Assimilation of Latina/os in the South

The NY Times has a fascinating story today about the assimilation of Latina/o teenagers into the South, a destination place of increasing numbers of immigrants.  The article “Hispanic Teenagers Join Southern Mainstream” describes student experiences at one high school in Pearson, Georgia.  It begins like this:

The buzzer blares and the students pour into the hallways — bubble gum snapping, locker doors slamming — as the young man of the moment saunters through the admiring crowd at Atkinson County High School.He is thin and wiry with a whisper of a mustache and a taste for enormous Hollywood-style sunglasses. Like most popular boys, he receives flurries of party invitations and whispered confidences from pretty girls. Like other students, he juggles homework and dreams of becoming a singing sensation. In fact, in this tiny town, the most remarkable thing about him is his name, Frankie Ruiz. In October, Frankie and a classmate, Kristen Galarza, made local history when they were named homecoming king and queen, the first time Hispanics won both titles in the same year. The coronation stirred astonishment, jubilation and some outrage in this Southern town, which is being transformed by Latino migration and is still struggling to adapt to its evolving ethnic identity.

Click here for the full story.

KJ