Civic Engagement, Assimilation, and Identity among Latinos in Southern California

The civic participation of Latino provides key insight into the degree to which they are incorporating into mainstream society and the potential they have to shape the U.S. social and political landscape. Whether Latinos participate mainly in ethnic organizations or are joining mainstream organizations can provide insight into the persistence of barriers and the construction of group boundaries or the breaking down of the existing U.S. racial hierarchy. Particularly as Latinos experience upward mobility across generations, the persistence of ethnic organizations is a site for measuring the future of Latinos in this country. Drawing on 80 in-depth interviews and 20 informal interviews with members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), as well as over two years of fieldwork in six councils in Southern California, this study focuses on civic engagement in the lives of upwardly mobile Latinos. Findings reveal that individuals construct civic identities through group consciousness as Latinos based on shared experiences with discrimination, often as a result of upward mobility through educational achievement and entering the mainstream professional labor market. Based on experiences with discrimination, rather than generation, members develop civic identities that are characterized as proactive, reactive, or passive. While shared discrimination allows for the construction of a shared Latino group consciousness among respondents, individual views on immigration policy and the position of immigrants in the organization divide the group along generational lines and pose a threat to the organization. The incorporation of immigrants into the organization has the potential to benefit newcomers, existing members, and the unique needs of the immigrant community, as well as provide growth of the organization, however conflicting views depict an uncertain future for immigrants in the organization.;Finally, the role of youth is examined. Findings suggest that youth are benefiting from participation in ways that are unique from adult members, particularly through political socialization and access to educational resources. Although in different ways, for both adults and youth in the organization civic participation is illustrative of segmented assimilation. Through participation youth are accessing resources in the ethnic community that are otherwise not available through institutions such as the family and education system and are thus selectively acculturating. For adults, participation in ethnic organizations provides a buffer from experienced discrimination in mainstream institutions and also resources to combat inequality and discrimination targeted towards Latinos. Overall, I argue that through the construction of civic identities, Latinos are securing their position in the U.S. social and political sphere and are successfully incorporating into a new segment of society as middle-class Latinos.