In some Calif. cities, inclusion of Latinos has caused more racial isolation
By Martha Mendoza, Associated Press/Daily Democrat
WATSONVILLE — In a grassy downtown plaza, strolling musicians wearing glitzy cowboy outfits blast a mariachi song, while Spanish-speaking shoppers bustle between farm stands, sampling tart cactus leaves, sniffing roasting chilies and buying bundles of warm pork tamales.
The scene is an increasingly typical one in towns across California, where Latinos are on pace to become the largest ethnic group next year. And Watsonville is but one of dozens of California communities where Latinos outnumber whites.
Rising immigration hasn’t made Watsonville more diverse; it is a community heading toward racial isolation, a growing phenomenon in a state that offers one possible look at how the nation may change as non-Latino whites become a minority in the coming months.
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