Hispanic segregation is dropping, but not for Mexicans: New research shows that the segregation of Hispanics from whites in communities across the USA has declined significantly for every Hispanic group except the largest: Mexicans.
Mexicans make up 60% of the nation's more than 50 million Hispanics and are so dominant they drown out distinct characteristics of non-Mexicans, according to a report out Wednesday from the US2010 project, which researches changes in American society.
Segregation is one measure of how well immigrants are assimilating into U.S. society and is part of the conversation in the debate over immigration. For decades, Hispanic segregation was not declining.
"We thought Hispanic segregation stayed the same because we couldn't see the rest of the picture," says Brown University sociologist John Logan, director of US2010 and co-author of the report. "This seeming stability masks important differences, because every group except Mexicans has become less segregated since 1990."
