introduction of substantial numbers of a foreign population into the South, but it did not occur en masse until 1959. The number of Cubans in the Miami area in the 1950s was small. The estimate is only about 4 percent (19,800) of Miami’s 495,000 population were Spanish-language speakers in 1950, and about 70 percent of that number (13,860) were estimated to be Cuban (Clark 1991). The push for the immigration of massive numbers of Cubans was the Cuban Revolution in 1959, while the pull to the United States was the needs of United States Cold War foreign policy. The Cubans began to
arrive in Miami in 1959 just as the black Civil Rights Movement was getting underway and was creating opportunities for blacks across the nation. The arrival, to a large extent, of over 800,000 Cubans in Miami between 1959 and 1980 short-circuited economic and political gains for black Miamians (Mohl 1990a).
Cubans were not the normal labor immigrant case. Most of the 1959 immigrants were from the professional class in Cuba. While they initially worked in low-paying jobs that blacks had occupied, the United States government moved quickly to assist them as part of its strategy to undermine Fidel Castro in Cuba. Programs were developed that provided Cubans with food and clothing, housing assistance, social services, medical care, relocation assistance, educational programs, job training, and job placement. As a result, thousands of Cuban elites were able to resume their professional lives in South Florida. It has been estimated that between 1960 and 1990, approximately $2 billion was spent on Cuban resettlement activities (Mohl 1990a).
Massive federal financial assistance to the new Cuban immigrants was not lost on Miami’s black population, who were not able to participate in the programs established for the Cuban immigrants. As early as 1960, the Miami black press began to view the Cuban influx as detrimental to black aspirations and achievements. Blacks and Cubans began to compete for housing and residential space, jobs, and government services (Mohl 1990a). The significant amount of federal resources going to Cubans significantly shifted the economic landscape; in the 20 years of Cuban immigration to Dade County, black entrepreneurship steadily declined. From 1968 to 1980, Cubans received 46.6 percent of all Small Business Administration (SBA) loans in Dade County compared to only 6 percent to blacks. After the four riots in the 1980s, the situation worsened with 90 percent of SBA loans in Miami-Dade going to Cubans and whites (Grenier and Castro 2001).
Like the Mississippi Chinese, Cubans in Miami also perceived a benefit to distancing themselves from black Americans. The substantial assistance from and special status given the Cubans by the United States government put them in a privileged position vis-à-vis black Americans. Cubans, most of whom in the first post-1959 wave self-identified as white, perceived that they had little in common with blacks and situated themselves alongside whites. Moreover, the racial stratification and racial history in Cuba was similar to that of the United States. Blacks arrived in Cuba as slaves, and the post-slavery color hierarchy was one in which most of the social, economic, and political benefits went to those of lighter complexion, while those Cubans of African ancestry and darker skin were relegated to the bottom rungs of society. Segregation along with racial discrimination was prominent in pre-1959 Cuba (Scott 1985; De la Fuente, 1995, 1998; Guimaraes 2001). Race was an old problem in Cuba with its origins in slavery and colonization, and the post-1959 white Cubans brought those attitudes with them to the United States.
Theoretical Implications
In both the Mississippi and Miami cases, a system of racial hierarchy and segregation allowed both communities to flourish. In the Mississippi case, the Chinese flourished despite their status as a non-favored group, whereas with the Cubans in Miami, their success was predetermined given the conditions under which they entered the United States and the massive federal government assistance. If the patterns observed in these two historical cases are predictive, it suggests that the new Latino immigrants into the South will distance themselves from Southern blacks. Recent literature underscores the presence of this historical pattern. In a study of black and Latino relations in Houston, TX in the 1990s, Mindiola, Niemann, and Rodriguez (2003) found that US-born Latinos expressed more negative views of black Americans than blacks expressed of Latinos, but foreign-born Latinos held even more negative views of black Americans. Moreover, foreign-born Latinos were the least tolerant of blacks.
It is possible that attitudes about blacks present in their home countries make Latino immigrants more likely to see black Americans negatively and want to distance themselves from blacks. A large literature exists on racial hierarchy, racial prejudice and discrimination, and racial stereotypes in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Mexico (de la Cadena 2001; Wade 1993, 1997; de la Fuente 2001; Gimareas 2001; Winant 1992; Geipel 1997; Hanchard 1994; Mörner 1967; Sweet 1997(?); Dulitzky 2005). Literature specifically on the racial ordering in Mexico argues that race became a principal factor in the social and economic organization of Spanish colonial society and the racial ordering was established to benefit whites (Menchaca 2001; Seed 1982). Despite the negative attitudes toward blacks on the part of Latino immigrants identified by Mindiola, Niemann, and Rodriguez (2003), it is possible that increased contact between the two groups will reduce Latino immigrants’ negative attitudes toward black Americans. One approach to thinking about this response is through the lens of contact theory.
Contact Theory
Contact theory (or propinquity) is the springboard for much of the literature on racial attitudes. It argues that increased contact between two groups with negative attitudes toward each other will result in a decrease in negative attitudes (Hood and Morris 1998). Originally associated with the work of Allport (1954), research on contextual determinants of racial and ethnic relations has been mixed. Some scholars have found increased contact under certain conditions, e.g., interdependence, common goals, equal status, and encouragement by authorities, reduces prejudice (Amir 1969, 1976; Jackman and Crane 1986; Stephan and Stephan 1985; Kinder and Mendelberg 1995; Ellison and Powers 1994; Welch, Sigelman, Bledsoe and Combs 2001; Sigelman and Welch 1993). Other researchers have found that as the concentration, and consequently contact, of two groups increases, competition and prejudice also increase (Fossett and Kiecolt 1989; Quillian 1996). Still others have identified the presence of both increased animosity and reduced prejudice (Morris 1999; Sigelman and Welch 1993).
Most of this research, however, has focused on black and white interaction, and a few studies have focused on Latino and Asian interaction with whites (Taylor 1998). Research on the effects of interminority group contact on prejudice and stereotypes is limited. Oliver and Wong (2003) examined attitudes of racial groups in multi-racial settings finding, with the exception of Asians, people who live in neighborhoods where their group dominates tend to harbor greater negative stereotypes about other racial minority groups. In other words, racial stereotypes increase as the percent of one’s own in-group increases in their neighborhood. Blacks and Latinos, who are the most racially isolated, harbor the most negative views of other groups, but this pattern was not as pronounced among blacks and Latinos residing in neighborhoods that are racially diverse. Yet, they also found that higher levels of propinquity correlated with lower levels of prejudice and perceived competition (Oliver and Wong 2003). Thus, it appears that contact theory can result in three different types of reactions—reduced prejudice and perceived competition, increased prejudice and perceived competition, or a mixture of both.
Drawing from the cases of Miami and Mississippi, the literature on Latino immigrant attitudes toward black Americans and contact theory, we test two hypotheses:
H1 Latino immigrants hold negative stereotypes of black Americans, but these stereotypes will be reduced by length of stay in the country, and increased interaction with black Americans; and
H2 Latino immigrants see themselves as closer to whites than to blacks, but increases in length of time in the country, and increased interaction with black Americas will push them closer to blacks.
Research Setting
Durham, North Carolina is the setting for this study. The City of Durham, like many Southern locations, is undergoing demographic change. Table 1 shows the changes in the demographics of the population of the City of Durham from 1990 to 2000. What is clear is that the number of Latinos residing in the city has risen dramatically. In 1990, Latinos were slightly more than one percent of the population, but by 2000, their percentage reached 8.6 percent. For decades, whites were the majority in Durham (51.6% in 1990), but the increasing Latino population, along with a smaller increase in the Asian population, have reduced the white proportion to the point where in 2000 blacks and whites were almost equal percentages of the population, 45.5 percent for whites and 43.8 percent for blacks.4
[Insert Table 1 about here]
Durham’s Latino population is antithetical to the Cuban case. First, the current wave of Latino immigrants does not fit into the United States’ foreign policy calculations of encouraging
an exodus from a communist country in an effort to undermine the government. Thus, the enormous amounts of federal aid that went to post-1959 Cubans in South Florida do not exist for these new Latino immigrants. Although Latinos in Durham are not benefiting from targeted social services as in Miami, it does appear there are special programs designed to help native Spanish speakers receive more traditional forms of aid. Second, Latinos in Durham are typically not members of the professional community in their home countries, and have lower incomes and education and skill levels than the Cuban community. Many of these immigrants are from poorer countries, e.g. Mexico, and Central America.5 Therefore, Latinos and blacks might come into greater competition for the same jobs and social services than in Miami (for a discussion of possible job competition, see McClain et al 2005). Third, the reasons for immigration into the United States for recent immigrants are primarily economic rather than political.6
Why Durham, North Carolina? First, North Carolina has the fastest growing Latino population in the country. It experienced an almost 500 percent increase in its Latino population, primarily with immigrants from Mexico, skyrocketing from 76,726 in 1990 to 378,963 in 2000 (U. S. Census 1990, 2000). Furthermore, North Carolina had the highest rate of growth in its immigrant population out of all the states in the 1990s. Suro and Singer (2002) identify Raleigh-Durham as having the highest rate of Latino growth from 1980 to 2000—1,180 percent. [See figures in Table 1.]
4 Both of these groups gained in absolute numbers of people, but lost as a proportion of the population from 1990 to 2000.
5The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) identified that many of the Mexican immigrants into North Carolina come primarily from rural towns in the State of Puebla (November 29, 1998; November 30, 1998). For the most part, these immigrants are unskilled and poorly educated.
6In a series of articles throughout 2002 chronicling the lives of area residents living in poverty, The Herald Sun (Durham) provided a picture of life for Latinos in Durham that differed markedly from the Miami case. Fully 26 percent of the more than 16,000 Latinos in Durham live below the federal poverty level, and, in order to make a good living, it is necessary for them to work more than one job (Assis and Pecquet 2002: A12).
Second, Durham, like other cities of the New South, has experienced a decline or exit of industries where blacks have traditionally found work. As a result, a substantial portion of the black population now works in the service industry and many (but not necessarily all) blacks and the new Latino immigrants find themselves competing for the same jobs. Finally, from a research and data gathering perspective, Durham is of a manageable size.
Data and Measures
Our data also confirm what we had suspected--the Latino population in Durham is basically an immigrant population, primarily from Mexico. Ninety-three percent of the Latino respondents in the sample were born outside the United States. Of the 93 percent (n=156), only about 19 percent were naturalized citizens. While Mexicans were the largest portion of the Latino sample (63 percent), Latinos from Central America were the next largest group (23 percent), followed by South American (5 percent), Puerto Rican (4 percent), Spanish (2 percent), Cuban (1 percent), and Other Latino (2 percent). Given that we are interested in Latino immigrant attitudes, most of the analyses are performed using only these 156 individuals.
Discussion and Conclusion
We posited two hypotheses--Latino immigrants hold negative stereotypes of blacks and Latino immigrants feel they have the most in common with whites, both attitudes that may be
mitigated by contact factors and length of time in country--as the core questions for this paper. Some aspects of our hypotheses have been confirmed and other portions have not panned out. What we see is that contact theory and racial distancing are not mutually exclusive.
23As with the first hypothesis, we included interaction terms of linked fate with neighborhood contact with blacks, and education with neighborhood contact with blacks, individually and in combination. None of the interaction terms was statistically significant.
24 For blacks, none of the predictors are statistically significant. (Results are not shown.) Moreover, the direction of the coefficients is opposite what we might have hypothesized.
For the most part, Latino immigrants in Durham hold negative stereotypical views of blacks, with Latino males holding more stereotypical views of black Americans than do Latinas. The presence of negative stereotypes of black Americans among Latino immigrants is consistent with the findings of Mindialo, Niemann and Rodriquez (2003). This is a troubling finding that raises additional questions. Given that length of stay in the United States appears to be unrelated to the strength of negative stereotypes about blacks, this finding suggests that Latino immigrants might possibly bring views of the racial hierarchies in their own countries with them to the United States. Since the research on race and Latin America and Mexico identifies blacks as representing the bottom rungs of society and the presence of the process of “whitening up,” we assume that they might bring prejudicial attitudes with them.
On the other hand, several factors do appear to reduce Latino immigrants’ negative stereotypes of black Americans--increases in education, a sense of linked fate on the part of Latino immigrants with other Latinos, and more social interaction with blacks. In this instance, contact theory, as defined as social contact, seems to bring about a positive change in attitude. Moreover, the presence of linked fate mitigates negative attitudes. The significance of this predictor has not been studied to any significant extent in the Latino politics literature and clearly deserves additional study, something we plan to do as we continue our work on this project.
In addition to holding negative stereotypical views of black Americans, Latino immigrants do indeed feel that they have more in common with whites than with blacks. Moreover, living in the same neighborhoods as blacks, contrary to our expectations, appears to reinforce the view on the part of Latino immigrants that they have more in common with whites and the least in common with blacks. Thus, while social contact in the previous hypothesis reduces negative stereotypical views, Latino immigrants living in the same neighborhoods with blacks pushes them farther away from blacks and closer to whites. In this instance, contact theory does not appear to work when the contact comes about by living in the same neighborhood. If, as some scholars suggest, the longer some Latino immigrants remain in the United States, the more likely they are to begin to see themselves as “collective blacks,” then our results suggests that this is not necessarily the case, at least for the Latino immigrants in our Southern location (Bonilla-Silva 2004). While our statistical analyses shows that Latinos’ negative stereotypes of blacks and the likelihood that Latinos identify more with whites than with blacks decreases with length of stay in this country, the effects are statistically uncertain. It may be that with a considerably larger number of observations one might find a significant decline in attachments to whites, but the very small magnitude of these relationships does not provide this argument with much traction. Again, however, the presence of Latino immigrant linked fate moves Latino immigrants closer to blacks and away from whites. This finding is consistent with Kaufmann’s (2003) findings on Latinos in general—Latinos who feel closer to other Latinos are more likely to feel closer to blacks.
Our findings on the dimension of negative stereotypes of black Americans held by Latino immigrants are not merely a confirmation of previous results, but represent a significant difference from previous findings. While our result may conform to that of Mindialo, Niemann and Rodriquez (2001), the context is different and the possible effects more profound. Mindialo at al. examined attitudes in Houston, Texas where Latino immigrants were integrating into an existing Latino American population with a long history in Texas in general and Houston in particular. Attitudes of Latino immigrants could possibly be moderated and ameliorated through interaction with native-born Latino American populations. This situation does not exist, however, in the South, where American Latino communities are not present to any great extent. Therefore, this means Latino immigrants have no reference point for black Americans other than their own attitudes, which might have been formed prior to their arrival in the United States, and which do not appear to dissipate with increased interaction with blacks. Yet, the finding that these negative attitudes are modulated by a sense of linked fate suggests possibilities for the formation of connections to black Americans in the absence of the presence of an extant American Latino community.
What's more, these findings are important because the South still contains the largest population of African Americans in the United States and is considered their “regional homeland.” Moreover, the South has suffered through some of the most politicized battles over race relations in recent history. No other section of the country has been as rigidly defined along the black-white racial divide as has the South. While we did not test directly V. O. Key’s assertions of over fifty years ago of the continued salience of race in the South, the black-white divide in the South is certain to shape the attitudes and incentives of Latinos in the region, and how these new Latino immigrants situate themselves vis-à-vis black Americans has profound implications for the social and political fabric of the South.
What do these findings mean for Southern politics and the politics of race? We must be cautious in drawing broad conclusions about the future politics of the South from a one-Southern city study with a small survey sample. Yet our findings are suggestive of possible patterns that might be exhibited in other parts of the South and implicative of future trends.
Latino immigrants’ negative views of black Americans, most likely brought with them from their home countries and reinforced, rather than reduced, by neighborhood interactions with blacks, suggests that these new Latino immigrants may behave in ways similar to the Chinese in Mississippi in the mid-nineteenth century, and the Cubans in Miami in the mid-twentieth century--identification with whites, distancing themselves from blacks, and feeling no responsibility to rectify the continuing inequalities of black Americans. Given the increasing number of Latino immigrants in the South and the possibility that over time their numbers might rival or even surpass black Americans in the region, if large portions of Latino immigrants maintain negative attitudes of black Americans, where will this leave blacks? Will blacks find that they must not only make demands on whites for continued progress, but also mount a fight on another front against Latinos? Or, will Latino immigrants begin to see themselves as closer to blacks the longer they reside in the United States as some scholars suggest? Clearly, in order to answer this question we need to do similar work in a series of Southern locations. But, based on our results in this paper, which are by no means definitive, but are highly suggestive, we fear the former rather than the latter is the future of the politics of race in the South.
Thanks for the link that clears up some things. I still believe that more detail and the exploration of other causes of these negative attitudes should be looked into. Perhaps these things are addressed in the actual pdf file version of the study. I’ll have to look at it more thoroughly later. For now I’ll just touch on some of the things you posted here, especially the things in bold.
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It is possible that attitudes about blacks present in their home countries make Latino immigrants more likely to see black Americans negatively and want to distance themselves from blacks. A large literature exists on racial hierarchy, racial prejudice and discrimination, and racial stereotypes in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Mexico
A great way to substantiate this would be to ask immigrants what their attitudes about black people were before they came here. Despite the existence of racism and colorism is Latin America that negatively impacts blacks particularly, some of these Latin American immigrants may come from countries where they have absolutely no experience dealing with people with any African ancestry. Additionally, a breakdown of which Hispanic groups distance themselves more from blacks and the any positive correlation between that distancing and the presence of people of African descent in their home countries would have been very illuminating. Are Hispanics in the sample from the Caribbean more of less likely to distance themselves from blacks compared to those from Mexico or Central America?
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In addition to holding negative stereotypical views of black Americans, Latino immigrants do indeed feel that they have more in common with whites than with blacks. Moreover, living in the same neighborhoods as blacks, contrary to our expectations, appears to reinforce the view on the part of Latino immigrants that they have more in common with whites and the least in common with blacks. Thus, while social contact in the previous hypothesis reduces negative stereotypical views, Latino immigrants living in the same neighborhoods with blacks pushes them farther away from blacks and closer to whites. In this instance, contact theory does not appear to work when the contact comes about by living in the same neighborhood.
The authors here have not factored in the possibility that some of these immigrants may have been subjected to ill treatment at the hands of some of the residents in these black neighborhoods. This too might be a contributing factor to their negative views of blacks and could be uncovered simply by asking the respondents in the study. The nature of the contact can influence how people view others. Could it be that more educated Latinos have contacts with more educated African Americans and, therefore, base their more positive views about blacks on these contacts?
But some of this stuff is blown out of proportion. I'm considered Black in the United States, and while not all White people have treated me bad, I do in general get treated better by Latinos who tend to think I'm Latino.
So when I White person that is racist against Black people treats me in a negative, sharp, manner, and a Latino who looks at me and views me as Puerto Rican or Cuban or Colombian treats me like one of them.... what Black people are being treated bad?
It would seem to me Latin Americans and people of the United States have two different imaginations of what constitutes Black.
I'm a fairly slow person to accuse someone of racism. Though I've experienced it and know it exists. I had a fairly recent experience with a older Mexican woman who I suspect had racist feelings. She treated me nicely till she saw my Black father who is of course much darker than me (I'm like Halle Berry complexion). My experience in life and instincts gave me, and leads me, to believe the olf broad was/is racist.
However many Latinos have no problem being civil and friendly with Black people like my father from what I have seen too.
The one factor that has to be analysed is what their current feeling is about Hispanic Blacks as well. Theri might be an ethno-cultural aspect in many cases as well.
Latinos can also treat Black people better because they are not White! And sometimes Blacks can resent not being the "dominant minority," just like Whites can resent losing political power to Latinos. That's been my experience overall living in the Southwest. You have to look at proportion, local economics and historical dynamics before drawing conclusions about how Latino immigrants will operate within the U.S. Especially important are status and economics. When two groups are competing for the same jobs, trying not to be the group on the bottom rung it's doubtful that they will develop warm feelings for one another despite what U.S. conventional "minority politics" thinking may be. The dynamic is a bit more complex in the Southwest, where Mexican Americans are in the majority. Blacks are a miniscule part of the population in West Texas, New Mexcio and Arizona. Many arrived here via the military, whether historically (i.e. The Buffalo Soldiers) or more recently (U.S. military). Mexico also supported the emancipation of Black slaves and actively aided runaways.
All of that doesn't mean there aren't intergroup issues that are racist in nature. I highly recommend the movie Lone Star by John Sayles if anyone is interested in what life on "the border" can be like.
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 {Posts: 282 } Location: 51st State
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 20:10 Post subject:
e harmoni wrote:
So when I White person that is racist against Black people treats me in a negative, sharp, manner, and a Latino who looks at me and views me as Puerto Rican or Cuban or Colombian treats me like one of them.... what Black people are being treated bad?
Black people who are mistreated on the basis of color and/or race by the white person and for not having a Spanish name, accent or not looking like a Latino by the Latin Americans.
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It would seem to me Latin Americans and people of the United States have two different imaginations of what constitutes Black.
Note 14: Question wording for Latinos: 1) Of the following groups, if you had to say, which one do you feel you have the most in common with: African Americans/blacks, Asians, or whites; 2) And, which of the following groups do you feel you share the least in common with: African Americans/blacks, Asians, or whites. We recoded the Asian category as missing, since only six Latino respondents reported feeling that Latinos have the most in common with Asians.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 20:36 Post subject: Which Latinos?
The point is which Latinos.
I don't know if you are aware that different groups of Latinos sometimes don't get along well between themselves. Regional and national variations make a lot of differences.
I am pretty sure that a Cuban high class business people or an Argentinean proffesional would not mind to identify as White, to assimilate to "Whiteness" and to develop "White attitudes".
A Mexican construction worker would have a completely different attitude. For him both Blacks and Whites are allien people to whom he must compite and sometimes mark territory.
A Dominican mulatto will not have a problem, I believe, to socialize with Black people given he suffers discrimination not only from white Americans but from Latinos from countries other than the Dominican Republic.
That's why I always remark that racial tolerancy is "inside" countries. (A Brazilian biracial couple could have a lot of problems in Argentina, for example). When comes the time to migrate to the U.S., every single Latino addapts to the new situation the best they could, and certain bigotry from back home comes with them as well.
I think that we are missing the point of just who is being looked down on. Although trite and cliched, that fact is that Hispanics come in all colors. We see ourselves (in my case anyway) as Puerto Ricans, and not as Black or White. But I have lived for so many years in other countries that I have some experience with irritating American tourists, who insist that their unique prejudices are God-given. And so, wherever they go, they ridicule anyone who does not conform to their bizarre world-view. Among such "ugly Americans," afrocentrist zealots are particularly infuriating, demanding that my sister shun me because she is dark and I am fair.
It is unfortunate but understandable, that some Hispanics (especially those of mostly African ancestry) get fed up with such arrogance and come to distrust all dark-skinned Anglos. Worse, they admit it.
Is such prejudice real? Yes. Is it justified? I do not know. Is it "racism"? Of course not. Not unless you define "racism" as opposition to African-descended Anglos by African-descended Hispanics.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 22:16 Post subject: Good point
fwsweet wrote:
...Is such prejudice real? Yes. Is it justified? I do not know. Is it "racism"? Of course not. Not unless you define "racism" as opposition to African-descended Anglos by African-descended Hispanics.
Good point!
Yes. People forget that Anglo and Hispanics are two different ethnic groups. As different as cats and dogs Regardless that the Anglos are dark or light they (I am afraid) share a lot more between them than with the rest of mankind: a common history, music, values, religion and (even if they don't accept it) some genetics too. The same is true for Hispanics.
I am always amazed that Black-Latinos say they are proud to be Latinos. No Blacks, no Afro-Latinos, but Latinos. And they are right, they are ! They are our people and they don't need to put a prefix before theirs identity.
So when I White person that is racist against Black people treats me in a negative, sharp, manner, and a Latino who looks at me and views me as Puerto Rican or Cuban or Colombian treats me like one of them.... what Black people are being treated bad?
Black people who are mistreated on the basis of color and/or race by the white person and for not having a Spanish name, accent or not looking like a Latino by the Latin Americans.
Quote:
It would seem to me Latin Americans and people of the United States have two different imaginations of what constitutes Black.
Note 14: Question wording for Latinos: 1) Of the following groups, if you had to say, which one do you feel you have the most in common with: African Americans/blacks, Asians, or whites; 2) And, which of the following groups do you feel you share the least in common with: African Americans/blacks, Asians, or whites. We recoded the Asian category as missing, since only six Latino respondents reported feeling that Latinos have the most in common with Asians.
Sorry ... I didn't read the article till now. I was being reationary to constantly reading American posters damn near on every site I have ever visited constantly complaining Latinos are racists against Black people. So I guess I'm a bit reactionary to the commentary now.
Mexicans are infact by-in-large very hard workers. (I can't say for other Latinos)
From my experience educated Black men and women are extremely hard workers having to fight and compete in a supra tough enviroment with much more racism than the overall blue collar fields (minus some blue collar fields like unionized construction ad maybe the interstate truck field).
However I'm afraid to say it but uneducated Black people tend to be some of the most lazy laborer in the United States. Now this is not every indivdual Black laborer. Some are par excellent. But I hate to say most Black laborers aren't good workers. I think this has alot to do with the one time culture of welfare that permeated poor Black neighborhoods inconjunction with the thug culture. Because I know I was looked upon by Black women on welfare back when I did commercial/residental painting like I was one step above a pedophiler. They treated me the same way when I was in the Marine Corps. Yet any hint of being a thug and steeling (or murdering) for a living those same women cast honors onto.
I think many of the mestizo Latinos identify with Whites to the degree that they identify with the whole hardwork/immigration story White America sells. Other than that my experience with mestizo Latinos has been that they view themselves distant from White Americans and they are distrustful of them to a degree too.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Thu 13 Jul 2006 01:20 Post subject: Good Point!
e harmoni wrote:
...I think many of the mestizo Latinos identify with Whites to the degree that they identify with the whole hardwork/immigration story White America sells. Other than that my experience with mestizo Latinos has been that they view themselves distant from White Americans and they are distrustful of them to a degree too.
Yes. I think you have hit another important cultural difference right on.
The Hispanic and Lusitano (Brazil) American societies structure themselves in classes: the poors, the middle class and the upper class. But also in two parallel subclasses: the criminals and the "good fellows".
The criminals are a small minority, but it has a great impact in the whole, like in any society.
Now, this two groups, the criminals and the common people, form two parallel societies side by side. Criminals not only have their own "system of values", but also its slang, its custums and attitudes that can be seen a mile away. Criminals usually live in gettoes together with the poorest people in any city or town, developing their own subculture, which include legal activities like prostitution, drug dealing, robberies up to hijacking and murders. Criminals have a kind of music, a kind of clothes, a way of walking, etc. We could easily speak of a "criminal subculture". And, curiously, certain rythms like Tango or Salsa have its origins in that particular subculture.
Well, Latinos have grown up hating criminals. All those behavoirs that reveal criminality, like speaking with manners, making strange gestures, or trying to impress people with certain way of looking, triggers an inmediate instinctive reaction to the other members of the other group.
First, you don't talk, cross the street, ignore, or show your will stand and are ready to fight. Criminals are not considered, by Latinos, as part of their group. They are not even considered humans -although nobody will say that in public. When someone shot one not even a sense of guilty appears in a "good fellow". Sometimes the crows joint together spontaneously to kill a criminal, particularly when in cases of rape of children.
Now. Mexicans workers and other hard working Latinos, knew that reality back home. Actually, perhaps one reason they went to the States was to escape from "bandidos".
It is easy to see that when they see people with strange and agresive manners in the street the same defensive instinct will trigger once again. Now, if the person that triggers that reaction of fear and hate happens to be a Black man, it is quite easy that generalization follows.
That must be taking in consideration, given that Mexican workers usually go to live to the poorest and most dangerous neighbourhoods.
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 {Posts: 282 } Location: 51st State
Posted: Thu 13 Jul 2006 16:57 Post subject: Re: Good Point!
oevega wrote:
e harmoni wrote:
...I think many of the mestizo Latinos identify with Whites to the degree that they identify with the whole hardwork/immigration story White America sells. Other than that my experience with mestizo Latinos has been that they view themselves distant from White Americans and they are distrustful of them to a degree too.
Yes. I think you have hit another important cultural difference right on.
The Hispanic and Lusitano (Brazil) American societies structure themselves in classes: the poors, the middle class and the upper class. But also in two parallel subclasses: the criminals and the "good fellows".
The criminals are a small minority, but it has a great impact in the whole, like in any society.
Agreed, specially when head of states (ignoring public and informed opinion) launch illegal wars on brown people in South West Asia for something they claim they have but can't find...or is it actually for something else they do have in abundance. Goodfellows indeed.
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Now, this two groups, the criminals and the common people, form two parallel societies side by side. Criminals not only have their own "system of values", but also its slang, its custums and attitudes that can be seen a mile away. Criminals usually live in gettoes together with the poorest people in any city or town, developing their own subculture, which include legal activities like prostitution, drug dealing, robberies up to hijacking and murders. Criminals have a kind of music, a kind of clothes, a way of walking, etc. We could easily speak of a "criminal subculture". And, curiously, certain rythms like Tango or Salsa have its origins in that particular subculture.
Well, Latinos have grown up hating criminals. All those behavoirs that reveal criminality, like speaking with manners, making strange gestures, or trying to impress people with certain way of looking, triggers an inmediate instinctive reaction to the other members of the other group.
First, you don't talk, cross the street, ignore, or show your will stand and are ready to fight. Criminals are not considered, by Latinos, as part of their group. They are not even considered humans -although nobody will say that in public. When someone shot one not even a sense of guilty appears in a "good fellow". Sometimes the crows joint together spontaneously to kill a criminal, particularly when in cases of rape of children.
To others with familiarity with Latin America, do these criminals sound like the poors, the middle class or the upper class? I've read on this board and in this paper how overwhelmingly the darker phenotype correlates with the bottom social strata.
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Now. Mexicans workers and other hard working Latinos, knew that reality back home. Actually, perhaps one reason they went to the States was to escape from "bandidos".
It is easy to see that when they see people with strange and agresive manners in the street the same defensive instinct will trigger once again. Now, if the person that triggers that reaction of fear and hate happens to be a Black man, it is quite easy that generalization follows.
White men and women and Asian men and women don't portray these manners?
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That must be taking in consideration, given that Mexican workers usually go to live to the poorest and most dangerous neighbourhoods.
Lets just forget the paper shall we, or shall we start reading it now?
"If you do not understand White Supremacy (Racism)--what it is, and how it works-everything else that you understand, will only confuse you."
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Thu 13 Jul 2006 17:28 Post subject: Re: Good Point!
Altertude wrote:
...
Agreed, specially when head of states (ignoring public and informed opinion) launch illegal wars on brown people in South West Asia for something they claim they have but can't find...or is it actually for something else they do have in abundance. Goodfellows indeed.
Yes.
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To others with familiarity with Latin America, do these criminals sound like the poors, the middle class or the upper class?
Not really. Drug lords are not poor people, for example. The owner of a "ladies for men" house are not usually poor either.
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I've read on this board and in this paper how overwhelmingly the darker phenotype correlates with the bottom social strata.
You people in the U.S. have a psycopatic attitude with skin color. We are talking of criminals versus common people in here, not between Black and Whites... well, at least you believe all criminals belong to the same skin color. I don't.
Code:
White men and women and Asian men and women don't portray these manners?
Criminals exist in all the groups. No difference in there. That's the point.
What I am trying to explain is that in Latin America exist two parallel culture. The one of the "rascals" and the one of the "good people", in a permanent conflict. And they classify people with that criteria.
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"If you do not understand White Supremacy (Racism)--what it is, and how it works-everything else that you understand, will only confuse you."
Agree. But if you don't understand how the new "alliens" think, try to get informed. The American "system-of-colors" is not a priority for these new naughty people. For them there only exist one divide: Anglos versus Hispanics. Don't forget it.
......afrocentrist zealots are particularly infuriating, demanding that my sister shun me because she is dark and I am fair.
......
Sheesh....I guess that chutzpah will never be in short supply on this planet...
LMAO. I was going down the escalator with my sister at Penn Station and some of them screamed race traitor at my sister. And she does not look Black. Just not White.
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 {Posts: 110 } Location: chicago
Posted: Fri 14 Jul 2006 17:12 Post subject: Re: Latinos bring racism from home.
Marcus_Aurelius wrote:
According to this article Latinos bring racism towards Blacks with them from their home countries. Which is really no supprise because anybody who knows half of anything about Central & South America and Mexico should know that blacks aren't treated much(if any) better than they are in North America.
Some people say that Mexicans have a reputation for being racist towards Blacks. And I've also heard Cubans are known to harbor a lot of racism towards blacks as well.
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White residents in Durham actually have a more positive view of blacks, leading researchers to conclude that Latinos’ negative views were not adopted from whites.
Wow! It's hard to believe that southern whites hold blacks in higher regard than latino immigrants do. And kinda sad too.
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More than 78 percent feel they have the most in common with whites, and 52.8 percent said they have the least in common with blacks.
Interesting, do you think their heavily white(Spanish) influenced culture might have something to do with this?
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Whites do not feel the same connection to Latino immigrants. Nearly half of whites -- 47.5 percent -- reported they have the least in common with Latinos. Just 22.2 percent of whites see themselves as having the most in common with Latinos, while 45.9 percent say they have the most in common with blacks.
This doesn't supprise me, because i believe that White Americans and Black Americans do have more in common with each other than they do with latinos. Same language, Same food(with a few minor differences), same religion(most whites and blacks both are protestant Christians). And nearly all Black Americans have English or other European names.
I would like to this research take place in major cities . not just some small southern city such as Durham, NC .
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It's hard to believe that southern whites hold blacks in higher regard than latino immigrants do. And kinda sad too. 
Regardless that the Anglos are dark or light they (I am afraid) share a lot more between them than with the rest of mankind: a common history, music, values, religion and (even if they don't accept it) some genetics too. The same is true for Hispanics.
... I didn't read the article till now. I was being reationary to constantly reading American posters damn near on every site I have ever visited constantly complaining Latinos are racists against Black people. So I guess I'm a bit reactionary to the commentary now.