Enlarge Jose Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant, urged fighting false perceptions .

Posted: November 21st, 2009 Greg Lacour

Click here for more photos by Greg Lacour

Video by Tonya Jameson

Every year, more and more immigrants – Latino, East Asian, Indian, Caribbean – pour into Charlotte. Most of them are just looking a chance to do earn a better living than they did in the old country.

Is Charlotte welcoming them? How well? Are immigrants doing enough to establish themselves in a new community? Should they? What can we all do to adjust to the change without sacrificing what makes Charlotte Charlotte?

They’re questions that touched off a lively round of conversation Nov. 19 at International House in Elizabeth. More than two dozen people from just about everywhere – Mexico, Somalia, Jamaica, Thailand, Pittsburgh – gathered to take part in the latest Crossroads Charlotte conversation: “Finding Community In a New Home: Exchanging Perspectives With Immigrants in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.”

Starting with readings of the four scenarios, participants were asked to identify which best reflected the community they knew. Responses, as you might expect, varied. But the general consensus seemed to be that Charlotte seems to reflect "The Beat Goes On" – growth and opportunity remain with the sense that the city has missed a chance to become something even better.

Still, slowly, the city is beginning to transform into a city that’s more than the swollen small town dominated by banking and churches that it was until recent years.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” said Fahad Firdausi, a UNCC student originally from India who’s been in Charlotte for five years. “But the fact that we’re here addressing the rise in racial tension” is a positive sign, as is the rise in nondenominational churches and charities: “You see more and more of the religious lines blurring. I think that’s representative of our future.”

But it’s imperative that the community at large, including immigrants, work to fight certain toxic, false perceptions. “There’s an idea that Spanish-speakers mean Mexicans, and Mexicans mean “illegal,” and that’s discrimination,” said Jose Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant. “It’s a problem when the language we have is an instrument for discrimination.

What to do? It’s a tricky question with no simple answers. But a few initial suggestions:

1. Established immigrant populations can go out of their way to reach out to new immigrants with advice on how to adjust.

2. Participants can volunteer at low-income health clinics serving immigrant communities.

3. Talk with family, friends and colleagues about the issue. Get them thinking about it in new ways.

4. Do what the leader of one discussion table did: Exchange contact information and go to lunch one day to get to know each other.

5. Visit Crossroads Charlotte's web site to learn more about community initiatives that can put you in touch with people you might not otherwise encounter.

As moderator Brian Foreman told the group at International House: “Talk is great, but we need to find a way to put feet to the words we use.”

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