News Release
For Immediate Release
August 24, 2005
Contact:
Scott J. South, State University of New York at Albany, 518-442-4691, s.south@albany.edu
Skin Color Obstacle for Some U.S. Latinos Moving into Anglo Neighborhoods
Darker-skinned U.S. Hispanics of Cuban and especially Puerto Rican decent are less likely to move into neighborhoods with large percentages of non-Hispanic whites (Anglos) than their lighter-skinned counterparts, according to findings published in the August issue of the journal Demography.
For Cubans and Puerto Ricans, neighborhood moves are sharply segmented by skin color, with dark skin a substantial impediment to moving to neighborhoods dominated by the Anglo majority, report demographers and study coauthors Scott South and Erick Chavez of the State University of New York at Albany and Kyle Crowder of Western Washington University.
The researchers found that U.S. residents of Mexican origin who have comparatively higher levels of education, income, and English fluency are more likely to move into neighborhoods with a larger share of non-Hispanic whites. Second-and-later generations of Mexican-Americans are more likely than first-generation Mexican immigrants to follow this traditional pattern of assimilation— moving from ethnic-dominated neighborhoods into areas with larger proportions of Anglos.
For the study, the researchers examined neighborhood relocation patterns for 2,074 U.S. residents of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban origin between 1990 and 1995. They merged data from three sources: the U.S. Census, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (a large, nationally representative survey that tracks the same households annually) and the Latino National Political Survey (a survey of Latinos conducted in 1989-1990). In the latter survey, interviewers rated respondents' skin color on a scale from 1 (very light) to 5 (very dark).
The researchers found that Puerto Ricans move infrequently overall and do not relocate to more Anglo neighborhoods as often as do Mexicans. And contrary to the pattern exhibited by Mexicans, second-and later generation Puerto Ricans are less likely than the first generation to move to more Anglo neighborhoods.
Because neighborhoods populated by the Anglo majority tend to have higher-quality public services (such as schools) and higher property values, barriers to moving into these areas can have important consequences for individuals, say the researchers. And when these barriers are based on individuals' race, they raise important questions about how immigrant groups are incorporated into American neighborhoods. "Puerto Ricans seem to be constrained by their dark skin color and may well be experiencing a "second-generation decline" in their mobility patterns," says South.
The researchers found Cuban mobility patterns more complex. Because Cubans are concentrated in metropolitan areas that contain comparatively few Anglos (especially in Miami ), they are less likely than Mexicans to move into neighborhoods with relatively sizable Anglo populations. However, the researchers say that the migration of Cubans into ethnically distinct neighborhoods may reflect more than a lack of opportunities to move to predominantly Anglo neighborhoods rather than barriers against doing so.
"Cubans' low levels of migration into Anglo neighborhoods, despite their high incomes, suggest that they voluntary choose ethnic enclaves as a route to social and economic mobility," notes South.
Also, Mexicans relocate to neighborhoods that are losing Anglos at a slower rate than do either Puerto Ricans or Cubans. South says this trend suggests that Cuban and Puerto Rican will remain more segregated from Anglos than will Mexicans, although the faster pace of Mexican immigration may alter these trends.
All three Latino ethnic groups studied—Mexicans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans—were more likely to move into more Anglo neighborhoods in metropolitan areas where Anglos made up a larger share of the total population.
"This may occur because Anglos are more amenable to having Latino neighbors when Anglos numerically dominate the population and hence the Latino population is relatively small," says South. "Or it may be that small Latino populations fail to create vibrant Latino neighborhoods, or perhaps simply because metropolitan areas with large Anglo populations contain more Anglo neighborhoods for Latino to relocate in."
The full article, "Migration and Spatial Assimilation Among U.S. Latinos: Classical Versus Segmented Trajectories," is available at www.prb.org/cpipr/demography/South.pdf. Or call the Center for Public Information on Population Research at 202-939-5409. The Center, a project of the Population Reference Bureau, is funded by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development.
Demography is the peer-reviewed journal published by the Population Association of America.
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