Signs of Division

Exploring Race in the South

Constantino Diaz-Duran is a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University. He is chronicling his walk from New York to Los Angeles to celebrate his eligibility for American citizenship. Follow Constantino’s progress.

I am in Alabama, and will arrive in Birmingham this weekend. As I walk through the battlefields of the civil rights movement, I will turn my mind toward the question of race. I’m interested, particularly, in exploring how the influx of Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants into this area has altered racial dynamics.

Back in Greenville, South Carolina, I attended an English as a second language class taught by my host. I got the chance to chat with the students-many, but not all, Hispanic-and hear their thoughts on life in America, and specifically in the South.


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A woman from Venezuela said something that I found interesting, which was corroborated by the other Hispanics in the group. She said it is much easier for them to get along with white and Asian people than with African Americans. She claimed that African Americans are racist and aggressive toward Latinos, and she even expressed outright fear of them.

Coming from Latin America myself, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Who’s being racist here?” I hate to say this, but in my experience, many Latin Americans are prejudiced. Generally speaking-and I beg you to take this with a grain of salt, because I am not fond of generalization-the Latin American attitude toward blacks is not one of “we are better than them,” but rather one of “we don’t really know them, so we don’t trust them.” This would explain this lady’s perception of African Americans as threatening.

Most Latin Americans who come to the US, especially those who come from places other than Mexico, have no conception of themselves as being anything other than white. “White,” that is, as opposed to indigenous. Even those who come from a clearly mixed heritage think of themselves as being primarily of European origin. That could explain why they feel more kinship toward white Anglo Saxons.

I find the changing racial dynamics in the South, and in the country as a whole, fascinating. But one thing I’ll say about this part of the country for now is that it seems much more integrated and open than you would think if you never left New York.

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*Photo by Constantino Diaz-Duran.


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