Latino Colonization in Rural California:The Emergence of Economic Patchwork

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Elaine M. Allensworth

Abstract

En Estados Unidos, las comunidades con altas concentraciones de hispanos tienden a ser más pobres, a tener un ingreso medio menor y menores proporciones de residentes con educación media y superior. La mayoría de los estudios se han concentrado en ver a la inmigración de México y otras partes de Latinoamérica como la causa de estas correlaciones. Sin embargo, estos estudios no han tomado en cuenta los cambios concurrentes que suceden con la población blanca no hispana. Así pues, para comprender mejor la relación entre etnicidad y bienestar económico de la comunidad, este trabajo examina tanto el crecimiento y la pérdida de población blanca no hispana, como el crecimiento de la población hispana. Hemos encontrado que no es el crecimiento de la población hispana, sino el crecimiento y pérdida de la población blanca no hispana, la que causa la creciente desigualdad en áreas rurales. Esto sugiere que las políticas para limitar la emigración de blancos, en vez de los programas enfocados a la inmigración hispana, abordarían mejor las crecientes desigualdades socioeconómicas que existen entre las áreas rurales.  ABSTRACTIn USA, communities with higher concentrations of Latinos tend to have greater poverty, lower median incomes, and smaller proportions of residents with high school or college degrees. Most studies have focused on immigration from Mexico and other parts of Latin America as the cause of these correlations. However, these studies have neglected the concurrent changes that are occurring with the non-Latino white population. Therefore, this paper examines both the growth and loss of non-Hispanic white population and the growth of Latino population, to better understand the relationship between ethnicity and community economic well-being. We find that it is not increasing Latino population, but Non-Latino white population growth and loss that accounts for the increasing inequality among rural places. This suggests that policies to limit white emigration, rather than programs focusing on Latino immigration, would better address the increasing socio-economic inequalities between rural places.

Article Details

How to Cite
Allensworth, E. M. (2017). Latino Colonization in Rural California:The Emergence of Economic Patchwork. Frontera Norte, 9(18), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.17428/rfn.v9i18.1448
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Papers

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