Sundown Town to "Little Mexico": Old-Timers and Newcomers in an American Small Town

Autor/inn/en	McConnell, Eileen Diaz; Miraftab, Faranak
Titel	Sundown Town to "Little Mexico": Old-Timers and Newcomers in an American Small Town
Quelle	In: Rural Sociology, 74 (2009) 4, S.605-629 (25 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0036-0112
Schlagwörter	Community Characteristics; Municipalities; Racial Segregation; Residential Patterns; Population Growth; Foreign Countries; Hispanic Americans; Whites; Immigrants; African Americans; Case Studies; Agribusiness; Rural Areas; Immigration; Federal Legislation; Ethnic Groups; Mexico; United States + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Magistrat; Rassentrennung; Wohnsituation; Population increase; Bevölkerungswachstum; Ausland; Hispanic; Hispanoamerikaner; White; Weißer; Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Afroamerikaner; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Agrarindustrie; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Bundesrecht; Ethnie; Mexiko; USA
Abstract	For more than a century, communities across the United States legally employed strategies to create and maintain racial divides. One particularly widespread and effective practice was that of "sundown towns," which signaled to African Americans and others that they were not welcome within the city limits after dark. Though nearly 1,000 small towns, larger communities, and suburbs across the country may have engaged in these practices, until recently there has been little scholarship on the topic. Drawing from qualitative and quantitative sources, this article presents a case study of a midwestern rural community with a sundown history. Since 1990 large numbers of Mexican migrants have arrived there to work at the local meat-processing plant, earning the town the nickname "Little Mexico." The study identifies a substantial decline in Hispanic-white residential segregation in the community between 1990 and 2000. We consider possible explanations for the increased spatial integration of Latino and white residents, including local housing characteristics and the weak enforcement of preexisting housing policies. We also describe the racialized history of this former sundown town and whether, paradoxically, its history of excluding nonwhites may have played a role in the spatial configurations of Latinos and non-Hispanic whites in 2000. Scholars investigating the contemporary processes of Latino population growth in "new" destinations, both in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, may want to explore the importance of sociohistorical considerations, particularly localities' racialized historical contexts before the arrival of Mexican and other Latino immigrants. (Contains 22 footnotes and 1 table.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Rural Sociological Society. 104 Gentry Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-7040. Tel: 573-882-9065; Fax: 573-882-1473; e-mail: ruralsoc@missouri.edu; Web site: http://www.ruralsociology.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10