ARTICLE TOOLS

E-mail story

Comments

Printer friendly version

iPod friendly version

Share This

Text Size: A A A A

Tennessee: Hispanic growth moves fast in region

By: Perla Trevizo
(Contact)

Included in this article

Doug Bachtel

Mexico native Belen Reyes made the tough decision to leave her home country at 14 to come to the United States and work.

“I had to drop out of school after sixth grade to help my family,” the 27-year-old said. “So I went to Florida because I had an aunt who lived there and basically encouraged me to go live with her.”

Mrs. Reyes eventually settled in Gordon County, Ga., where she contributed to a 115.8 percent increase in the county’s Hispanic population between 2000 and 2007.

U.S. Census figures released today show Hispanic populations have exploded in much of Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. The figures were gathered from birth and death certificates and international migration records.

The number of Hispanic residents rose 71.8 percent in Bradley County, Tenn., for the period.

“Diversity is definitely here to stay, the way it is right now in our community and in the United States,” Cleveland Vice Mayor Avery Johnson said. “We are the melting pot. It’s just hard to manage all of that, especially in our school system.”

Immigrants like Mrs. Reyes are attracted to the region by jobs and affordable housing, said Douglas C. Bachtel, a demographer at the University of Georgia.

He said jobs in the carpet industry, agriculture, landscaping and the restaurant industry have attracted Hispanics, documented and undocumented, to the South.

“One of the interesting things about migration is that it occurs in streams. Once it starts it sort of picks up speed and volume over time,” Dr. Bachtel said.

In Cleveland, Mr. Johnson said agriculture and jobs with companies like Whirlpool have attracted a diverse group of people. He said there are at least 62 different cultures in Cleveland alone.

“We have a tremendously diverse community, and it has gotten more and more (diverse) for the past 10 years,” he said.

The new residents have an impact on all kinds of community services. School systems usually lack programs to help children whose parents only speak Spanish, said Roberta Warmack, founder of the nonprofit Latinos for Education and Justice Organization in Calhoun, Ga.

“You can’t expect people to assimilate if they’re not given some kind of information. They need to learn the laws. Somebody needs to keep them informed,” she said.

In Cleveland, Mr. Johnson said it’s hard to manage all the different communities, especially when the individuals are in the country illegally.

“Everything comes down to whether they are legal or illegal,” he said. “It’s hard to provide services and plan when you don’t know where those numbers are going to settle down to.”

Comments