Apple Pie and Enchiladas: Latino Newcomers in the Rural Midwest

Chapter 9. E Pluribus Unum? Discussion, Conclusions, and Policy Implications

204 C H A P T E R N I N E E Pluribus Unum? Discussion, Conclusions, and Policy Implications Ann V. Millard, Jorge Chapa, and Ken R. Crane Downtown, Ligonier, Indiana, AKA “Little Mexico” A community survey asked, “What three things in Ligonier do you NOT show to an out-of-town guest?” “Downtown,” was a frequent response. There is a perception that the downtown area has deteriorated . Residents complain of brick facades in disrepair and houses turned into multiple family rentals. Shops like the Dollar Store have moved out to a strip mall to the south. In the early 1990s, Latinos moved downtown to run businesses and rent housing, and the deterioration there tends to be blamed on them, even though they do not own the buildings. Crane, field notes In or Out: One Community or Many? Generally, Anglos in the rural Midwest disapprove of the Latino newcomers to their communities. A widespread stereotype is that Latinos arrive destitute and have come simply to live on welfare benefits. Contributing to this image is the fact that they nearly all are poor when they arrive, and the jobs they acquire generally pay so poorly that they qualify for government assistance . The close concordance of Latino ethnicity with poverty under these specific circumstances magnifies the stigma attached to the newcomers. On the other hand, employers and others in contact with Latinos emphasize that “Mexicans” are ideal workers and that they are proud of supporting themselves. Key underlying factors not generally discussed in rural communities are two actions by Midwestern employers. Employers recruit the newcomers and usually pay them low wages with few or no benefits; thus employers often ensure the newcomers’ dependence on government services . Latino newcomers, in their poverty, thus embody a process created largely by Midwestern Anglo employers. Local Anglos, however, view the 09-T3109 204 09-T3109 204 9/29/04 6:56:57 AM 9/29/04 6:56:57 AM E Pluribus Unum? 205 newcomers as symbols of economic, cultural, and racial change reaching into their communities.1 As we observe throughout this book, Latinos in the communities we studied maintain a social network separate from rural Anglos. Our analysis shows that Anglo suspicion and hostility play a larger role in maintaining this separation than does any aloofness on the part of Latinos. The ultimate question to be faced by each town, and our nation, is whether Latinos will become part of the U.S. mainstream or whether they will maintain a separate status. This chapter describes some of the positive actions taken by rural people to improve ethnic relations and solve local problems related to the Latino influx. These actions provide concrete suggestions for other rural people and government agencies to use in making Latinos full members of their communities. In this chapter, we also briefly review our findings and discuss policy implications. We find that several factors act to maintain Latinos as a separate community, especially current immigration policy. We see the major dimensions of the problems associated with the Latino influx as the history of Latino migration to the Midwest, population dynamics, employment , education, and church policies. Many local low-level policy changes can contribute to a better situation for Latinos and their new communities; however, as discussed at the end of this chapter, a major change in U.S. immigration policy is required to transform the current exploitative, unethical, and illegal system. Community Problem Solving During the course of this study, we were fascinated to find a number of solutions to conflicts about the growing Latino presence being worked out in various villages and towns. We hope this study will be useful as a resource for policy options for dealing with the Latino influx into the Midwest. We were surprised to find that even when a policy initiative had proved constructive , it was not necessarily sustained in the community that originated it. In many cases, these initiatives are not being communicated to other villages and towns. Much of the following material comes from Ligonier, Indiana, and consists of model activities conducted by students at relatively low cost but with considerable positive effects. We selected these examples because Ligonier 09-T3109 205 09-T3109 205 9/29/04 6:56:59 AM 9/29/04 6:56:59 AM 206 Millard,Chapa, & Crane is a typical community in regard to levels of...