Case of Latin-American Immigrants Integrated into an Irish-American Public Housing Development.

• In Event: 259 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Paper Session. Latino/a Intra and Inter-Group Relations

Abstract

As Latin-American immigrants bring cultural, racial, and ethnic heterogeneity to concentrated areas of poverty, researchers have a new opportunity to study how they manifest themselves in intergroup relations. This study examines Latin-American immigrants who were integrated by court order into a public housing development in a neighborhood with a long history of conflict and animosity against integration. Using ethnographic data collected over two years in a neighborhood in Boston, this article shows that Latin Americans in public housing: 1) focused on justifying the struggle of immigration; 2) used public housing as a tool in their trajectory towards social mobility; 3) took advantage of social services; and 4) focused on one inclusive category of class instead of racial or ethnic differences. These mechanisms allowed them to tolerate and avoid racial provocations as they strategized towards social mobility. This case study offers lessons for consideration in the rapidly changing landscape of immigration.

Author

• Silvia Dominguez, Northeastern University