Barriers to Middle-Class?: Whites' Attitudes Towards Latinos and Implications for Policy Preferences in Orange County California

• In Event: 593 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Paper Session. The Latino/a Middle Class

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate whether the classic assimilation model is applicable to the Mexican-American experience. Scholars like Agius-Vallejo argue the importance of studying the trajectory of middle class Mexican Americans in order to examine the multiple pathways Latinos are incorporated. Her comprehensive study is important, but how do we reconcile only a small group of Latinos are achieving middle-class status and that this status may be precarious and unstable because it is based on income and not wealth.

I too, look at Orange County and what I am most struck about is the extreme wealth gap between whites and Latinos as well as the deep segregation between these groups. Which is reflected in the Rockefeller Report in 2000 that deemed Santa Ana (mostly Mexican city in Orange County) the city with the highest misery index (based on 6 factors: Unemployment, dependency, education, income level, crowded housing, and poverty). Furthermore, there is national data shows supports there are major racial inequalities between Latinos and whites. My research interrogates Latino inequality and finds out why more Latinos are not becoming middle class. While there is a lot of data to support racial inequalities and its mechanisms not much researched has pertained to how whites views and choices affect Latino upward mobility. This paper reveals how white negative attitudes towards Latinos in Orange County affect their policy preferences and choices about residential and schooling segregation. These attitudes may suggest how whites affect Latino upward mobility.

Author

• Celia Olivia Lacayo, University of California-Los Angeles