The Latino Migration Experience in North Carolina: New Roots in the Old North State

5 DEFYING THE ODDS: Latino Youth, the Agents of Change

Chapter Five Defying the Odds latino youth, the agents of change Irene, Pedro, Joe, and Juliette have much in common. They are young Latinos between the ages of eighteen and twenty-­ six raised in North Carolina. They all have very recent Latin American roots: Irene was born in North Carolina to Mexican parents, and Pedro spent only the first eighteen months of his life in Colombia. Joe was brought to North Carolina from Honduras as a baby with his mother, and Juliette came to the United States from Mexico at the age of fifteen. All have firsthand knowledge of what it is like to immigrate to the United States. But when it comes to the opportunities available to them, their experiences have been very different. As U.S. citizens, Irene and Pedro have grown up with the same rights as any other person born in the United States. Irene has been able to get a college education and now has a good job that supports her family and gives her professional satisfaction: “I always say I am from Durham. I feel attached to North Carolina because I was born and raised here. . . . I feel gratitude toward North Carolina for giving my parents these opportunities , and I feel committed to North Carolina.” Pedro graduated from a top university and gained significant leadership experience while there: “The more I become involved in the community, the more attached I become, and the more I can call myself North Carolinian. I am very thankful for what North Carolina has given me. No matter what I do after college, there will always be that part of me that is North Carolina.” defying the odds 142 Juliette and Joe, on the other hand, are undocumented immigrants who have been barred from the many opportunities of their peers, including higher education. Feeling little incentive to stay in school, Joe dropped out and now works at a fast food restaurant: “What’s the point of studying? I can’t pay for college and they won’t let me in anyway. . . . I don’t want to be in this place either, where the cops pull you over and people look at you like you ain’t supposed to be here. I don’t understand these people, and they don’t understand me.” Most of his friends are in similar situations, having quit school at a young age, begun work in minimumwagejobs,andstartedfamilies.Remarkably,Julietteovercame greatoddsandmanagedtoattendaNorthCarolinacollege,butherplace there is tenuous as she struggles to pay out-­ of-­ state tuition with no financial aid each semester: “It’s very hard to stay positive. I always say I wish I could go back to Mexico and be a fifteen-­ year-­ old girl again. But my anger [and] the tears have made me strong. I don’t even know what I am angry at— ​ I guess the fact that I got put in a situation that made me grow in a certain way. It made me stronger. But it also hurt me.” While all are undeniably North Carolinian and may live in the state for the rest of their lives, these young Latinos have very different senses of belonging and allegiances to their communities. They will also have very different opportunities in life. In contrast to Irene and Pedro, Joe has a somewhat negative sense of connection to the place he has known all of his life. Juliette has similar disillusionment with the society she finds herself in, but the opportunity to pursue her dreams, even at high stress and cost, has given her some hope. Their contrasting stories illustrate what is at stake for everyone when immigrants are excluded from social institutions and barred access to higher education. JoeandJulietterepresenttheestimated45percentofLatinosinNorth Carolina who are undocumented, while Irene and Pedro represent the rest who have legal immigrant status or U.S. citizenship. They are the newest generation of North Carolinians. In new destination states such as North Carolina where Latinos have become indispensable in certain sectors of the economy, Latino communities are young, made up of the first, second, and even third generation of children of immigrants who have arrived in the last four decades. Latino youth who claim the state as their home consist of first-­ generation children like Joe who were born 143  defying the odds outside of the United States and second-­ generation children like Irene who are U.S.-­ born children of foreign-­ born parents. Latino youth who grew...