Meat, Meth, and Mexicans: Community Responses to Increasing Ethnic Diversity

Abstract

In many rural Midwest communities traditional economic development has created a more ethnically diverse population than community leaders anticipated. Community builders can use the stories created by different segments of the dominant community to forge new alliances and build practical programs that provide a positive environment for the new migrants and long-term community residents.

We discovered two very different interpretations of increasing diversity by listening to residents' stories about community changes. We call the bearers of these interpretations Pluralists and Legalists. Their stories, while sharing a common past, implied very different mental causal models regarding current problems. The futures described by each group contained common elements, however. By bringing together holders of both interpretations from among community members representing state and local government, the economy, and civil society, altemative programs were designed that united both interpretations in common action. Community developers can improve their effectiveness by gaining an understanding of the diverse perspectives in the dominant community. This may occur by listening to the different narratives, and by supporting advocacy/ action coalitions that incorporate common elements of what appear to be different desired futures. That understanding can also help minority communities plan their own actions in order to be more effective.