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Growing Pains: Multicultural explosion rattles residents
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RAPID GROWTH IN ETHNIC MIX OUTSIDE D.C. IS A TREND THAT'S SWEEPING THE
COUNTRY.
Marisol Bello and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY
Northern Virginia: Ahead of the U.S. trend
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Take a good look at the scope and breadth of the ethnic and racial
diversity in Northern Virginia, where students from up to 200 countries
populate local schools.
Your community — and your schools — will look a lot like this within the
next three decades.
The three fast-growing Virginia counties nestled near the nation's capital
— Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William — are at the leading edge of a
diversity explosion sweeping the USA. Hundreds of thousands of Hispanics
and Asians have moved to the area since the 1990s and account for 32% of
the 1.8 million people in the three counties, triple the number in 1990.
Blacks account for another 12%, and multirace residents, 1%.
But this rapid growth in diversity hasn't arrived without consequences or
controversy. Residents have been grappling with everything from a
controversial policy to stop illegal immigration in Prince William to a
housing squeeze that has pushed thousands of minority families out of
Arlington. Fairfax wrestles with finding the funds to teach ever more
students who are poorer and need added language training.
"People were not ready and did not know how to handle the change," says
Qian Cai, director of the Demographics Research Group at the University of
Virginia. "But you have to know change is coming, so be prepared and plan
for it. … As the white population ages, the younger generation will be
multicultural, multiracial. That is just a demographic fact."
On the plus side, multiethnic families are boosting the regional economy by
buying homes, opening businesses and shopping locally. They bring a
richness of language, tradition and food that are evident in local shopping
centers where African fufu — pounded yams, cassava or plaintains — can be
had alongside Salvadoran pupusas — corn or rice tortillas stuffed with
cheese, meat and beans — and Vietnamese pho, a noodle soup.
USA TODAY used Census data to calculate the chance that two random people
are different by race or ethnicity and came up with a Diversity Index to
place every county on a scale of 0 to 100. The nationwide Index reached 55
in 2010, up sharply from 20 in 1960 and 40 as recently as 1990.
All three of the Virginia counties topped the national average. In Fairfax,
the index is 64; in Prince William, 69. In Arlington, it dipped to 55 in
2010 as some minorities relocated. It was the only county in Northern
Virginia to drop.
The diversity boom here started in earnest in the 1980s when conflicts
abroad, from civil war in El Salvador to a Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan, led a wave of immigrants to the USA. The number of
foreign-born residents in Northern Virginia rose from 177,000 in 1990 to
463,000 in 2010 — 27% of the region's population.
And many of them are highly educated minorities, particularly Asians.
Almost 10% of adults in the three counties speak an Asian language at home
and have at least a bachelor's degree and, in many cases, a high-paying job.
And those "highly educated, high-paying jobs also bring low-paying jobs
because you need people to clean homes, take care of children, mow the
lawn, these things come in tandem," says the University of Virginia's Cai.
So the new immigrants stayed. And had families. And more friends and
relatives followed them. And they stayed, leading to a wide range of
repercussions.
The Housing Squeeze in Arlington
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Fassil Berhe began noticing the trend five years ago: affordable apartments
were being renovated or knocked down to make way for expensive luxury units.
He'd been in Arlington since 2000, hoping it would be the last stop in a
journey that began when he fled civil disorder in his native Ethiopia in
the late 1980s.
A brother who lived in Arlington enticed him to resettle there with
promises of steady work. By then, Berhe had a wife and young son. He found
work as a cab driver, and the family settled in a mixed-income area known
for its vibrant Bolivian and Salvadoran community. They paid $1,300 a month
for a one-bedroom apartment.
Arlington, Va., cab driver Fassil Berhe.Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
But when their daughter came along in 2003, the family needed a bigger
space and everything was too expensive.
"You can't afford to live there," he says. "You need to be earning $80,000,
$90,000."
Berhe was making about $40,000 as a cab driver and his wife worked a
minimum-wage retail job. So the family moved to nearby Fairfax County,
where rents were cheaper.
Berhe's family is typical of the one-in-five Hispanic and black households
that move out of Arlington because it is too expensive, according to the
county. Average rents have nearly doubled from $1,000 in 2000 to $1,900 in
2013.
The people feeling it most are blacks and Hispanics, who have much lower
incomes. Black households in Arlington have a median income of $59,200;
Hispanics, $62,500; and whites who are not Hispanic, $116,800.
"There is a divide," says Dennis Jaffe, executive director of BRAVO, a
tenants advocacy group. "People are getting squeezed out."
The housing problem came to the fore in the late 1990s when a post-World
War II housing complex called Arna Valley, home to 3,000 mostly Hispanic
immigrants, was torn down. In its place came new luxury apartments.
And the trend continued as more high-rises and expensive townhouses went
up. Wealthy, white 25- to 34-year-olds moved in and more blacks and
Hispanics moved out. Census data show the combined black and Hispanic
population shrank 7% from 2000 to 2010. The ranks of non-Hispanic whites
grew by 16%.
The result is "a housing crisis," says Mary Rouleau, executive director of
the Alliance for Housing Solutions, an education and advocacy group in the
county.
County officials are offering tax breaks for developers who include more
affordable apartments for families making $82,000 or less. The county also
has a $12.5 million fund to build or renovate affordable apartments.
"We need to let people who are low-income have at least a chance to live in
our community," says J. Walter Tejada, a member of the Arlington County
Board, who fought unsuccessfully to keep the affordable units in Arna
Valley.
The county's efforts have fallen short so far. Between 2000 and 2013, the
county's affordable housing program created fewer than 3,000 units. The
county lost 15,000 units during the same time.
"It's a losing battle," says Rolf Pendall, director of the Urban
Institute's Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center. "And it's
true all over the region."
Immigration Wave Pressures Fairfax County
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"If you want to see what the future of the U.S. will look like, come to any
elementary school in Fairfax County," says Ted Velkoff, a member of the
Fairfax County School Board.
Weyanoke Elementary on the eastern edge of the county stands out. Located
in one of the county's most diverse neighborhoods, the school of 500
kindergartners through fifth-graders is made up of 15% Asian students, 30%
black, 45% Hispanic and 8% white — and their families hail from 43
countries.
The richness of the diversity is the reason Debra and Ralph Johnson left
Arlington and moved to the Lincolnia Park area eight years ago. The
Johnsons, who are white, adopted three children from Guatemala: Maria, Tony
and Jose. Debra Johnson ticks off the backgrounds of their neighbors on a
street a block from the school: Taiwanese, Bolivian, Salvadoran, Peruvian
and African-American.
Debra and Ralph Johnson, who adopted three children from Guatemala, chose
the diverse Lincolnia Park area of Fairfax County, Va., to live.H. Darr
Beiser, USA TODAY
"We wanted to make sure our children would see people like them," says
Debra Johnson.
That diversity is reflected in Stacey Callaman's second-grade class at
Weyanoke. Almost all of her 21 students — like 65% of the school — don't
speak English as their primary language at home. That changes how she and
her colleagues teach. She uses more visual aids and spends more time
explaining concepts that are foreign to many students, such as what a
prairie is or how farms work.
Much of the school's focus is teaching students to speak, read and write
English, says principal Annette Almedina-Cabrera. "My children need extra
support."
But that costs money. The district spends $3,454 for each student in its
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program, which totaled $66
million in fiscal year 2014. At Weyanoke, almost eight of every 10 students
qualify for free and reduced meals.
Over the past eight years, the school district's enrollment has grown by
20,000, most of them children from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds.
The district plans to add five elementary schools over the next five years.
The district faced a $190 million budget gap this year that it closed with
$100 million in cuts and last-minute increases from the county Board of
Supervisors. The district has no taxing power, so it relies on the state
and county for funding.
It helps that Fairfax is one of the richest counties in the USA with a
median household income of $109,000.
Weyanoke Elementary School teacher Stacey Callaman talks about her
experience teaching in a diverse school in one of the most diverse areas of
Virginia's Fairfax County.Kate Patterson for USA TODAY
But the expense pays off with an educated workforce, Velkoff says. "It's in
all of our best interest to have a high quality of life for everyone."
And the diversity at school will have a lasting impact on how students see
race and ethnicity in an increasingly diverse world, says Almedina-Cabrera.
"We believe there is a culture richness here that is something they will
carry forth," she says. "Our kids do not see color. They see a friend. They
see classmates."
A Showdown in Prince William County
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This rural exurb of D.C. knows firsthand how the arrival of different
ethnic groups can sow the seeds of disruption.
In 2007, a meteoric rise in the Latino population led the Board of County
Supervisors to adopt a policy requiring police to check the immigration
status of any person they stopped whom they suspected was here illegally.
What followed was a fierce battle that split the community along political,
ideological and racial lines.
"2007 was a sad chapter in the history of Prince William County," says
Carlos Castro, a resident and owner of a chain of supermarkets that cater
to immigrant residents.
Seemingly overnight, the Latino population, made up mostly of Salvadorans
and Mexicans, stopped growing. While there are no official numbers for
illegal immigrants, the University of Virginia estimates that 2,000 to
6,000 left during the height of the conflict between 2006 and 2008. The
Hispanic population, which had doubled between 2001 and 2007 to hit 69,000,
had grown just 2% more by 2009.
In the face of heated opposition, the supervisors amended the policy in
2008 to require police to check the immigration status only of any person
they arrested and took into custody, not anyone they stopped.
Since that change in approach, the Hispanic population has grown another
33%, topping 94,000 last year. Today, the once predominantly white county
is a "majority-minority" community where more than half of the residents —
56% — are Hispanic, black or Asian.
"A lot of new families have come," says Maddie Lupo, director of social
ministry at Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodbridge. "People are not
afraid anymore. … And you see more of a sense of welcome."
More affordable housing has helped, too. Suburban apartment complexes and
townhouses have taken over much of what had been wooded land.
The county's diversity has seeped into every facet of daily life. You see
it in the faces in Todos Supermarket, which imports products that cater to
Hispanics, Asians, Africans and those from the Middle East. You see it in
the county's first cricket field, built this year,and in the overflow crowd
at Holy Family, where 60% of parishioners come from other countries.
Police Chief Steve Hudson says his force is changing too. Eleven percent of
the department's 1,169 officers are people of color.
"I don't think you can effectively police at a high level unless you
attempt to match the makeup of your community," Hudson says. "You need
cultural understanding."
Carlos Castro founded Todos Supermarkets, which specializes in Hispanic
foods and services, in 1990 -- the same year he became a citizen. He
immigrated in 1980.Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Hudson says the police department was against the immigration policy, but
its officers became the public face of it because they were responsible for
enforcement.
The department still has a way to go. A 2008 survey of residents found 73%
of Hispanics were satisfied with the police, down from 97% in 2005. This
year, only 66% of Hispanic residents were satisfied with the police.
"There's a lot of apprehension with change," says Corey Stewart, the county
board chairman who pushed for the 2007 policy. "It's tough at first. It's
disconcerting."
Stewart says he supported the policy because he is against illegal
immigration. He said residents were concerned about loitering, public
drunkenness and other nuisances that they blamed on new immigrants.
He credits the policy with changing the population of Hispanics in the
county from single men to families. Census data show that 61% of Hispanic
households are married couples, up from 53% in 2007.
But Stewart acknowledges that it created a deep rift in the community.
"When I started this, I was more ideological," he says. "Don't get me
wrong, I'm still a conservative, but you have to change with your
community."
Received on Tue Nov 11 2014 - 17:23:02 EST