White and Latino Differences in Neighborhood Emotional Connections and the Racialization of Space

ABSTRACT

Topics of space and neighborhoods are important areas for the study of race and racial inequality. Based on a qualitative study of one middle-class neighborhood with a mix of whites and Latinos in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I examine emotional connections to the neighborhood. My findings demonstrate how white and Latino residents described distinct understandings of sense of belonging, neighborhood history, and neighborhood attachment. I situate these findings within a theory of racial space to illustrate how symbolic meanings given to space can reproduce and reinforce a racial hierarchy. I argue that the differences in how whites and Latinos describe emotional connections to their neighborhood reflect the racialization of space.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ In this paper, I use the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” interchangeably. Some scholars critique Hispanic as a state-created, external label (DeGenova and Ramos-Zayas 2003; Mora 2014). Other terms used in scholarship include the growing prevalence of “Mexican American” (Dowling 2014; Gomez 2007; Massey 2009), particularly for research in the Southwest where the majority of Hispanics identify as Mexican American. However, within the context of New Mexico, Mexican American is not as widely embraced (Gonzales 1993, 1997). In presenting my findings, I use the term Hispanic because this was the most prevalent term used by research participants themselves for how they self-identified.

² Neely and Samura (2011) use the term space but note that there are debates over the conceptual distinction between space and place. In this article, I use space and place interchangeably. However, my conceptualization of neighborhood emotional connections is more in line with Gieryn’s (2000) conceptualization of place as distinct from space.

³ It is important to recognize that Latino is not a monolithic racial category (Bonilla-Silva 2019). The aim of this research is not to generalize to all Latino experiences but to instead highlight neighborhood experiences related to the racialization of space based on a specific sample of Hispanic residents.

⁴ It is difficult to document the exact timeline for the racial transition of Las Flores. The official neighborhood association boundaries for Las Flores do not neatly match U.S. Census tract boundaries. I averaged measures of racial demographics across multiple Census tracts that had overlapping boundaries with Las Flores for 1990, 2000, and 2010, and the racial composition remained relatively steady during this 30-year time frame. In this regard, respondents’ descriptions of the racial composition of Las Flores likely overlaps with individual length of residence and perceptions of neighborhood history.

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Notes on contributors

Elena Ariel Windsong

Elena Ariel Windsong is an assistant professor of teaching in sociology at Colorado State University. Her research interests include intersectionality, place, community, race, and gender. Her research has been published in The Social Science Journal, Feminist Criminology, and International Journal of Social Research Methodology. She can be reached at [email protected].