Apple Pie and Enchiladas: Latino Newcomers in the Rural Midwest / Edition 1

by Ann V. Millard, Jorge Chapa

Overview

The sudden influx of significant numbers of Latinos to the rural Midwest stems from the recruitment of workers by food processing plants and small factories springing up in rural areas. Mostly they work at back-breaking jobs that local residents are not willing to take because of the low wages and few benefits. The region has become the scene of dramatic change involving major issues facing our country—the intertwining of ethnic differences, prejudice, and poverty; the social impact of a low-wage workforce resulting from corporate transformations; and public policy questions dealing with economic development, taxation, and welfare payments.

In this thorough multidisciplinary study, the authors explore both sides of this ethnic divide and provide the first volume to focus comprehensively on Latinos in the region by linking demographic and qualitative analysis to describe what brings Latinos to the area and how they are being accommodated in their new communities. The fact is that many Midwestern communities would be losing population and facing a dearth of workers if not for Latino newcomers. This finding adds another layer of social and economic complexity to the region's changing place in the global economy. The authors look at how Latinos fit into an already fractured social landscape with tensions among townspeople, farmers, and others. The authors also reveal the optimism that lies in the opposition of many Anglos to ethnic prejudice and racism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292705685
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	01/01/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Ann V. Millard is Associate Professor at the South Texas Center in McAllen, Texas, a site of the School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center. Jorge Chapa was Professor and Director of the Latino Studies Program at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Aquí in the Midwest [Here in the Midwest] (Ann V. Millard and Jorge Chapa)
  • En Pocas Palabras [In a Few Words] I. Ten Myths about Latinos (Ann V. Millard, Jorge Chapa, and Eileen Diaz McConnell)
• Chapter 2. Latinos in the Rural Midwest: The Twentieth-Century Historical Context Leading to Contemporary Challenges (Eileen Diaz McConnell)
  • En Pocas Palabras II. The Battle for Chapita Hills (Catalina Burillo and Ann V. Millard
• Chapter 3. Latinos and the Changing Demographic Fabric of the Rural Midwest (Jorge Chapa, Rogelio Saenz, Refugio I. Rochín, and Eileen Diaz McConnell)
  • En Pocas Palabras III. Emergency Medicine and Latino Newcomers
• Chapter 4. Research Overview: The Rural Midwestern Context and Qualitative Methods (Ann V. Millard, Maríaelena D. Jefferds, Ken R. Crane, and Isidore Flores)
  • En Pocas Palabras IV. Local Police, the INS, and "Churning Bad Public Opinion" (Ken R. Crane
• Chapter 5. "Not Racist like Our Parents": Anti-Latino Prejudice and Institutional Discrimination (Ann V. Millard, Jorge Chapa, and Eileen Diaz McConnell)
• Chapter 6. On the Line: Jobs in Food Processing and the Local Economy (Maríaelena D. Jefferds and Ann V. Millard)
• Chapter 7. Mexicans, Americans, and Neither: Students at Wheelerton High (Ken R. Crane)
  • En Pocas Palabras V. The Virgin of Guadalupe: Admittance in Question (Maríaelena D. Jefferds and Ann V. Millard)
• Chapter 8. "To Be with My People": Latino Churches in the Rural Midwest (Ken R. Crane and Ann V. Millard)
  • En Pocas Palabras VI. The "Mexican Situation" and the Mayor's Race (Ken R. Crane and Ann V. Millard)
• Chapter 9. E Pluribus Unum? Discussion, Conclusions, and Policy Implications (Ann V. Millard, Jorge Chapa, and Ken R. Crane)
• Appendix A. Methods Used in the Community Studies (Ann V. Millard, Maríaelena D. Jefferds, and Ken R. Crane)
• Appendix B. Interview Guide for Community Study in Fox and Mapleville, Michigan (Maríaelena D. Jefferds)
• Appendix C. Focus Group Questions, Fall County, Michigan (Maríaelena D. Jefferds)
• Notes
• References Cited
• Index