Contemporary Latino Segregation: Whites' Attitudes and Preferences in Orange County California

Integration is a valued principle in America based on the notion that separate is not equal. Yet, the increasing diversity in the United States has not naturally ushered in racial equality. One mechanism to measure racial... [ view full abstract ]

Integration is a valued principle in America based on the notion that separate is not equal. Yet, the increasing diversity in the United States has not naturally ushered in racial equality. One mechanism to measure racial equality is examining levels of segregation.
The vast and rich literature on segregation mainly accounts for segregation between whites and African-Americas. There is much less research on Latino segregation. The UCLA Civil Rights Project posits that historical segregation was not just about African-Americans, which is reflected by the Mendez vs. Westminster case, where Mexicans victoriously fought for desegregating schools in Southern California (Strum 2010). In terms of contemporary Latino segregation, "Latino students, are becoming even more segregated than black students in Southern and Western regions" (Orfield & Lee 2006).
My paper examines whites' residential an educational preferences in Orange County California. My findings include that that whites make choices to segregate from Latinos because they construct them as racially inferior. Although the percentage of Latinos and Asians have grown similarly in this area, whites hold positive views of Asians and negative stereotypes of Blacks and Latino, in their efforts to explain why they prefer to integrate with some groups and not others. In accordance with group position theory, size matters but what matters most is whites' perception of the group and their assignment on the racial hierarchy. Not only do whites choose to live in predominately white neighborhoods and not send their children to schools with Latinos, they also express they believe that even public spaces should be rid of Latinos. Thus, I argue that if the dominant group does not value integration, essentially whites are not only advocating for segregation but also racial inequality.