“Five Years After Katrina, Hispanic Influx Creating an Uneasy Cultural Shift - South Coast Today” plus 3 more |
- Five Years After Katrina, Hispanic Influx Creating an Uneasy Cultural Shift - South Coast Today
- Beloit College Mindset List offers cultural keys to the Class of 2014 - HULIQ.com
- Police Try To Bridge Cultural Divide - Wbaltv.com
- Turkish Cultural Center aims to bridge East and West - Times Union
| Five Years After Katrina, Hispanic Influx Creating an Uneasy Cultural Shift - South Coast Today Posted: 22 Aug 2010 09:09 PM PDT August 23, 2010 12:00 AM The Washington Post NEW ORLEANS — Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the ongoing rebuilding of the Big Easy has created a new community of Latino immigrants in this famously insular city, redrawing racial lines in a town long defined by black and white. The change began within weeks of a storm that decimated homes and upended lives in one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. The number of black residents dropped as many left for Baton Rouge, La., Houston and other places. While the overall numbers of Hispanics aren't huge, they continue to grow and have had an outsize impact on the culture of this proudly eccentric city and on how people here view their home town. More than three-quarters of the 1.1 million residents in the New Orleans area were born in the state. Many locals still point to long-defunct businesses as landmarks. Recipes at some beloved restaurants haven't changed in 40 years. The emergence of Latinos in the emotionally and politically charged aftermath of the storm sparked outcries from displaced residents who felt their jobs and their status in the city were being challenged. In one infamous press conference, Mayor Ray Nagin pledged to return New Orleans to a "chocolate city" after previously asking what he could do to keep the city from being "overrun by Mexican workers." A documentary released last week by Latino performance artist Jose Torres-Tama titled "From Chocolate City to Enchilada Village" is reigniting the controversy on local talk radio. Political and physical confrontations in the past couple of years have added to the distrust. One parish attempted to limit multi-family homes, a move that critics said targeted the Latino community. Another banned roving taco trucks, and state legislators considered requiring police to check immigration status after arrests. New Orleans police have reported repeated assaults on Latino workers, often targeted because they tend to carry cash, and have appointed one bilingual outreach officer to help combat the crimes. "When I arrived to this city, the city was destroyed. We rebuilt it," said Dennis Soriano, a construction worker and organizer with the Congress of Day Laborers, a local advocacy group founded after Katrina. "Do you want us to go back?" According to census data analyzed by the New Orleans data center, the percentage of Hispanics in the New Orleans area jumped from 4.4 percent in 2000 to 6.6 percent last year. Advocacy groups put the figure at closer to 10 percent or more as many workers, fearful of interacting with the government, avoid being counted. The percentage of blacks fell from 37.1 percent to 34.5 percent, with the decline more pronounced in the city, where African Americans have long been the majority. Before Katrina, the growth of Hispanics in the nation's major cities had largely bypassed New Orleans. The area never saw the dramatic housing and construction bubble that attracted immigrants to other cities, said Steve Striffler, a professor of Latin American studies at the University of New Orleans. Anecdotally, some are now leaving as reconstruction of the city has slowed and the economic downturn has taken its toll. But other immigrants say they have put down roots and discovered the delights of overstuffed po' boys, Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street. Reader Reaction We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Rules. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication. Not sure how to add your comment? Here's how This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Beloit College Mindset List offers cultural keys to the Class of 2014 - HULIQ.com Posted: 17 Aug 2010 06:09 PM PDT Adults may recall a time when Russia and the United States were at constant loggerheads, but their children have known the two countries only as roommates in space. For them, "Dirty Harry" directs films, not acts in them. And almost none of them know cursive handwriting. These are just a few of the facts about the Class of 2014 revealed in the annual Beloit College Mindset List. Since 1998, Beloit humanities and English professor Tom McBride and recently retired Public Affairs Director Ron Nief have produced the list as a guide to advise faculty which cultural references their incoming freshmen will get and which ones they won't. But the Mindset List has taken on a life of its own beyond the confines of the Wisconsin college. Its Facebook fan page and Mediasite webcast draw more than 400,000 visitors a year, and the list serves as a cultural touchstone and a reminder to older generations of the passage of time. Here are some facts about the incoming freshman college class from the Beloit College Mindset List: They were born in 1992, the year Bill Clinton apologized to everyone about his sexual behavior and Ross Perot warned anyone who would listen about a "giant sucking sound." More of them are female than male, and one in four of them has at least one immigrant parent, rendering rancorous arguments about immigration moot. They are the first college class to grow up in a totally digital world. E-mail is too slow for them, and they almost never send "snail mail." As they tell time with their cell phones, they wouldn't understand that someone pointing at their wrist is asking them for the time of day. Now for some of the cultural touchstones. For the Class of 2014:
Visit the Beloit College Mindset List website for the full list of fun facts. Stay in touch with HULIQ NEWS on Twitter @HULIQ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Police Try To Bridge Cultural Divide - Wbaltv.com Posted: 22 Aug 2010 07:12 AM PDT POSTED: 1:15 pm EDT August 21, 2010 BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City police converged in several communities Saturday amidst a string of attacks involving Hispanics and Latinos, including two homicides.In the latest incident early Saturday morning, officers found a 51-year-old man robbed and fatally beaten with a piece of lumber on Kenwood Avenue. (More )Baltimore City police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police are investigating at least five violent incidents against Hispanics on the city's southeast side in the past two weeks. Investigators said they do not believe there are common assailants in the various cases.Guglielmi said the Police Department is mobilizing a large deployment of foot patrol officers who will examine where officers were located before and after each incident to better cover the area. Police said they added 30 officers to the Southeastern District on Saturday night.In the long run, authorities said they want to bridge a cultural divide as they investigate whether Hispanics are being specifically targeted."I think there are some language issues. The criminals may identify these victims as easy targets," Guglielmi said. "My friend, he got two shots by Pulaski Highway for no reason," said Wilson Bravo, a resident.Police officers teamed up with community leaders Saturday night to calm fears over deportation, which sometimes prevents people from reporting crime, police said. Officers distributed fliers that read, "If you report a crime or you're a victim of one, officers will not ask about or check your immigration status."Bravo said he is legal, but that some of his friends are not. After the police meet and greet Saturday evening, Bravo said their fears may be subsiding."We feel a little bit better," he said.Officers said they just want to know whether residents can help solve crimes.Melissa Techentin, a community leader who has lived in southeast Baltimore her entire life, said she has seen the Hispanic population steadily grow, and the efforts to reach out to them are intensifying."They're trying to take this a step further," she said. "This has become a serious focus because there's escalated crime against certain groups."The Police Department has Spanish-speaking officers on the force, some of whom were recruited from Puerto Rico.Refresh WBALTV.com often and watch WBAL-TV 11 News for the latest updates. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Turkish Cultural Center aims to bridge East and West - Times Union Posted: 22 Aug 2010 09:02 PM PDT MENANDS -- The Turks are rising in the Capital Region. In the past six months, Turks have bought a building on Broadway in Menands, renovated it and created the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany with the help of the organization's first paid full-time employee. Once limited mostly to a few graduate students from Turkey in the 1980s, an estimated 200 Turkish families now live in this region and work as professors, researchers and pizza shop owners. One of their members owns Ali Baba restaurant in Troy, which supplies Turkish specialties to dinners at the center, including gatherings each weekend to break the fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ends Sept. 10. A core group of a few dozen families started the cultural center because the local Turkish population had reached a critical mass that could support it. Also, several Turkish couples had babies in the past year and they were confronted with an age-old conundrum of immigrants: how to assimilate into American society without losing their own cultural identity. After a year of fund-raising, the not-for-profit organization made a down payment on the $250,000 two-story structure on a commercial and industrial stretch in Menands. The organization turned an empty office building into a multi-use facility with classrooms, an after-school play area, game room, dining hall and conference room. The center is decorated with Turkish coffee pots, glassware, paintings and handicrafts. The distinctive red Turkish flag, with a white star and crescent moon, stands next to an American flag. A grand opening in the fall is planned. The members expect to offer Turkish language courses for Americans and English language courses for newly arrived Turks. There is no mosque on the site and the center will not be used for Islamic prayer services, organizers said. Turkey is a Muslim country, with Christians, Jews and non-Muslims making up less than 1 percent of the 78 million people in the republic. Yet the president of the local organization took care to explain that the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany is not a religious or political group. In keeping with Islamic teaching, the center will not serve alcohol or allow smoking, but women, children and people of all faiths will be welcome to participate. There will be no dress code. Cultural dinners, interfaith programs and classes in Turkish cooking will be open to the public. "We can serve as a bridge between East and West," said Veysel Ucan, executive director of the center, who hopes his efforts will help dispel misunderstandings about Turkey. "Our goal is to help our children preserve their cultural identity and to introduce our culture to the people of the Capital Region," said Ali Can, president of the organization. "We want to be integrated into the community and to learn alongside each other. We don't want to consume our energy on controversial issues." Neither man wanted to get into a debate about the hot-button issue of an Islamic center and mosque proposed to be built two blocks from ground zero in Lower Manhattan. "I don't think it's necessary to have a mosque there. It could be just a cultural center," said Ucan, 31, who came to the U.S. in 2001 and earned a master's degree in computer engineering at Manhattan College. He worked at the Turkish Cultural Center in New York City before being hired in Albany last August. He and his wife, Ozgul, have a 2-year-old daughter, Fatma, and live in Troy. "I hope people learn to separate Muslims from terrorists," Ucan said. "A true Muslim cannot be a terrorist. Most of our American friends understand that difference, hopefully." Can hopes that visitors to the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany will come to appreciate both the ancient history of the Ottoman Empire and the triumphs of modern Turkey, which boasts one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and is making a bid to become a full member of the European Union. "We're trying to educate people about the diversity and tolerance in Turkey today," said Can, 39, a researcher at GE Global Research in Niskayuna who earned a Ph.D. in computer engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He and his wife, Bouchra, have a 1-year-old daughter, Farah, and they live in Troy. Neither Can nor Ucan wanted to engage in a discussion of sensitive and controversial issues pertaining to Turkey. Those include the Armenian genocide of 1915, which included the massacre and forced deportation of more than 1 million Armenians living in Turkey. There is also a violent history with ethnic Kurds living in Turkey and Turkey's strained relationship with Israel. "We don't want to get into arguments over those matters," Ucan said. "I can't stress enough that we're not a political or a religious organization. Our focus is strictly cultural. We want to promote understanding of Turkish culture. The Capital Region has given us many opportunities. Now, it's time for us to give something back." Paul Grondahl can be reached at 454-5623 or by e-mail at pgrondahl@timesunion.com. To learn more For more information about the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany and to learn about upcoming events, go to their website at http://www.tccalbany.org. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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