Efforts to welcome, help and understand Latinos in East Windsor is complicated by the diversity of Latino cultures represented in the township.
By: Michael Arges
EAST WINDSOR Efforts to welcome and understand new Latino students and their families is complicated by the fact many Hispanic cultures are represented in the area, said Seton Hall professor David Abalos.
"They come with different needs depending on class background," he said. "There are probably at least three different Latino communities in East Windsor/Hightstown. There is an older Puerto Rican community that has been here in significant numbers about 30 years, maybe a little longer. After that, there was the Colombian community that has been here about 15 years."
A scholar studying multiculturalism and Latinos and Latinas in the United States, Mr. Abalos was recognized Saturday by the Mercer County Hispanic Association for his efforts on behalf of local Hispanic students and their families.
Right now the community is seeing yet another wave of newcomers, mainly from Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador.
"Between those three groups there are some real difficulties," Mr. Abalos added.
For example, some of the current generation of Puerto Rican youngsters no longer speak Spanish.
"On the other hand, the Colombians are very bilingual, but there’s also a class difference between those two groups that sometimes makes it difficult for them to relate," he said.
Then there is the newest wave of new arrivals, often from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. The Colombians, who are often highly skilled, may have little in common besides language, Mr. Abalos noted. "I think that they often relate to them in a condescending way."
Of the new arrivals, the Ecuadorians and then the Guatemalans are the most numerous, Mr. Abalos said.
"Every time I turn around, I find a pocket of Guatemalans or Ecuadorians that weren’t there before," he said. "It’s almost as if, literally, they came overnight."
Once someone from a given nationality finds a job, others soon follow, Mr. Abalos said.
"For example, a Guatemalan will get a job at a car wash, and every single person working at the car wash is Guatemalan," he noted. "Or else they’ll start working at a particular restaurant, and all of a sudden everybody there is Ecuadorian. There are pockets like this everywhere."
Mr. Abalos urged community members to have patience with these new residents as they struggle to adapt to our culture and community.
"It’s clear that they want to, but you need to give them some time. Some of them actually just got here this past summer," he said. "Let’s go back and look at our own parents and grandparents. The first generation that came always maintained Polish language, Italian language, German language, Swedish, whatever. Usually it took at least a generation to Americanize."
Although the United States is a nation of immigrants, residents sometimes deal harshly with newer immigrants or outright discriminate, Mr. Abalos said.
"This has always been the case in American history, because every immigrant group that’s come has experienced this kind of period of initial rejection until there is a process of acceptance," he said. "Every immigrant group that came was punished: whether it was the Irish, the Italians, the Jews, the Slovaks whomever."
"The sad thing is that sometimes the groups that have now come close the door behind them," Mr. Abalos said. "Even in the Latino community there is some of that struggle taking place. For example in Los Angeles, the Mexicans are leery of the influx of Central Americans. …They don’t want to be identified with a group that’s being rejected, because they’re afraid that they’ll be rejected all over again."