Immigrants in the American heartland

[pampango]

Source: BBC

As small farmsteads gave way to large scale agribusiness and unions lost their grip on the region's meatpacking plants, sending wages plummeting, the white population began to leave. At the High School, once overwhelmingly white, Hispanic students now predominate. Native Iowans are a dwindling minority. The numbers reflect a community where the local economy holds fewer attractions for middle-class Americans and where immigrants are drawn in to fill the gaps.

Such scenes might be commonplace elsewhere in this country of immigrants, but 20 years ago they were unthinkable here in the Midwest, where diversity used to be a question of whether your 19th Century antecedents were German or Scandinavian. Demographic maps of America show a great hollowing out of the middle, across the Great Plains and the Midwest. In some areas, almost every county has experienced significant net emigration during the past 20 years.

Mark Grey, a professor of anthropology at the University of Northern Iowa, says three kinds of community remain:
• larger urban areas, connected to the global economy
• rural counties that are slowly dying, with shrinking and ageing populations, and
• places like Storm Lake that are bucking the trend of rural depopulation, thanks entirely to immigration

After a kosher meat processing plant opened here in 1987, Postville underwent sudden and dramatic change. For more than 15 years, the town celebrated its newfound diversity. It held an annual Taste of Postville food festival, and its school kept track of the languages that came and went over time - 37 at the last count. But in May last year, it all came crashing down as heavily-armed federal agents swooped on the town and arrested almost 400 illegal immigrants working at the kosher plant.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8339249.stm

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Most rural counties have been losing population for decades, not just the last 20 years, unless they are close enough to a metropolitan area to be considered a distant suburb. First farms got more mechanized then agribusiness took over and many young people have found the allure of city life preferable to staying in their small home town or on the farm.

The way the BBC tells it whites started to leave the meatpacking plants after wages fell as unions were broken. Then immigrants were "drawn in to fill the gaps". The cause/effect/timing of the whites leaving and the immigrants arriving is probably more muddled than that, enough so that it is easy to make "history" fit what you believe "must" have been how it happened.

It is possible that as the meatpacking unions were broken and wages fell whites joined the general exodus from rural areas and immigrants ("from Mexico, Guatemala, Ukraine, Israel and Somalia) arrived and took advantage of the situation. It is also possible that immigrants were used to help break the unions (even if the BBC didn't describe it that way) and stayed after the whites left both the plant and, often, the area.

[TwilightGardener]

1. I've been watching this happen in Nebraska, too--

where I'm at, it's still mostly German, Scandinavian and Czech ancestry, but in some towns further west from me, the Mexican population is starting to overtake the white population--mostly due to meat processing plants and feed lots. Not sure what long-term impact this will have.

[Steerpike]

2. Long Term Impact?

Prettier girls, better food, more landscaping with roses, adobe style architecture, more catholic churches and at least a minor rise in pinata sales.

[imdjh]

5. No one will ever accuse you of not looking on the bright side. Except for the churches, of course.

[Steerpike]

7. At the very least.

many of the churches are pretty to look at.

[WriteDown]

9. Prettier girls?

I'd argue that point. Love the blondes with the blue eyes.

[Steerpike]

11. Well, sir!

I'm not sayng that white girls aren't pretty! It's all simply a matter of taste.

[imdjh]

34. Why am I hearing Festus Haggen when you post?

[Steerpike]

37. Good Morning Mr Dillon!

Perception is everything.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Well, all else aside, the food would definitely be an improvement--

I hate the food here--both home cooking and non-chain-restaurant food. It's godawful and bland.

[mule_train]

26. 'Prettier girls;? that's kinda racist, isnt it? nt

[Steerpike]

30. Whoa there muletrain!

You mean I can't prefer dark skinned beauties? I will say that I have nothing against white people...some of my best friends are white.

I knew that comment would spark a reply. Of course I think white people should have equal rights and should be able to marry and live with whomever and wherever they want. I think white people should be allowed to go to schools of their choice too! Does that make me a racist?

[mule_train]

32. if someone said the reverse it would be called racist nt

[Steerpike]

35. I would not think so

I think people see beauty where they will. Has nothing to do with race necessarily. I just like brunettes with dark skin. It's more about my aesthetics than race.

[imdjh]

33. You knew it was a racist comment, which is why I ignored it.

[Mopar151]

40. Yeah, the new neighbors are the cool part of this!

In NH, we get Somalis and Balkan refugees, with Carribean immigrants. They join the Greeks, the Acadians,Poles/Russians, and all the rest. Nice folks, and the food just gets better and better. Part of the ready acceptance of many here is Yankee frugality and work ethic - I've worked with a bunch of these folks, and they largely work hard and take their jobs seriously - and manufacturing needed a little brightening up and diversity.

[pattmarty]

3. And where do we have to get this news? From the BBC. For christ............

............sake, all we get from our "liberal" media is missing white women and reality TV. You know I just recently found out that CNN has a CNNI and the "regular" American propaganda CNN. We are getting fed propaganda every fucking day by our "liberal" media.

[imdjh]

8. What's the news? Mexicans invading Iowa? I was more surprised at the Lubavichers being there.

I don't normally think of Lubavicher Jews and Iowa in the same thought.

[imdjh]

4. The 2010 census should be interesting

Storm Lake was 80% nonhispanic white in the 2000 census, so if you count the hispanic whites then it was over 80% white. When you mix "hispanic" by which I assume they mean Latino with "white" by which I assume they mean caucasians not dark enough to visually identified as "hispanic" you get white. In other words, we're going to need some new words and I'm betting that the US 2010 census doesn't have any new words, it will be pretty much as useless as the 2000 census is where you have them counting "whites" by some unknown definition other than primary race, "hispanics" regardless of race and thus artificially inflating or deflating other racial categories, and my all time favorite "Asians" which is utterly meaningless, as Asia has every major race and dozens of subraces indigenous to the continent.

It will also be interesting to see if the "common knowledge" of "shrinking rural towns/counties" is actually true common knowledge. In many places that have been accused of this happening, the locals are quick to point out that the population has done nothing but increase since a slight or major dip in the 1970's, which generated the belief that this is widespread and ongoing.

[Steerpike]

6. You could have a new box.

Have a "person of deep browness" box to check.

[Romulox]

13. It's beyond ridiculous that "hispanic" is the only "white" ethnicity the Census bureau cares about..

No "Nordic", "Gaelic", "Slavic", or "Arab" check boxes. Just "white (non hispanic)" or "hispanic". :wtf:

[imdjh]

16. government gobbletygook with a design

The design is to lie. The gobbletygook is to confuse.

When you look at the Census short report, it lists "white nonhispanic" and "black (presumably nonhispanic)" and "Hispanic" which it points out "Hispanic can be of any race and figures for Hispanic population should not be added to other race statistics" or something like that. So are the Latino's counted or not?

[Romulox]

18. It boggles the mind as to what they imagine the basis for these categories is...

It's not science (it's not even social science!); it's not how people classify themselves...so where in Ann's Green Gables did our government come up with these categories?

It's odd...living in Dearborn, Michigan, I've known many middle easterners. Some are very emphatic in identifying themselves as "white", while others have really bristled at labeling themselves as "white (non-hispanic)", which is how the government has classified them.

Just an observation.

[enid602]

19. identifiers

I think they do that because some hispanics identify themselves as white, and some (primarily from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil) identify more as African American.

[Romulox]

22. OK. But what about how everybody else identifies themselves?

Any specific reason why that information isn't considered especially important?

[imdjh]

36. The Census ought to be very precise. Are Filipinos Hispanic? Remember "Spanish surnamed American"?

[Hello_Kitty]

12. Yep, they "took advantage" of those low wages and lousy working conditions

Because, you know, "those people" are different. They have a "superior work ethic" and they just looooooove to do horrid shitty "jobs that Americans won't do".

[Sinti]

14. "wages fell as unions were broken"

Farmers have to deal through monopolies like ADM and Heartland - yet somehow these stories always come across as trying to say it's the Latin American economic refugees' fault that corporations and their stockholders are greedy. OMG other has invaded Iowa. Actually drawing people into urban areas, then focusing on making those urban centers sustainable, and more family and lifestyle-friendly, would be great for the environment (leaving the farmers and ranchers well spaced out in the rural parts). Exurbs, and sprawling suburbs are a waste of space and devastating to habitats.

[Mopar151]

41. Well said

The big boys in agriculture have played rough for a long time, and they don't get called on it often enough.

[Romulox]

15. Is the OP against workplace enforcement of immigration, child labor, OSHA, FLSA?

:hi:

[JonQ]

17. I wonder if they got the time line right

wages began to drop so illegals moved in.

Sure it's isn't the other way around?

About like saying wages are on the rise, allowing unions to form and function effectively.

[mule_train]

20. Immigration policy is about busting working and middle class wages - period nt

[JonQ]

21. Seems to be working

too bad no major party or politician wants to address the issue.

Republicans want the workers, democrats want the voters.

[mule_train]

23. Obama's 'New Deal' for middle/working class vs bankers

for bankers: no matter how bad you f--k up, no matter how much value you DESTROY, (even to the point of sinking the whole country) the working classes have to bail you out, and your pay must INCREASE as long as there's someone out there on wall street who makes more than you

for workers: no matter how much value you produce, no matter how much you improve, your wages must DECREASE as long as there's someone out there in the 3rd world who makes less

this is fact, it's reality and it's time the working people called him out on it

[Steerpike]

24. I hope the President pulls a rabbit out of his hat.

But right now, he sure appears to be a supply side corporatist surrounded by bankers and elite effete snobs.

We have been found to be expendable. The rich do not need us to accumulate wealth.

[mule_train]

25. I was thinking something else out of somewhere else

if you get my meaning

but all kidding aside, i think he knows exactly what he's doing

and that's the problem

[Flaneur]

29. I worked in meatpacking in the 1970s.

It was a unionized industry until about the middle of the decade, when the packing houses made a concerted and successful effort to bust the unions. The scabs back then were mainly, if not entirely, white and native born.

Now the packing houses are non-union and employ lots of foreign labor at low wages.

[ellenfl]

27. here's the 2010 questionnaire.

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php

see number 9. i think many of those immigrants will be avoiding the census takers. regardless, if white americans are fleeing the states and immigrants don't make up for that loss, middle america may lose some representatives.

ellen fl

[imdjh]

38. Thank you. "Asian Indian" , now that is handy. Damn, the census did something right.

I like that they have broken out the Asian nations/subraces, I just wish they had done it for caucasians and negroes, maybe even American Indians. It would be cool to have a picture of how Americans identify. For instance, does Whoopi Goldberg self-ID as generic black or would she ID as "negro West African"? I would ID as Breton, Celt, or Anglo if given the option. Though, I have promised that I will ID as Melungeon in the 2010 census.

[Romulox]

39. LOL. Now there are 10 variants of "Asian", but apparently nobody else has an ethnicity

that is of any importance.

Where is the box for Dutch? Libyan? French? German?

Apparently the only ethnicities that currently matter are the Asian ones. :wtf:

[treestar]

28. The Germans and Scandinavians were immigrants too once

[imdjh]

31. I would love to see a homesteading and kibbutzim movement.

I think America would improve tremendously if there were a back to the land movement, and not the ersatz version we have seen in the mercantile "back to the small town" movement. I'm not talking about New Yorkers opening bead shops and coffee bars in Vermont, I mean people who actually MAKE/GROW something.