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C Ch ha ap pt te er r 1 18 8 Patterns and Issues in the Latinization of Allentown, Pennsylvania MARK E. REISINGER, JOHN W. FRAZIER, AND EUGENE L. TETTEY-FIO INTRODUCTION The Latinization of the United States has become pervasive, affecting nearlyall major regions and communities of various sizes. Puerto Ricans, once highly concentrated in New York City neighborhoods, have decentralized within the northeastern U.S. in particular, and have begun to migrate to other regions as well. Because of changes in U.S. immigration policy, these American citizens have been joined by other highly diverse Latino cultural groups in recent decades, including those from the Dominican Republic, Central America, and South America. This chapter explores certain dimensions of the Latinization of Allentown (located in Lehigh County), Pennsylvania, although a similar process is unfolding in at least three other small cities in southeastern Pennsylvania. We use census data and interviews to explore the nature of Latino settlement in Allentown and certain Latino experiences and perceptions since arriving. We also provide photographs that illustrate the Latino imprints on this post-industrial city, once exclusively controlled by European Americans, particularly the Pennsylvania Dutch. Despite numerous issues regarding the Latinization of Allentown, we framed this chapter around five specific sets of questions. 1. Questions surrounding migration and population change. How many Latinos live in Allentown? Why have they selected Allentown? 2. Questions of geographic settlement patterns. We asked where Latinos live in Allentown and how this settlement structure relates to other ethnic settlement patterns described in social science literature. 3. Questions related to Anglo and Latino perceptions. We are interested in early cultural conflicts and whether or not Latinos feel they are treated fairly by their Anglo neighbors (Hispanics with whom we spoke did not differentiate European-American identities, rather they termed non-Latino whites as Anglos ). 4. Questions about employment and fair treatment in the regional labor market. We asked whether or not Latinos were over represented in particular job categories and whether or not theyfelt fairlytreated in the labor market. 5. Questions related to the cultural landscape of Allentown. We asked what types of Latino imprints are visible on the streetscapes of Allentown. Where possible, we used the reports of New York Times reporter Laurence Stains, who visited Allentown and wrote of Latinization as he observed it through interviews and direct observations in 1994 (Stains, 1994). His work is helpful in providing a baseline for Latino landscapes, perceptions and cultural conflicts a decade earlier than our observations . 234 Mark E. Reisinger, John W. Frazier, and Eugene L. Tettey-Fio WHY ALLENTOWN? MIGRATION THEORIES AND LATINO MIGRATION TO ALLENTOWN Geography is only one among many disciplines that share interest in understanding and explaining migration patterns. For example, economists tend to focus on the role of labor and labor markets; sociologists, on institutional changes. The most frequently-heard explanation for migration is the push-pull theory, which states that some people move because they are pushed out of their former location, whereas others move because they are pulled or attracted to someplace else. This idea was first put forward by Ravenstein (1889), who concluded that pull factors were more important than push factors. Ravenstein posited that the desire to get ahead (economically) is more responsible for the voluntary migration of people than the desire to escape. Lee (1966) expanded upon some of Ravenstein’s ideas. He began by classifying the elements that influence migration into the following groups: 1. factors associated with the migrant’s origin; 2. factors associated with a the migrant’s destination; 3. obstacles between the two that the migrants must overcome (intervening obstacles); and 4. personal factors. Using Census migration data from 1985 to 1990, Reisinger (2003) showed that the greatest number of Latino migrants to the Allentown area came from the New York City metropolitan area. A similar pattern is apparent in the Census migration data from 1995 to 2000. That data indicates that approximately 2700 Latino migrants came to Lehigh County from New York City. In addition, there is a substantial flow of migrants to Lehigh Countyfrom adjacent Pennsylvania counties and directly from Puerto Rico. Reisinger (2003) argues that it is difficult to use any one theory to explain migration patterns. The authors’ field research in Allentown in 2004 included four focus groups of Latinos, who were asked to explain their reasons for moving to Allentown. Their responses support Reisinger’s position. While many Latinos stated that their reason for moving to Allentown was for job...

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