Seeking difference: Latino-White relations in a Los Angeles bilingual school

2015-08-05Assimilation scholars have focused on the incorporation of immigrants and their children, often using contact between immigrants and natives as a measure of their trajectories (Alba and Nee 2003, Lee and Bean 2010, Telles and Ortiz 2008). Race scholars, on the other hand, have examined contact between racial/ethnic groups in order to decipher when interactions lead to positive or negative outcomes (Bobo and Zubrinsky 1996, Dovidio et al. 2003, Dixon 2006). However, these literatures have not yet addressed how and why individuals seek contact with those who are not of their race/ethnicity and the results of voluntary integration. This dissertation uses a Spanish/English immersion school in the greater L.A. area as an empirical site to examine voluntary contact and integration between Latinos and Whites in Southern California. Three main questions guide this study: What are Latino and White families’ motivations for choosing immersion and integration? How do Latino and White families experience immersion and what is the character of their interactions with each other? And, what strategies are used to negotiate difference and inequality in immersion? Drawing from over 20 months of ethnography and 66 in-depth interviews, I find that despite a shared interest in bilingualism and voluntary contact, racial and socioeconomic divides between Latino and White families persist. These divisions manifest in segregated parent organizations, friendly but minimal interactions and limited time together outside of school. This research contributes to our understanding of how inequality takes new forms in schools despite increasing diversity across the nation