Latinos, the American South,
and the Future of U.S. Race Relations
and the Future of U.S. Race Relations
George Sanchez, University of Southern California
Overview:
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Speaking at Emory University on
April 16, 2007, Prof. Sanchez surveys recent Latino immigration
into the U.S. South. He urges the study of contemporary immigrant
rights in light of African American historical experience. Sanchez
takes note of ongoing research about Latinos’ participation
in the rebuilding of New Orleans and outlines a multi-year project
based at the University of Southern California that will explore
African American and Latino relations in several areas of the U.S.,
including the South.
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Presentation Sections:
Latinos, the American South, and the
Future of U.S. Race Relations | Text Version
| Recommended Resources
Video:
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Part 1 (5:21 min.)
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Sanchez takes note of the Latino
immigrant rights movement in the U.S. South and urges study of its
ties to the legacy as well as the rhetoric of the African American
freedom struggle.
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Part 2 (5:04 min.)
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In New Orleans, the impact of Mexican immigration,
especially in demolition and construction work, has been keenly
felt after Hurricane Katrina (2005).
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Part 3 (6:37 min.)
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During the 1990s, a dramatic shift in points
of destination for Latin American immigrants, and the existence
of wide geographical networks of able, mobile workers, resulted
in the U.S. Mexican population growing most rapidly in the American
South.
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Part 4 (7:07 min.)
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A century-old history of transnational Latino
labor networks asserted itself anew following Katrina, quickly bringing
a variety of skilled and unskilled workers to New Orleans from locations
deep in Mexico as well as from major U.S. urban areas.
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Part 5 (8:07 min.)
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One of the most striking aspects of recent migration
to the U.S. South has been the high rate of Latino migration to
areas outside of metropolitan districts. Sanchez provides examples
from the meat and poultry processing industries in Virginia and
North Carolina. Are we witnessing long-term settlement patterns
that will reshape older bi-racial patterns and restructure local
economies?
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Part 6 (10:50 min.)
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The recent demographic and social transformations
in the South have the potential for shifting major discussions of
U.S. society and culture. Is the U.S. Southwest now more comparable
to the South than it is to the rest of the West? Sanchez describes
how a project based at the Center for Diversity and Democracy at
University of Southern California will explore the changing nature
of African American – Latino conflict and cooperation across various
U.S. regions over the next several years. |
The written version of Prof. Sanchez's lecture, "Latinos,
the American South, and the Future of U.S. Race Relations." |
About George Sanchez:
George
Sanchez is Professor of History and American Studies and Ethnicity
at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Becoming
Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles,
1900-1945 (Oxford University Press, 1993), co-editor of Los Angeles
and the Future of Urban Cultures (Johns Hopkins University Press,
2005), and recently published "'What’s Good for Boyle Heights
is Good for the Jews': Creating Multiracialism on the Eastside During
the 1950s," American Quarterly 56:3 (September 2004). He
is Past President of the American Studies Association (2001-2002), and
is one of the co-editors of the book series, American Crossroads:
New Works in Ethnic Studies, from the University of California Press.
He currently serves as Director of the Center for Diversity and Democracy
at USC. He works on both historical and contemporary topics of race, gender,
ethnicity, labor, and immigration, and is currently writing a historical
study of the ethnic interaction of Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans,
African Americans, and Jews in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles,
California in the twentieth century. He is also co-editing, with Amy Koritz
of Tulane University, Civic Engagement in the Wake of Katrina,
to be published by University of Michigan Press in 2008.
Professor Sanchez's lecture at Emory University was sponsored by the Latin American and Caribberan Studies Program, the Institute for Comparative and International Studies, the Hightower Family Fund, and the Office of the Provost.
Professor Sanchez's lecture at Emory University was sponsored by the Latin American and Caribberan Studies Program, the Institute for Comparative and International Studies, the Hightower Family Fund, and the Office of the Provost.
Presentation Sections:
Latinos, the American South, and the
Future of U.S. Race Relations | Text Version
| Recommended Resources
