Latino newcomers: Myths vs. Facts
Everyone in this region has to cope with myths.
Northeasterners who move here have to battle stereotypes about their accents, food preferences and driving habits.
Southerners – well, they have to deal with different stereotypes about the same things.
And if you’re Latino, you have a whole other batch of myths to contend with.
I gained a new perspective on this issue this week when I attended a brownbag lunch organized by Tom Hanchett at Levine Museum of the New South. Heather Smith, an associate professor of geography at UNC Charlotte, presented findings from research she did with colleague Owen Furuseth to contribute a chapter to the recent book "Latinos in the New South: Transformations of Place" (Ashgate Publishing).
Charlotte is ranked fourth among the nation’s fastest-growing Hispanic communities – 932 percent growth from 1980 to 2000. Census numbers are notoriously unreliable for counting, but it’s estimated about 100,000 Latinos are in Charlotte now, and tens of thousands more around the region.
Here are some of the myths they’ve faced:
MYTH: Charlotte had no Latino population before 1990.
FACT: Charlotte’s community of Cuban, Puerto Rican and South American residents was booming by the 1970s.
MYTH: Charlotte’s Latino immigrants are overwhelmingly young, male Mexicans.
FACT: The immigrants are 41 percent Mexican, 17 percent Central American, 9 percent South American and 33 percent other ancestry. And while the majority are male, females and complete families make up make up the fastest-growing categories of immigrants.
MYTH: Latinos are primarily undocumented.
FACT: Forty-three percent of Charlotte’s Latino residents are U.S. citizens and an unknown additional number are legally documented residents moving from other areas of the U.S.
I’m not presenting this to get into an immigration debate. I’m doing it to show that the facts about newcomers often challenge or contradict stereotypes.
We’re a region increasingly dominated by transplants all drawn here for the same reasons: A good economy, good weather, a good quality of life. As this blog has shown, sometimes there are tensions as our diverse newcomers learn how to get along with each other – and the natives.
If you’re a transplant, what do you think are some of the predominant stereotypes about where you’re from – and which ones are unfair?
Northeasterners who move here have to battle stereotypes about their accents, food preferences and driving habits.
Southerners – well, they have to deal with different stereotypes about the same things.
And if you’re Latino, you have a whole other batch of myths to contend with.
I gained a new perspective on this issue this week when I attended a brownbag lunch organized by Tom Hanchett at Levine Museum of the New South. Heather Smith, an associate professor of geography at UNC Charlotte, presented findings from research she did with colleague Owen Furuseth to contribute a chapter to the recent book "Latinos in the New South: Transformations of Place" (Ashgate Publishing).
Charlotte is ranked fourth among the nation’s fastest-growing Hispanic communities – 932 percent growth from 1980 to 2000. Census numbers are notoriously unreliable for counting, but it’s estimated about 100,000 Latinos are in Charlotte now, and tens of thousands more around the region.
Here are some of the myths they’ve faced:
MYTH: Charlotte had no Latino population before 1990.
FACT: Charlotte’s community of Cuban, Puerto Rican and South American residents was booming by the 1970s.
MYTH: Charlotte’s Latino immigrants are overwhelmingly young, male Mexicans.
FACT: The immigrants are 41 percent Mexican, 17 percent Central American, 9 percent South American and 33 percent other ancestry. And while the majority are male, females and complete families make up make up the fastest-growing categories of immigrants.
MYTH: Latinos are primarily undocumented.
FACT: Forty-three percent of Charlotte’s Latino residents are U.S. citizens and an unknown additional number are legally documented residents moving from other areas of the U.S.
I’m not presenting this to get into an immigration debate. I’m doing it to show that the facts about newcomers often challenge or contradict stereotypes.
We’re a region increasingly dominated by transplants all drawn here for the same reasons: A good economy, good weather, a good quality of life. As this blog has shown, sometimes there are tensions as our diverse newcomers learn how to get along with each other – and the natives.
If you’re a transplant, what do you think are some of the predominant stereotypes about where you’re from – and which ones are unfair?
posted by Leigh at
10:35 AM
20 Comments:
From the blog administrator: This post is not meant to be a referendum about immigration. It's about stereotypes that newcomers have to deal with. I won't hesitate to delete ugly or off-topic comments. Thanks for your attention!
While I'm not a newcomer but actually a native I would still like to weigh in on this subject. It has been my pleasure to discover that most of the transplants that work in my office are thrilled to be here. While there may be some things missed from their former homes, they actually have adapted quite easily. And to my good fortune have been kind enough to have shared some of their recipes and customs with me. I love the diversity, but I also love the wonderful Southern traditions I grew up with. Please don't ask me to change them but also please allow me to teach and be taught something new.
Being a Latino newcomer (from another American state), I found that there is such a push for me to go to all of the Mexican restaurants. Everyone keeps telling me I have to go here or there and eat the Latino food. I didn't move here to eat only Mexican food! Natives, tell me where I can get the traditional Southern food. I'm here to embrace the South. Show me the grits, not the tacos!
I really really admire what southern belle said. I truely hope most natives think that way because that is how it should be.
Latino newcomer I am giggling while reading your post.If you want to experience Southern food like grits, try a small restaurant or local diner type place. You can usually find grits,biscuits and livermush too on the menu for breakfast.
I think Latinos fit relatively well into Charlotte's culture. Most who move here are doing so because they're ambitious and hard-working enough to pursue employment in a new country, and that fits well with this city's business-first personality. I really believe that in 30 years there will be a sizeable Latino presence in the business community here (Felix Sabates has already blazed the trail) and the city will largely benefit from their presence.
I agree with all the comments. I am a transplant who loves living in the south. Thank you Southern Belle for embracing the differences that transplants bring. Diversity is in. The spices of culture add flavor and bring excitment to any city.
Center city needs an international presence (park, building for forgein affairs, and more ethnic cuisines.)
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I am grateful that someone has published actual findings on this subject to counter all the false beliefs which seem to be ever present in this growing city. Though Charlotte has been around for many ages, it is a relatively new city, hence the terminology of a "New South" City. Thriving cities have always been made up of many different cultures, which give the very city it's unique personality. I believe that Charlotte still has alot of growing up to do and that we should work together and not separately. I come from this understanding by being from a few separate cultures. I moved here from Louisana as a child to live with family that were predominatly "Charlotteans" from German Ancestry. Yet my mother is hispanic and I consider myself "Latin American" or "Hispanic American". North Carolina has been home to many hispanics since it's discovery. Spain had actually tried to establish a few forts in the peidmont areas of the Carolinas before the English arrived. Though it seems that there has been more of an influx of immigrants with in the past 10 years, hispanics/latins/latinos (as well as the many Eastern Euorpeans) have had as much an affect on this state's history as other groups.
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To the poster whose comments have just been deleted: Seriously, move along somewhere else. Nobody here is interested.
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I´m not a newcomer to the Charlotte area but a native married to a Latino. I am proud to be Southern and love my Southern traditions that newcomers often find different or old fashion. Yet my husband from South America was offered jobs in different parts of the US and one of the reason he chose the South was because of its traditions. If people lose their identity or try to change who they are what type of society are we creating? I hope to teach our children both Southern and Chilean traditions but please do not ask me to change my Southern traditons. I love using the word ya´ll, my sweet tea, a Sunday afternoon spent with family and an Asado with choripan,an empanada, pebre and mote con huesillo.
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