Sorting Black and Brown Latino service workers in gentrifying New York neighborhoods

Abstract

Ethnography, qualitative interviews and census data document a new process of spatial and racial exclusion among Brown and Black Latino workers in New York's service sector. Unlike manufacturing, many service workers directly interact with customers, and therefore employers use race, gender and immigrant status to position workers in front or back stage jobs; depending on their interaction with mainstream clientele. The sorting of workers is a largely hidden process outside the reach of labor regulations. Racialization of workers is more evident in minority neighborhoods undergoing rapid gentrification, as owners import their labor force and clientele from outside the neighborhood.