Latino Migration, Race, and Urban Transformation in the U.S. South: A Qualitative Study

Diversity and social inclusion are no longer a concern only of large urban areas in the North or the Southwest. According to the 2000 census, five of the ten states with the fastest growing immigrant populations in the 1990s were in the South: North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In all five, the foreign-born population more than doubled over the decade. Whether these immigrants are coming to the South directly or via secondary migration from traditional immigrant gateways, they are reshaping the ethnic and occupational make-up of the South.

With support from the Foundation, Jamie Winders will undertake an ethnographic field study of how Latino migration has affected race relations in Nashville, Tennessee, a city that until recently was divided largely on black and white lines. She will study public schools and residential neighborhoods – two spaces where Latinos and non-Latinos daily negotiate new understandings of race or ethnicity. In the initial phase of the study, Winders will conduct open-ended interviews with key informants to document how and when the racial and ethnic composition of a particular neighborhood or school began to change, the issues associated with these changes, and the effects on racial and ethnic relations. The second phase will involve focus groups and participant observations to understand how different actors deal with the new racial and ethnic composition in their communities. Finally, Winders will analyze the differences and similarities across case studies. She will publish her results in conference papers and academic journal articles.