A (Very Long) Note on Ethnic Enclaves/Ethnoburbs/Majority Minority
This is an exploration of the above stated topics. The idea of staying close to other people of a similar racial or ethnic identity. Why it might happen, and what effects might it have. This is of particular interest to me having always lived in places with a significant Asian if not Chinese population, as well as attending a high school and college with almost 50% Asian populations. I offer no specific solutions, merely an exploration/explanations of the topics and my opinions on it. Skip to the very bottom for a two sentence summary.
First, some definitions. An Ethnic Enclave is a location that has a significant presence of a specific culture in the population and businesses. An Ethnoburb is similar in describing a location that has a significant population of a minority ethnic group.
I grew up for my first ten years of life in one of Southern California's most notable Chinese ethnoburbs, Monterey Park, a suburb close to Los Angeles. Three of my extended families lived in the same area, there were plentiful Chinese oriented and Chinese run businesses, an abundance of Chinese schools and other services specifically for people of Chinese background. The benefits for my immigrant family and extended families were enormous. It was a welcoming place to be, in a land an ocean away from their homelands, in a nation where the dominant language was one they could only speak slowly and with effort, among many other things. So first and foremost, the Ethnoburb offer Comfort and Familiarity. Less culture shock, less feeling out of place and unwelcomed. Which segues into the next possible benefit/cause of choosing to live in an Ethnoburb/Ethnic Enclave: Security.
In case you didn't know, America is not a post-racial society. No, you can't point at Barack Obama and say "But we have a Black President!". Because that just obscures the significant racism that still occurs in many places. I'm not saying that everyone in America is an evil racist, but you can take one look at the xenophobic racists who questioned Obama's citizenship to know things aren't that good just yet. Anyways, along with xenophobia and racism, I have no doubt that new immigrants and/or ethnic minority groups often feel threatened or unwelcome in certain places. Whether it's vertical oppression between Whites and People of Color, or horizontal oppression between Peoples of Color, race relations are not perfect and I would think that some ethnic minorities may feel that. So to get away from or shield oneself and one's family from hostilities, its a logical decision to move to an Ethnoburb, where you can have some measure of assurance that you won't be judged negatively by your ethnicity. Ethnoburbs and Ethnic Enclaves offer Security. Additionally, Ethnoburbs could offer a kind of Job Security, in that, if you were a poor English speaker, there would be many ethnic run businesses that would be able to hire you regardless of your English language skills.
But there are also possible internal reasons for seeking to be close to others of the same ethnic identity. For example, while I don't have on hand the data to back this up, some specific families may wish that their children only interact and eventually enter a relationship with someone of the same ethnicity. Perhaps this is out of personal xenophobia, or perhaps a more genuine wish to preserve cultural identity. But it's an example of a potential negative effect of sticking with your own ethnic group, insulating oneself from other ethnic groups, and thus limiting interaction with different ethnic groups. Because when interactions with a differently identified group are limited, true understanding of that group is reduced. If one doesn't have much personal interactions with another group, their knowledge of that group is more likely to be shaped by other factors/sources, especially the media. This leads to at best, less knowledge of the cultural intricacies of another ethnic group. At worst, severely impaired cultural competency and even xenophobic fear of someone different. I think this can be very problematic, because it can impact first impressions and indirect dealings with another person.
Something that is very relevant and puts this situation into an emotional frame is Interracial Dating/Marriage. While I also don't have any data at the moment to talk about this, I will share a story told by my Asian American Studies professor (who evidently is a leading expert and possible co founder of the discipline, who also lived in Monterey Park). An East Coast born Chinese American, he is married to a Chinese American and has a daughter. He's extensively studied the Chinese American experience, and in his understanding of the struggles of People of Color, urged (though did not force) his daughter to marry a Person of Color. His reason? Because he understood from his research and studies that a White person would be less likely to understand the experience of a Person of Color. He wanted his daughter to be with someone who could sympathize with her experiences if not as a fellow Chinese American, at least as a fellow Person of Color. As it happened, his daughter married either a Jewish person or a White person, I don't remember. As it turned out, his daughter married a real good person so everything turned out OK.
The point is, when it comes to relationships, race/ethnicity and the cultural competency to understand a different experience shaped by ethnic identity, can be very important or play a factor in how people, such as parents/guardians, view the situation. Much like with physical location for Comfort, Familiarity, and Security, emotional relationships may also be viewed through that frame, that C, F, and S are very important factors. But of course, that could sometimes present a mental barrier to exploring relationships with people of a different ethnic identity.
Something very close to home. UCI, sometimes jokingly called the "University of Chinese Immigrants" (a joke that I detest, though I admit may be based in some thin fact). So, we have a large, 50%+ Asian population. Our biggest and most well known clubs/organizations are Kababayan, Chinese Association, Tomo no Kai, among many other cultural clubs. If you celebrate Asian culture, you'll probably find a welcoming group of people here for you. What does this offer right off the bat? Comfort and Familiarity. Security is not as significant of an issue due to the diverse nature of the university, though as I've noted in previous posts, Microaggressions is definitely a problem. So does UCI in of itself fall into the trap of diminished diversity? It's hard to say, as I don't have that kind of survey data. Something very good that UCI does is, I'm fairly certain that most cultural clubs accept any student to participate, so it's a great way for students to learn about other cultures.
But I wrote this post in part because last quarter, I personally conducted a series of 3 interviews and 2 questionnaires for a project. While the interview methods were rather informal, 4 out of 5 respondents reported some level of, what I would categorize together as "discomfort", regarding student cultural competency towards their ethnic group. Their ethnic identity is another national minority ethnicity, as well as an on campus minority ethnicity (so, not Asian). I speculated in my report that perhaps part of the lack of UCI student cultural competency in interacting with people of that ethnic identity could be in part due to the nature of Ethnoburbs that limit the interactions of Asians with people of that ethnic identity.
Moral of the story: Grouping up with people of a similar ethnic identity is a logical decision to feel more comfortable and protected in a world that still has race/ethnicity-based problems. However, that insulation from problems needs to strike a careful balance with exposure to diversity, in order to reduce the likelihood of impairment of cultural competency.
