The first thing I noted in the articles is that many living in El Barrio and Chinatown (or in the “satellite Chinatowns”) view getting out of said enclaves as a mark of success; despite the fact that they love the sense of community (evidenced in how many returned to El Barrio, though it should be noted that many of them move into better houses than they lived in before), the stigma of living in neighborhoods with poor conditions for so many residents appears to be too much to bear. Foner even says that ethnic clustering can generally reduce opportunities for nonwhites and immigrants, resulting in many immigrants’, especially Asians’, flight to “white neighborhoods.” What is even more interesting is that, according to the first paragraph in Chinese: Divergent Destinies in New York, because of immigration from Asia and the Americas, all these immigrants from diverse and different European countries became lumped into the category “white people.”
Though Flushing contains a large percentage of Chinese people, we cannot call it Chinatown because other ethnic groups are greatly dispersed throughout the area as well. Though it is part of Spanish Harlem, El Barrio contains a large black populace as well. Though Flushing is multiethnic within itself, I have always felt that the businesses and infrastructures set up by different ethnic groups are clustered, rather than dispersed, despite the fact that one may see all types of people simultaneously walking the streets. For example, all the Indian and South Asian stores and Temples appear to populate separate blocks from the Chinese businesses. Still, the multiethnic characteristic is one reason Main Street can’t be called Chinatown.
In the case of El Barrio, the distinction between the different groups is a bit harder to define. According to the article, a good chunk of the black residents acknowledge the area for its Puerto Rican and Latino identity, and have no trouble living under it. However, though many blacks and Puerto Ricans strike up friendships and intermarry, many black people do not feel connected to the nostalgic feel of the community. I also found in interesting how the article makes no mention of significant markers of black heritage in the community. It is noted that many do not know of or identify with their “connections to the Caribbean, “ and those that are of mixed descent “embrace their African heritage”, but feel the need to assert their Latino heritage.
It is interesting how other groups are categorized based on countries or continents of origin, but two groups, white and black, exist on the basis of skin color. However, because as a whole, many black and white people identify with each other, purely because of skin color, then we can view these groups as ethnic groups, despite the differences in places of origins. It is hard to say if this is positive or not. Couldn’t this categorization of skin color make people wonder what cultures or ideas they should identify with or whether they should even identify with others simply because of appearances?
