George Sanchez, "Latinos, the American South, and the Future of U.S. Race Relations"

Speaking at Emory University on April 16, 2007, Prof. Sanchez surveys recent Latino immigration into the U.S. South. He urges the study of contemporary immigrant rights in light of African American historical experience. Sanchez takes note of ongoing research about Latinos’ participation in the rebuilding of New Orleans and outlines a multi-year project based at the University of Southern California that will explore African American and Latino relations in several areas of the U.S., including the South.

Sanchez takes note of the Latino immigrant rights movement in the U.S. South and urges study of its ties to the legacy as well as the rhetoric of the African American freedom struggle.

In New Orleans, the impact of Mexican immigration, especially in demolition and construction work, has been keenly felt after Hurricane Katrina (2005).

During the 1990s, a dramatic shift in points of destination for Latin American immigrants, and the existence of wide geographical networks of able, mobile workers, resulted in the U.S. Mexican population growing most rapidly in the American South.

A century-old history of transnational Latino labor networks asserted itself anew following Katrina, quickly bringing a variety of skilled and unskilled workers to New Orleans from locations deep in Mexico as well as from major U.S. urban areas.

One of the most striking aspects of recent migration to the U.S. South has been the high rate of Latino migration to areas outside of metropolitan districts. Sanchez provides examples from the meat and poultry processing industries in Virginia and North Carolina. Are we witnessing long-term settlement patterns that will reshape older bi-racial patterns and restructure local economies?

The recent demographic and social transformations in the South have the potential for shifting major discussions of U.S. society and culture. Is the U.S. Southwest now more comparable to the South than it is to the rest of the West? Sanchez describes how a project based at the Center for Diversity and Democracy at University of Southern California will explore the changing nature of African American – Latino conflict and cooperation across various U.S. regions over the next several years.

The written version of Prof. Sanchez's lecture, "Latinos, the American South, and the Future of U.S. Race Relations."

George Sanchez is Professor of History and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (Oxford University Press, 1993), co-editor of Los Angeles and the Future of Urban Cultures (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), and recently published "'What’s Good for Boyle Heights is Good for the Jews': Creating Multiracialism on the Eastside During the 1950s," American Quarterly 56:3 (September 2004). He is Past President of the American Studies Association (2001-2002), and is one of the co-editors of the book series, American Crossroads: New Works in Ethnic Studies, from the University of California Press. He currently serves as Director of the Center for Diversity and Democracy at USC. He works on both historical and contemporary topics of race, gender, ethnicity, labor, and immigration, and is currently writing a historical study of the ethnic interaction of Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans, African Americans, and Jews in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles, California in the twentieth century. He is also co-editing, with Amy Koritz of Tulane University, Civic Engagement in the Wake of Katrina, to be published by University of Michigan Press in 2008.

Professor Sanchez's lecture at Emory University was sponsored by the Latin American and Caribberan Studies Program, the Institute for Comparative and International Studies, the Hightower Family Fund, and the Office of the Provost.

Part 1 (5:21 min.) RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime	Sanchez takes note of the Latino immigrant rights movement in the U.S. South and urges study of its ties to the legacy as well as the rhetoric of the African American freedom struggle.
Part 2 (5:04 min.) RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime	In New Orleans, the impact of Mexican immigration, especially in demolition and construction work, has been keenly felt after Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Part 3 (6:37 min.) RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime	During the 1990s, a dramatic shift in points of destination for Latin American immigrants, and the existence of wide geographical networks of able, mobile workers, resulted in the U.S. Mexican population growing most rapidly in the American South.
Part 4 (7:07 min.) RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime	A century-old history of transnational Latino labor networks asserted itself anew following Katrina, quickly bringing a variety of skilled and unskilled workers to New Orleans from locations deep in Mexico as well as from major U.S. urban areas.
Part 5 (8:07 min.) RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime	One of the most striking aspects of recent migration to the U.S. South has been the high rate of Latino migration to areas outside of metropolitan districts. Sanchez provides examples from the meat and poultry processing industries in Virginia and North Carolina. Are we witnessing long-term settlement patterns that will reshape older bi-racial patterns and restructure local economies?
Part 6 (10:50 min.) RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime	The recent demographic and social transformations in the South have the potential for shifting major discussions of U.S. society and culture. Is the U.S. Southwest now more comparable to the South than it is to the rest of the West? Sanchez describes how a project based at the Center for Diversity and Democracy at University of Southern California will explore the changing nature of African American – Latino conflict and cooperation across various U.S. regions over the next several years.
Text Version	The written version of Prof. Sanchez's lecture, "Latinos, the American South, and the Future of U.S. Race Relations."