Hispanic and Latino Communities in Metro Atlanta

Atlanta, the largest urban center in the southeastern U.S., has undergone profound social, cultural and demographic change since the 1980s. Prior to that time, the region contained two main ethnic groups: European Americans and African Americans. [1] However, from 1980 to 1995, the Hispanic population of Georgia grew 130%. By 1996 there were 462,973 Hispanics in Georgia. [2] From 1990 to 2000, Georgia became the third largest state for migrating Hispanics and Latinos.[3]

Contents

Immigration

The main increase in Latino immigration to Atlanta began in the 1990s, as a result of the construction boom that accompanied the 1996 Olympics. However, the increase in the Hispanic population began before Atlanta was named host of the games in 1990. The Hispanic population is the largest non-traditional minority group in the city. Hispanics grew from 30,000 in 1982, to over 110,000 in 1992[4]—260% in ten years. Between 1992 and 1996, the Hispanic population of the Atlanta metro area grew to over 231,619[5]—an increase of 110% in just six years. Of these, 9,571, or 4%, are children in school[6]. This growth has changed the cultural make-up of the city: three Mexican-owned radio stations that broadcast in Spanish, and, in 1997, there were three Spanish language newspapers[7], increasing to eleven by 1999. Mexican workers play an important role in the service sector, as well as in construction and industry. Meat packers, especially chicken processing plants, must be located close to the farm to reduce losses of live animals in transportation. Packers, then, are tied to the production region, but they use up the local work force because of the arduous and dangerous working conditions, as well as low salaries[8].

Statistics

A needs assessment for the Archdiocese of Atlanta summarizes the main characteristics of the Hispanic population:[9]

The same study reports that main needs of the Hispanic population include:

Culture

Atlanta's vibrant and growing Hispanic community is represented at Festival Peachtree Latino, held annually Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta. The festival, which celebrates Hispanic-American culture, is the largest multicultural event in the entire Southeast.[10] The festival features arts and crafts, family activities, sporting events, a parade, dance demonstrations, ethnic foods, and a live music stage featuring international performers from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.[11] In addition, over 250 exhibitors present favorite brands, souvenirs and interactive displays.[12] The festival, which began in 2000, continues to grow in attendance. It is free and open to the public.

Health

With a growth rate of over 300% since 1999, doctors and hospitals struggle to provide services to Spanish speaking patients.[13] With multiple versions of the Spanish language, which may be understood by other Latinos or Hispanics in the same region, cultural differences, the lack of interpreters for Spanish, and monolingual English speaking medical staff, obtaining adequate healthcare is a problem for Hispanics and Latinos in Georgia. In addition to the language barrier, there is another problem that exists for Latinos and Hispanics in the healthcare industry. According to the Georgia Minority Health & Health Disparities Report, 41% of Georgians without health insurance are Hispanics, with an additional 24% representing multi-cultural communities.[14] Although the Hispanic and Latino communities make up 29% of the working class in Georgia, the majority of Hispanics and Latinos do not benefit from having either public or private health insurance.[15]

Diabetes

With an increase in population over the last decade, there has also been a steady increase in the number of diabetes cases in the Atlanta.[16] Although African Americans have the highest cases of diabetes with 31%,[17] the morbidity rate of Hispanics and Latinos has doubled over the past ten years to 1.8%.[18] This information warrants improved medical attention that should focus on the Latino and Hispanic communities. Additionally, diabetes among pregnant women in Georgia compared to the U.S has constantly increased to approximately 1.50% from 1995 to 2005.[19] Although diabetes is more common in Blacks than any other racial or ethnic group,[20] Latino individuals are more than 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic Whites, and those of Mexican origin are twice as likely to have diabetes as other Latinos.[21]

Emory Latino Diabetes Education Program

To combat diabetes, Emory and Grady Hospitals have implemented the Emory Latino Diabetes Education Program (ELDEP), which holds weekly sessions in Spanish that are taught by Hispanic healthcare professionals at Grady Hospital Diabetes Clinic to educate the Hispanic community about diabetes in the metropolitan area of Atlanta. This program, which helps to control Type 2 diabetes in Hispanics, teaches the importance of insulin, a balanced diet, exercise, how to monitor blood glucose, and medication. In follow up classes called Clubes de Diabetes (diabetes club) healthcare officials are able to monitor patients’ progress. ELDEP also offers programs for physicians and nurses that work with Spanish speaking diabetes patients, to get the word out to the Hispanic community, so that those with diabetes will know where to go to get help.[22] The classes that ELDEP offers for Hispanics and Latinos are held weekly at Grady Diabetes Clinic, Grady’s International Medical Clinic, and at the North DeKalb satellite neighborhood clinics of the Grady Health System. Emory University School of Medicine also recruits Hispanics to participate in studies to better serve the Latino community.

Mercy Clinic

In addition to Emory, Saint Joseph’s Mercy Clinic, located in Brookhaven's Northeast Plaza (in the Buford Highway international district) provides services for diabetics as well. Mercy Clinic provides patients the opportunity to see someone who not only speaks Spanish in addition to several other languages, but is also sensitive to each patient’s particular financial situation as well. Mercy also has a pharmacy on location that makes for convenience in filling prescriptions.

Demographics

The number of Latinos has grown exponentially since the 1900s.[23] The growth of Latino migrants has been dramatic: the number of Hispanics grew more than seven times between 1982 and 1996, to over 232,000, resuliting in 234,010 Hispanic migrants by 1998.[24][25]

Female immigrants

About 10% of female migrants are single. Women typically start working informally in childcare, and then move into domestic service or hotel work.[26] Few women migrate alone, with most women following their husband once he has settled. Over 70% of Mexican women migrate to join their spouse; 20% come with their parents and only 7% come alone. Younger couples reunite sooner than older couples. The average gap between husband’s and wife’s migration is three years. Women have an average of 2.5 children, although 10% have no children.

Men earn enough in the U.S. to live and send money home, but not enough to support a typical family of 5. In 2000, a man could earn $1100 per month, or up to $1300 with two jobs, and his living expenses were at least $500. He could live and work in the U.S. and send money home, where his wife and children worked and lived cheaply. In Atlanta, expenses for a family of 5 were at least $1400 per month, more than one man’s salary, but within the reach of a two-worker family.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dameron, Rebecca J. and Arthur D. Murphy. 1997. An International City Too Busy to Hate? Social and Cultural Change in Atlanta: 1970-1995. Urban Anthropology 26(1):43-70.
  2. ^ Dameron, Rebecca J. and Arthur D. Murphy. 1997. An International City Too Busy to Hate? Social and Cultural Change in Atlanta: 1970-1995. Urban Anthropology 26(1):43-70.
  3. ^ Georgia State Fact Sheet. Provided by the National Council of La Raza, 2003. http://www. nclr.org
  4. ^ Dameron, Rebecca J. and Arthur D. Murphy. 1997. An International City Too Busy to Hate? Social and Cultural Change in Atlanta: 1970-1995. Urban Anthropology 26(1):43-70.
  5. ^ CARA (Center for Applied Research in Anthropology, Georgia State University). 1996. Georgia Hispanic Population, 1981-1995.
  6. ^ CARA (Center for Applied Research in Anthropology, Georgia State University). 1996. Georgia Hispanic Population, 1981-1995.
  7. ^ Dameron, Rebecca J. and Arthur D. Murphy. 1997. An International City Too Busy to Hate? Social and Cultural Change in Atlanta: 1970-1995. Urban Anthropology 26(1):43-70.
  8. ^ Saindon, Jacqueline J. 1991 Piney Road: Work Education and The Remaking of the Southern Family. A Final Report To the Ford Foundation.
  9. ^ Rees, Miller, Saldana 2003
  10. ^ http://mableton.11alive.com/news/events/79094-weekend-events-dralion-summer-shade-festival-and-german-bierfest-atlanta
  11. ^ http://www.festivals.com/viewevent.aspx?eventid=Oy%2FaNomyyGE%3D
  12. ^ http://www.atlantagatoday.com/pmcparland/category/atlanta-blog/travel-guide/atlanta-festivals/festival-peachtree-latino
  13. ^ Hispanics by the Numbers in Georgia. Provided by the University of Georgia Business Outreach Services/ Small Business Development Center, 2003. http://www.sbduc.uga.edu/pdfs/hispanicfactsheet.pdf
  14. ^ Ibid.
  15. ^ Latino Health, Georgia’s Future: Strategies for Improving the health if Latinos in the State. National Council of La Raza Institute for Hispanic Health, 2007 Advance Issue on the Georgia Latino/Hispanic Health Agenda and Leadership Project. http://www.nclr,org/content/publications
  16. ^ 2003 Georgia Diabetes Report., Provided by the Georgia Diabetes Advisory Council
  17. ^ Georgia Minority Health & Health Disparities Report: Diversity http://web.msm.edu/ncpc/Publications/GA_minority_health_disparities_DIABETES.pdf
  18. ^ Ibid
  19. ^ Georgia Epidemiology Report. Volume 24 number 3, Provided by the Georgia Department of Human Resources
  20. ^ Georgia Minority Health & Health Disparities Report The Melting Pot, Provided by the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine, 2004
  21. ^ Diabetes Health Resources. Provided by the Center for Disease Control
  22. ^ Diabetes Center at Grady. http://www.medicine.emory.edu/endo/diabees/educ/latino.cfm
  23. ^ Hispanics by the Numbers in Georgia. Provided by the University of Georgia Business Outreach Services/ Small Business Development Center, 2003. http://www.sbdc.uga.edu/pdfs/hispanicfactsheet.pdf
  24. ^ Rees, Martha W. 2001. How Many Are There? Ethnographic Estimates of Mexican Women in Atlanta, Georgia. Latino Workers in the Contemporary South. Proceedings of the Southern *Anthropological Society. Arthur D. Murphy, Colleen Blanchard and Jennifer A. Hill, eds. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. Pp. 36–43.
  25. ^ Rees, Martha W., T. Danyael Miller and Mariposa Arillo 1998. Atlanta Latinas. Presented at the Center for Latin American and Hispanic Studies, 1997-1998 Lecture Series: Gender, Culture and *Politics in Latin America. Women and NAFTA. 14 May 1998.
  26. ^ Nettles, Jennifer. 1997. Desde muy lejos: un estudio de la vida de un mujer imigrante, mexicana. Senior Research Paper, Agnes Scott College.

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