The past two decades have been a period of almost
unprecedented change in New York City. However, in many ways, no other borough
has changed as much as Staten Island. Staten Island has grown faster than all
the other boroughs in terms of rate of population between 1990 and 2010 (Kershaw 2000) (New York City Department of City Planning n.d.) (NYC
Panning Department of City Planing City of New York n.d.) . In this blog
post, I discuss how Staten Island—a borough known for being predominately white,
non-Hispanic—has a Latino population that is growing immensely, however, censuses
only show us the statistics; they do not show if there has been any change in
the way Latinos have been viewed and treated in the past.
Staten Island has had a 24% increase in population in the
past two decades—the Bronx with a 15% gain. Staten Island today is
significantly more diverse than in 1990. The amount of white, non-Hispanic
residents has fallen from 80% in 1990 to 68% in 2010, while the amount of
residents who are Black, Hispanic, and Asian has increased. The added population has supported a large
amount of new businesses and jobs. The fastest growing sector on Staten Island
was accommodation and food services, followed by educational services (Kershaw 2000) . A large part of the education
growth is due to the expansions at the local collages. The health care sector
is the largest job sector. Many would say these are good signs for the local
economy and would imply that Staten Islanders have become more highly skilled.
While Staten Island currently has the lowest percentage of residents with
bachelor’s degrees than any borough except the Bronx, the number of residents
with bachelor’s degrees has nearly doubled—Hispanics/Latinos being included in
this statistic. However, not all of these changes in the increased Latino
population would be considered positive. For example, the continuous inflow of
Hispanic immigrants, according to Samuel Huntington, threatens to divide the
United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Hispanics,
unlike past waves of immigrants, have not conformed to mainstream U.S.
culture—Anglo Protestant. Hispanics/Latinos are instead, establishing their own
political and linguistic territories. The United States ignores this challenge
as a threat. I would not agree with Samuel Huntington—in that the inflow of
Hispanic immigrants is a threat to divide the United States. The inflow of
Hispanic immigrants is definitely a challenge, but not a threat. Those that
oppose Spanish language classes, for example, follow a more conservative
political ideology. As the numbers of foreign born residents increase, the
challenges continues to increase as well. The highly diversified school systems
in NYC, for example, creates the problem of teachers “dealing” with classes
containing students who may speak many languages at home.
The North Shore of Staten Island is heavily impacted by U.S.
Anglo Protestant pressure since it is a highly concentrated area of the island
with Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians—an example of how the increasing numbers of
Latinos in major cities does not mean they are no longer segregated or
oppressed. Whether Staten Island and the rest of New York City can address its
current challenges and builds on its significant assets will depend on local
and city officials creating a better/new plan.
References
Huntington, Samuel. 2004. "The Hispanic
Challenge." The Foreign Policy Group.
Kershaw, Sarah. 2000. Led by Staten Island, New
York City Grew in 1999 Census Reports. Newspaper, New York: The New York
Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/09/nyregion/led-by-staten-island-new-york-city-grew-in-1999-census-reports.html.
New York City Department of City Planning. n.d.
"Socioeconomic Characeristics." NYC 2000: Results from the 2000
Census. http://home.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/sociopp.pdf.
NYC Panning Department of City Planing City of New
York. n.d. "Population Growth and Race/Hispanic Compositon ." NYC
2010: Results from the 2010 Census.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/census2010/pgrhc.pdf.
I thought this post was well thought out, but I have to say that I disagree with two points you made. You address the influx of Hispanic immigrants and say that there's a problem where teachers have to "deal" with classes that contain students who speak more than one language at home. I feel as though it isn't a problem at all. It most certainly is a challenge if a student speaks a language other than English while the teacher speaks only English. However, there are programs in schools specifically for students who don't know English well. To say that these students, who carry the weight of their mother tongue as well as English, which is a foreign language to them, create a problem implies that they are a burden. It's contradictory to say that when earlier, you mention that the influx in population in Staten Island supports a lot of businesses and jobs. The families of these students who speak more than one language at home are helping businesses stay in business.
ReplyDeleteThe second point I disagree with is the inflow of Hispanics being a challenge because once again, it's contradictory to your previous statement that the population increase supports a lot of businesses and jobs. Another reason I disagree with the inflow being a challenge is because, like you said, the area is highly impacted by Anglo Protestant pressure. You also mention that Hispanics/Latinos are establishing their own political and linguistic territories. The pressure of Anglo Protestants forces Hispanics to create their own spaces because there's nothing left for them. For example, today in New York City, gentrification is a big problem. Non Hispanic whites are moving into predominately black/Hispanic neighborhoods and making it their own, when it wasn't their space to begin with. There was one instance in Harlem where a black church, which had been there for years, started getting noise complaints when white people started moving in. The real challenge in the U.S. is for minorities to keep their spaces because it's becoming hard to keep them. Hispanics do not have to conform to mainstream U.S. culture to make Anglo Protestants more comfortable when Hispanics are constantly discriminated against and have the right to be proud of their culture and where they come from.
The source for the church in Harlem is: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151012/central-harlem/harlem-church-told-cool-late-parties-locals-decry-gentrification
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ReplyDeleteI did not realize the white population has decreased so greatly in Staten Island! My Aunt and Uncle live their and I have noticed the white population is far greater than any other race in their area. I do realize that 68% is still high, but when I say that I mean that when I have gone to visit, I saw nothing but white people in that area. Very interesting blog post, the only comment I am going to make that is not content based is to feel more comfortable in your writing because you know what you are talking about!
ReplyDeleteA.C.
I feel that this post was well written, and that you made some good points. I also learned a few things from it but I do disagree with a few things. It's no surprise to me that the population of whites have decreased throughout the years because it is happening nationwide. I disagree with your statement about Latinos not being able to conform to mainstream US culture and how this is a challenge for Anglo-Americans. I feel that this statement was a contradiction to your previous points about Latinos actually being beneficial to businesses in the area. Additionally, I'd like to know your definition of US culture, because what I am getting from your point of view is that US culture is synonymous to Anglo protestant culture, and I have to disagree with that.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the amount of white residents has decreased in Staten Island, as it had always been seemingly less diverse than the rest of the boroughs. It’s good to see other ethnicities diversifying Staten Island and not readily gravitating towards established ethnic enclaves.
ReplyDeleteI found this post interesting because I have Puerto Rican family that lives in Staten Island. I agree that the minority population has increased throughout the years, as my family is part of that statistic. But I am not sure exactly what you meant when you stated "Hispanics, unlike past waves of immigrants, have not conformed to mainstream U.S. culture—Anglo Protestant" I feel that is a statement which is more persnoally opinionated than factually based.
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