From USA TODAY:
…Reading, now 58% Hispanic, is the latest harbinger for a more diverse America in regions where Hispanic migration has been a relatively recent development.
“If you look at the Census data from 2000 and now 2010, you can see that there’s this phenomenon of Latinos moving to parts of the United States where there hasn’t been Latinos before,” says Stanton Wortham, a University of Pennsylvania researcher who specializes in linguistics and immigrant studies. “The biggest research question from a national point of view is the question of, what are these new Latino populations’ trajectories going to be over the next decade?”…
In this area, Hispanic community members and ethnic organizations have brought dramatic culture change. Downtown centers brim with signs in Spanish pointing to corner bodegas (grocery stores), travel agencies and money-wire services. Local police officers enjoy $1 tacos on Tuesdays at Taquería Los Amigos in Allentown, and a Dominican establishment, Mi Casa Su Casa, in Reading offers empanadas (turnovers) with lattes. Passing cars reverberate with the modern salsa beats of cumbia music or hip-hop-influenced reggaeton blasting from a 24-hour, FM Spanish-language radio station…
Click here to read the full article.
