Latinos Need to Stay in Their Place: Differential Segregation in a Multi-Ethnic Suburb

Celia Lacayo

doi:10.3390/soc6030025

Abstract

While Latinos face high levels of segregation, there is scant research specifically addressing whites’ attitudes towards Latinos regarding their preferences. This study draws from 40 in-depth interviews with whites in Orange County California, an area with a large Latino and Asian population. I demonstrate that white respondents choose to segregate themselves from Latinos. Most studies have used Blumer’s group position theory to explain white attitudes and neighborhood preference towards Blacks. My findings supports Blumer’s group position theory by revealing why white respondents feel threatened by an increase in the Latino population. Yet, the Asian population has also grown, but white respondents convey positive sentiments towards Asians, and express they feel comfortable living and interacting with them. I argue that white respondents’ preferences with regards to integration are not solely based on the size of a group, but rather whether they characterize the group as inferior. Integration has been touted as an American principle. Yet, as the country becomes more diverse, this case study illustrates that white respondents prefer to share space with those they feel similar to, and consequently contribute to Latino segregation.

Highlights

Ongoing and projected future demographic changes in the United States receive much attention and coverage in media and academia [1,2]
This study examines why white respondents prefer to integrate with Asians but not with Latinos and Blacks
When respondents spoke about their frustrations with integrating public space, they only spoke about Latinos

Summary

Introduction

Ongoing and projected future demographic changes in the United States receive much attention and coverage in media and academia [1,2]. The narratives center on how “minority groups” have and will continue to eclipse the white population. Many of these demographic changes have been driven by an increase in the Latino population [3]. Increasing diversity in the United States has not naturally ushered in racial equality. There is ample data that confirms that racial inequalities continue to exist [4,5,6]. One means of measuring racial inequality empirically and normatively is by examining levels of segregation

Methods

Results

Conclusion