OLD_SERA037: The New Hispanic South: Strengthening the Capacity of the Region's Land-Grant University System to Respond
Statement of Issues and Justification
The South has experienced significant economic prosperity and associated population growth since the beginning of the 1990s. Southern states such as North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, for example, have shifted their economies from primarily manufacturing to a more diverse and complex economic base. In some locations, agriculture, manufacturing, and construction have witnessed increases. In other places, traditional industries have been replaced or supplemented by growth in service and information industries. These economic shifts, with a marked increase in job opportunities, have turned the South into a favored destination for both national and international migration (Parrado and Kandel, 2006; Passel and Suro, 2005).The southern U.S. has the most rapidly growing Hispanic population in the nation. States such as North Carolina (394%), Arkansas (337%) Georgia (300%), Tennessee (278%), South Carolina (211%) and Alabama (208%) have experienced substantial Hispanic population increases between 1990 and 2000. It appears that this pattern of rapid growth is continuing and is now extending to other southern states.
What do these demographic trends imply for urban and rural areas of the South? The following offer a glimpse of the important challenges facing the region:
· A recent report on "The New Latino South" by the Pew Hispanic Center notes that the expansion of job opportunities in the South's meat processing, construction, landscaping, forestry and furniture manufacturing industries is serving as a magnet for Hispanic immigrants into the region (Kochlar et al., 2005).
· Unlike past trends, Hispanic immigrations are migrating to non-traditional Hispanic destinations. That is, Hispanic growth is occurring in urban and rural locales that have had limited past experiences understanding and responding to the impacts of Hispanic immigrants into their communities. As a result, Hispanic immigrants are often finding themselves moving to places with no established Hispanic neighborhoods to serve as socialization and transition points into American society and economy. Furthermore, they are facing obstacles such as strong resistance from longtime residents, substandard housing, low wages, and minimal access to basic services such as health care (Fluharty, 2002; Neal and Bohon, 2003).
· The rapid growth of the Hispanic population in the South is creating difficulties for Hispanic parents who want to gain access to school, health, and other community services for their children. At the same time, the rapid expansion of immigrant children into the region is taxing the capacity of educators, agency administrators, social workers, health care providers, and others to meet the educational, social, and health-related needs of these children and their families.
· Studies show that that community contexts have a strong link with key outcomes for Hispanic children, such as child adjustment, health, and psychosocial development (McLaughlin et al., 2002; Pachter et al., 2006; Sastry and Pebley, 2003). Thus, embedding Hispanic children in a positive neighborhood or community milieu can pay important dividends for their long-term well being (Galster and Killen, 1995).
The new SERA being requested in this proposal is designed to mobilize a critical mass of land-grant faculty to: (1) work collaboratively in understanding the challenges and opportunities associated with the "New Hispanic South"; (2) to strengthen the research, Extension outreach, and public policy work being done on the new Hispanic South by our regions land-grant university system; and (3) advance the capacity of the region's land-grant university system to provide timely and high quality educational programs and technical assistance activities to communities that wish to address, in a positive and strategic manner, the diverse needs of their growing Hispanic population.
Back to Top