Poverty Forcing Latinos Into Segregated Neighborhoods

Census data released today apparently shows that Latinos continue to live in segregated communities — that is with mostly other Latino neighbors — whereas whites and blacks have become more integrated since the last Census. The proof: Segregation between whites and blacks increased 25% in the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S., but about 50% for Latinos. Segregation is especially true when it comes to whites and particularly in Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago but not so much in Seattle, Jacksonville, Fla. and Las Vegas.

But let’s stop. A lot of the reporting right now is going with the “Latinos segregating themselves from whites” angle.

If you take into account what our colleague Victor Landa pointed out today — that 22% of Latinos live in poverty — how in the heck are they going to get into nicer neighborhoods to have white neighbors? A better way to look at this Census data is to understand that economic inequalities in this country are growing and are disproportionately affecting Latinos and other minorities — such as the black neighbors Latinos are more likely to have.

So when you read these stories, don’t forget to be skeptical, there’s a media machine out there that’s set up to incorporate stereotypes like “Latinos like to be poor” and “Latinos won’t assimilate into white neighborhoods,” but there are much larger forces at work here, as we all know. Latinos aren’t just a bunch of immigrants self-segregating because they don’t want to learn English, I’m sure not, you’re probably not either. So, then, what’s the deal with these reports?