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___
TIEN, Nguyen Due, 1926MIGRATION AND SPATIAL ADJUSTMENT OF SELECTED
MINORITY GROUPS: A CASE STUDY OF
ACCULTURATION IN KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN.
Michigan State University, Ph.D., 1972
Geography

U n iv ersity M icrofilm s. A XEROX C o m p a n y . A n n A rbor, M ich ig an

MIGRATION AND SPATIAL ADJUSTMENT OF
SELECTED MINORITY GROUPS:

A CASE STUDY

OF ACCULTURATION IN KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN

By
Nguyen Due Tien

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department o f Geography

1972

PLEASE NOTE:
Some pages may have
indistinct print.
Filmed as received.
University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company

ABSTRACT
MIGRATION AND SPATIAL ADJUSTMENT OF
SELECTED MINORITY GROUPS:
A CASE STUDY
OF ACCULTURATION IN KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
By
Nguyen Due Tien

Migration has brought many minority groups to
Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Some of them, like the Latvians,

the Orientals, and the American Indians, play a minor
role; but the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans consti­
tute the leading migrant communities in the area.
Since World War II the number of Blacks and
Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo has increased consider­
ably and now accounts for about 10 and 1 per cent re­
spectively of the total population in the city.
pletely dominated by whites,

Com­

these minority members

have clung to their own cultural heritage and preserved
their languages, religions, customs, and values.

As a

result, acculturation of the Blacks and the MexicanAmericans in Kalamazoo remains slow
1

and limited.

Nguyen Due Tien

Actually,

the degrees of acculturation are m a n i ­

fested in the concentration of Black population in North
Central Kalamazoo and the scattering of small clusters of
Mexican-Amerleans throughout the city.

The indexes of

spatial adjustment obtained through predominant demographic
and cultural factors indicate that the Blacks in Kalamazoo
have attained a significant degree of spatial separateness
as contrasted to the Mexican-Americans who are in the early
stage of this process.

The difference between “developing"

and "emerging" separateness of these minority groups is
largely the result of the greater number of Blacks and
their attitudes towards the white community.
Race relations have spatial components relevant to
geographic analysis.

This study views the spatial adjust­

ment of the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo
as a measurable manifestation of acculturation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Lawrence M. Sommers
for his supervision,

suggestions, and encouragement

through my Master and Doctoral programs.
1 gratefully acknowledge the guidance of Dr. J.
Allan Beegle, Dr.

Ian M. Matley, and Dr. Robert N. Thomas.

Thanks are due to Rev. Jorge Capote, my friends
Abraham and Pauline Cardosa, Mr. Eugenio H. Fernandez,
Mr. Calvin Louis Favers, Mr. David D. Hunt, Mr. Mike
McCammon, Mrs. Dorothy McClendon,

Rev. Robert Rasmussen,

and a vast number of other people who have graciously
assisted in my research.
Responsibility,

however, for the content of this

study is mine alone.

N g u y e n Duo T i e n

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

y

LIST OF T A B L E S .........................................
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................

INTRODUCTION...........................................

1

Chapter
I.

II.

III.

KALAMAZOO:

SELECTED MINORITY GROUPS.

.. .

13

T h e Background...........................

14

T h e B l a c k s .............

29

The M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n s ..................

37

BLACK A N D MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMPARATIVE
ACCULTURATION IN K A L A M A Z O O ................

51

Race Re l a t i o n s ..................

52

Culture Contact

.........................

65

Time Involvement.........................

78

BLACK AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN SPATIAL
ADJUSTMENT IN K A L A M A Z O O ..................

89

Black Separ a t e n e s s.......................

90

Mexican-American Separateness

.........

101

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(Cont.)

Page
A Conceptual O u t l o o k ....................

110

C O N C L U S I O N ...............

124

APP E N D I C E S .............................................

131

BIBLIOGRAPHY......................

136

LIST OF TABLES

Table
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Page
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION:
C I T Y OF KALAMAZOO
COMPARED T O STATE OF MICHIGAN, CENSUS
YEARS 1900-1960 ........................

16

MICHIGAN:
IMMIGRANTS ADMITTED B Y RURAL A N D
URBAN AREA A N D CITY OF INTENDED RESIDENCE,
YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 1950, 1960, 1970. . .

17

LATVIAN ALIENS W H O REPORTED U N DER T H E A L IEN
ADDRESS PROGRAM, BY SELECTED STATES OF
RESIDENCE, 1960, 1970 .......................

19

CHINESE AND JAPANESE POPULATION IN MICHIGAN,
CENSUS YEARS, 1900-1970 .....................

22

KALAMAZOO COUNTY:
CHINESE A N D JAPANESE
POPULATION, CENSUS YEARS 1 9 0 0 - 1 9 7 0 .........

24

KALAMAZOO:
AMERICAN-INDIAN POPULATION,
CENSUS YEARS 1900-1970.......................

28

KALAMAZOO:
B L A C K POPULATION, CENSUS YEARS
1900-1970 ....................................

32

YEARS OF ENTERING KALAMAZOO OF BLACK HEADS
OF H O U S E H O L D ..................................

34

KALAMAZOO:
BIRTHPLACES OF BLA C K HOUSEHOLD
H E A D S .........................................

36

MEXICAN IMMIGRATION T O THE UNI T E D STATES,
FOR DECADES:
1820-1970 .....................

39

v

LIST OF TABLES

(Cont.)

Table
11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

Page
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN
HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY BIRTHPLACE, FOR
C I T Y OF KALAMAZOO A N D STATE OF MICHIGAN . .

45

YEAR OF ENTERING KALAMAZOO OF MEXICANAMERICAN HEADS OF H O U S E H O L D ................

46

AGE OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD
WHEN ENTERING KALAMAZOO ....................

48

KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS B Y NUMBER
OF WHITE FRI E N D S .............................

61

KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY
FEELING ABOUT TREATMENT RECEIVED FROM
W H I T E S .........................................

64

KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY
SCHOOL YEARS C O M P L E T E D ......................

67

KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD B Y DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
OF BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH OTHER BLACKS
AT TIME OF ENTERING K A L A M A Z O O ..............

72

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK A N D MEXICANAMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY PLACE OF
FIRST STAY AT TIME OF ENTERING KALAMAZOO. .

73

KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES B Y NUMBER OF
C H I L D R E N ......................................

74

SELECTED FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS OF BLACK AND
MEXICAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS IN KALAMAZOO:
BY P E R C E N T A G E ................................

75

vi

LIST OF T A B L E S

( C ont.)

Table
21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

Page
KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE D I S T R I B U T I O N OF B L ACK
A N D M E X I C A N - A M E R I C A N HEADS O F HOUSEHOLD BY
V A L U E JUDGMENT O N MATERIAL S UCCESS AND
D E V E L O P M E N T OF P E R S O N A L I T Y ...................

77

PERCENTAGE OF B L A C K AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN
H E A D S OF HO U S E H O L D HAVING S T A Y E D IN
K A L A M A Z O O F O R MORE T H A N 20 Y E A R S ............

80

PERCENTAGE OF B L A C K A N D M E X ICAN-AMERICAN
C H I L D R E N U N D E R 15 YEARS OF A G E ..............

87

KALAMAZOO:
NET CHANGE OF B L A C K POPULATION
B Y CENS U S T R A C T 1 9 6 0 - 1 9 7 0 ...................

97

,

KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE D I S T R I B U T I O N OF
M E X I C A N - A M E R I C A N HOMES B Y O W N ERSHIP . . . .

*
vii

102

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

Page

1.

Greater Ka l a m a z o o ...................................

2.

Census Tracts in Kalamazoo City and Adjacent
Area 1960, 1 9 7 0 ..................................

3.

Kalamazoo:
Distribution of Blacks by Census
Tract and Percent of Total Population, 1960.

4.

Kalamazoo:

5.

Kalamazoo:
Distribution of Blacks by Census
Tract and Percent of Total Population, 1970.

6.

7.

S

58

.

Population Change 1960-1970 .........

91
95

.

98

Kalamazoo:
Distribution of Black and White
Households in a Sample Block, 1972 ...........

100

Kalamazoo:
Distribution of Mexican-American
Households, 1972 ................................

107

8.

Elements of A c c u l t u r a t i o n ........................... 112

9.

Model of Acculturation Process

..................

10.

Stages of Spatial Adjustment

11.

Migration-Aculturation Relations ..............

viii

.........

. . . . .

115
120
123

INTRODUCTION

Race relations have spatial components relevant to
geographic analysis.

Men inhabit the earth; but prejudice

segregates races and boundaries divide countries.

Dif­

ferent cultures have emerged from different aspects of
relationships between man and nature.

The cultural mosaic

exhibited on the earth's surface has continually changed
through the clash of races, the movement of people, and
the exchange and spread of ideas,

customs, and traditions.

Since the dawn of mankind, migration has always
been an important phenomenon affecting the patterns of
population distribution, diffusing cultures, and motivat­
ing acculturation.

Generally,

"Acculturation" is defined

as the process of different culture groups coming into
continuous first-hand contact, w ith subsequent changes in
the original cultural patterns of either or both groups.1
Along with war, conquest,

colonialism, and imperialism,

1Melville J. Herskovits, Acculturation a The Study
of Culture Contact (Gloucester:
Peter Smith, 1958), p. 10.
1

2

the acculturation process often involves dominant and sub­
ordinate or major a n d minor groups.^
The problem of culture minorities has become par­
ticularly enigmatic for many countries since Wor l d War II.
The economic imbalance between rural and urban areas or
between developed and developing nations has pushed mas­
sive groups of low-income people to cross regional, state,
or international boundaries.
T h e y bring along their own cultural heritage and
often create distinctive communities in the heart of the
major population that receives them.

The concentration of

Italians found in the large cities of Switzerland and
Germany, Algerians in "bidonvilles" around Paris, West
Indians in ghettos in London, Koreans in distinct areas
of Tokyo, and Chinese in Chinatowns the world over con­
stitute a few striking examples of the results of migration creating minority groups.^

2

Broek and Webb, A Geography of Mankind (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1968), pp. 27-28.
3

International Labor Office, International Migra­
tion (Geneva:
International Labor Office, 1959).
Joseph
Leriche, Les Algerians Parmi Nous (Paris:
Les Editions
Sociales Pran^aises, 1959).
R. B . Davison, Black British
(London:
Institute of Race Relations, 1966).

'

3

The United States contains many culture minorities
in its "melting pot."

In the thirteen original colonies

under British influence the pioneers were practically all
British,

Irish, Dutch, and German, w ith a few French,

Portuguese, and Swedes; but since the birth of the United
States,

immigration to this country has brought people

from almost all races and cultures.

From September 30,

1819, to December 31, 1855, A m erican ports recorded 4.5
million passengers arriving from some 50 foreign countries
4
and regions.
The flow of immigrants peaked at 8.8 million
in the decade 1901-1910, and despite the declining trend
after 1924,

it still registered 3.3 million b etween 1961

and 1970; so that the total number for the 1820-1970
period reached 45,103,000.

5

Many groups of immigrants have been completely
assimilated; but others remain segregated.

T h e Blacks

and the Mexican-Americans are among the largest culture
minorities in the United States.

A l l minority groups

4
W illiam J* Bromwell, His t o r y of Immigration to
the United States 1819-1855 (New York:
Sentry Press,
1856; Augustus M. Kelly, Publishers, 1969), pp. 11-19.
^U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration a n d Na­
turalization Service, Annual Report. 1970 (Washington,
D.C.: Gov. Print. Office, 1971), p. 35.

4

account for about 14 per cent of the total population, and
the Blacks alone represent some 11 per c e n t .^

Obviously,

the Black and the Mexican-American groups differ in size
of population,

but they raise similar socio-cultural

problems in a predominantly white community.
Most of the Blacks and Mexican-Americans who have
left the South or the Southwest for a new life in northern
cities aspire to a complete adjustment to the major popu­
lation through acculturation.

Yet the process of accul­

turation has been slow and limited.

Actually,

the degree

of acculturation can be seen through the spatial patterns
of these minority groups in urban areas over the years.
Kalamazoo (Figure 1), Michigan,

is not mentioned

in the 1970 census as among thirty places with the highest
proportion of Blacks, but Kalamazoo presents a n interest­
ing example of acculturation and spatial adjustment.

Most

of the Blacks and Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo are m i ­
grants and have lived together in the same atmosphere of
racial discrimination for m a n y years.

Then w h y does Kalama-

zoo have a Black ghetto but no Mexican-American

"barrios"?

7

The answer is significant to a study in cultural geography.

^"Barrio" is a Spanish word that means
hood . "

"Neighbor­

5

• I t s ATI n

KALAMAZOO

Wfcitl

P

Figure

1

6

This study investigates the population distribu­
tion of the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo
as selected minority groups among several others such as
the Latvians,

the Orientals, and the American Indians.

An historical picture of the Blacks and Mexican-Americans
in the United States sets the background of their recent
migration into Kalamazoo.

The adjustment of the Blacks

and the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo has been difficult.
The process of acculturation involving these minority
groups and the Kalamazoo major population bears the impact
of past slavery in the South, the nostalgia of those days
of glory when the Southwest belonged to Mexico, and also
the efforts of all Americans in Kalamazoo toward racial
integration.

The results of acculturation are manifested

in the concentration of the Blacks and the clustering
pattern of the Mexican-Americans,

in other words,

in the

spatial adjustment of these migrant communities within
their host community.
The case of Kalamazoo sheds new light on a concep­
tual view of acculturation.

The focus of the problem lies

in the two aspects of adjustment:
and spatial conformity.

spatial separateness

7

Field observations are the main source of informa­
tion for solving the problem.

A survey by random sample

provides details on residential changes,

population char­

acteristics, migration, and acculturation.

Data analyzed

in this study include 180 Black and 60 Mexican-American
households.

These numbers cover approximately 10 per cent

of the Black and 45 per cent of the Mexican-American popu­
lation in Kalamazoo City.

In almost all cases information

was given b y the heads of household or their wives.
Materials from governmental and private agencies
and organizations in Kalamazoo, especially Kalamazoo C o m ­
munity Relations Board, Kalamazoo Community Action Program,
Kalamazoo Public Schools, Douglass Community Association,
The W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research,
Spanish-American Building Effort, and Lift Foundation
aid in understanding the problem of minority groups in
the area.
of Justice,

Statistics communicated by the U.S. Department
Immigration and Naturalization Service in

Washington, D.C., and research at Michigan State Univer­
sity Library, Western Michigan University Library, and
Kalamazoo Public Library supply indispensable background
information.

8

Literature related to migration, acculturation,
and adjustment is comparatively rich.

These problems

have repeatedly a p peared in anthropological and s o cio­
logical studies.

As early as 1885, E. G. Ravenstein

made a pioneer effort in formulating the laws of m i g r a ­
tion.

F r o m inspection of population movements in G reat

Britain, he related m i g r a t i o n to po p u l a t i o n size,

den­

sity, and distance, and reached general conclusions on
net and gross migration,
tion,

short and long-distance m i g r a ­

rural to urban and urban to rural migration,

birthplace and sex of migrants, and the countercurrent
for each main stream of migrants.

8

Herskovits d isregarded m i g r a t i o n but centered
his studies on the contact bet w e e n peo p l e s and b e t w e e n
cultures.

He clarified the mea n i n g of acculturation,

reviewed some publications on culture contact in A merica
and Africa,

and gave suggestions for future research

w i t h emphasis on regions offering the most likely o p p o r ­
tunities for acculturation studies,
g

on specific aspects

E.
G. Ravenstein, "The Laws of Migration,"
Journal of the Statistical S o c i e t y , XLVI I I (June, 1885),
pp. 167-235? LII (June, 1889), pp. 241-305.
Reprinted,
The Bobbs-Merrill Reprint Series in the Social S c i e n c e s ,
S-482 and S-483.

9

of culture, and on interplays between personality and
9
culture.
The adjustment after migration has been analyzed
by J. Ex, who attempted to find answers to three important
questions about the refugee's feeling at home in the new
environment,

the various ways in which the refugee exper­

ienced a nd evaluated his new milieu, and the factors that
might further or hinder adjustment.

His research took

place among Indonesian families in the Netherlands.

10

Recently, Harvey M. Choldin and Grafton D. Trout
completed a report on the Mexican-Americans
cities.

in Michigan

T h e publication, prepared for the Manpower A d ­

ministration, U.S. Department of Labor, presented sta­
tistics concerning their demographic characteristics,
education, migration,

employment, and income mobility.1^"

9Herskovits, Acculturation!
C o n tact. 1958.

The Study of Culture

10J. Ex, Adjustment After Migration (The Hague,
Netherlands;
Martinus Nijhoff, 1966).
^ H a r v e y M. Choldin and Grafton D. Trout,
Mexican-Americans in Transition;
Migration and Employ­
ment in Michigan Cities (East Lansing: Department of
Sociology, Rural Manpower Center, Agricultural Experi­
ment Station, Michigan State University, 1969).

xo
Geographical research on migration is also sub­
stantial; but few works have touched upon the minority
groups and their adjustment.

Lawrence A. Brown has d e ­

veloped a conceptual framework of spatial diffusion and
formulated a general theory applicable to all diffusion
phenomena.

Brown mentioned six basic elements of a

spatial diffusion situation:

1) An area; 2) time;

3) an item being diffused; 4) origin places;
tion places; a n d 6) paths of movement,

5) destina­

influence,

or

relationship between origin places and destination places.
He then portrayed these elements as a

"Dynamic graph" and

distinguished relocation diffusion and expansion diffu12
sion.
The problem of ghettos has been discussed b y
Richard L. Morrill.

He traced the origin of ghettos

as a result of poverty, racial discrimination, and gigan­
tic streams of migration from the farms to the cities and
from the South to the North and W e s t .

He analyzed the

forces that perpetuated the ghetto system and evaluated
proposals for controlling it.

The Black community of

Lawrence A. Brown, Diffusion Processes and L o c a ­
tion (Philadelphia:
Regional Science Research Institute,
1968), pp. 9-35.

11

Seattle, Washington,

was used in illustration o f a simple

model of ghe t t o expansion.

13

The Mexican-American

" b a r r i o s " and the Black

ghettos have beco m e interesting features of the geography
of American poverty.

While Ric h a r d Peet outlined d if­

ferent aspects of poverty,

partic u l a r l y in the Black South

and the Spanish Southwest, Robert Elgie emphasized the
urban spatial structure,

the factors in ghettoization,

the process of neighborhood change,

and the consequences

of g h e t t o i z a t i o n * ^
More specifically,

John Fraser Hart studied the

movement of Blacks into Lake County,

Michigan,

the concen­

tration of Black population in the townships of Webber,
Cherry valley.

Pleasant Plains, a n d Yates, a n d the devel­

opment of Lake Idlewild into a n important Black resort
area*

15

On the other hand, James O. Wheeler a n d
13

R i c h a r d L. Morrill, "The N e g r o G hetto:
and A l t e r n a t i v e s , " T h e Geographical R e v i e w . L V - 3
1965), pp. 339-61.

Problems
(July,

14

Ric h a r d Peet, "Outline For a Second-Year Course
on the Socioeconomic G e o graphy o f A m e r i c a n P o v e r t y , ”
A n t i p o d e . XI-2 (December, 1970), pp. 1-34? Robert Elgie,
"Rural Immigration, Urban Ghettoization, and T h e i r Conse­
quences, " op. c i t *. pp. 35-54.
15

John Fraser Hart, "A Rural Retreat for Northern
Negroes," The Geographical R e v i e w * L-2 (April, 1960),
pp. 147-68.

12

Stanley D. Brunn pointed out the beginning of an urban-torural trend of migration as exemplified by the recent
movement of Blacks into southwestern Michigan and the
formation of an agricultural ghetto in Cass County.

16

Thus, many aspects of migration, adjustment, and
acculturation have been largely developed b y anthropolo­
gists and sociologists.

Geographers have launched research

into these problems only recently, and many emphasized
incomes and land values in residential segregation.
beyond the economic factors,

But

racial prejudice is rooted

in cultural origin, and acculturation embodies race rela­
tions.

The following chapters view the spatial adjustment

of selected minority groups in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
through the lens of culture and acculturation.
1g

James O. Wheeler and Stanley D. Brunn, "Negro
Migration into Rural Southwestern M i c h i g a n , " The G e o g r a p h ­
ical R e v i e w . LVIII (April, 1968), pp. 214-30; "An A g r i ­
cultural Ghetto:
Negroes in Cass County, Michigan, 18451968," op. c i t .. LIX-3 (July, 1969), pp. 317-29.

CHA P T E R I
KALAMAZOO:

SELECTED M I N O R I T Y GROUPS

T h e population of Kalamazoo is composed of a
variety of ethnic groups.

Whites dominate, but several

important mi n o r i t y gro u p s are included.

17

E a c h one has

its own his t o r y a n d growth, and all stem more or less
directly from the recent immigration into Michigan,

the

migratory labor stream, a n d the n o r thward movement of
low-income people from rural South and Southwest.
T h e Blacks a n d the Mexican-Americans in Ka l amazoo
stand out as important social,

cultural,

and political

g r o u p s ; t h e y not o nly represent a part of the national
racial p r o b l e m o f minorities but a l s o continue a d r e a m
of equality and a g r o u p awareness that has long spread
over the A m e r i c a n cot t o n fields a n d factories.

Their

migration into K a l amazoo and their population

"Whites" in this study do not include M e x i c a n Americans, except for census data.

13

14

characteristics are particularly interesting when compared
IS
wit h the background of other minority groups .

The Background

The movement of minority groups into Kalamazoo
followed the wave of immigration to Michigan.

In the

early 1800's most parts of Michigan were still unsettled,
and the Detroit region was isolated from sources of eastern
emigration.

The costly and seasonally impossible travel

conditions at that time made the settlement of Michigan
slow and difficult.

When Territorial authority was

granted on July 1, 1805, the population of Michigan was
only about 4,000, and 80 per cent was of French extraction.
Detroit enumerated only some 750 residents.

19

Michigan was admitted as a state in 1837; but its
growth really began with the conquest of the Black Swamp,
the construction of railroads, and the achievement of
18

Moat people in Kalamazoo consider the Blacks,
Mexican-Americans, Latvians, Orientals, and American
Indians as minority g r o u p s .
19

Ralph H. Brown, Historical Geography of the
United States (New York: H a r c o u r t , Brace & World, Inc.,
1948), pp. 270-271.

15

other large-scale internal improvements.

Michigan popu­

lation numbered 2.4 million at the opening of the twen­
tieth century,

increased from 2.8 to 3.6 million between

1910 and 1920, registered 5.2 million in 1940, and reached
8,875,083 in 1970.20
A significant part of this population came from
immigration.

The number of foreign-born in Michigan in­

dicated a flow of immigrants rising rapidly from 1900 to
1930 and then declining gradually.

Kalamazoo City pre­

sented a similar pattern of foreign-born population with
the only difference that the downward trend began in the
years heralding the 1930 economic crisis

(Table 1).

During World War II immigration to Michigan
slowed considerably.

The number of immigrant aliens a d ­

mitted in 1940 registered some 3,200 and included people
from England, Palestine,
a nd the Netherlands.

21

Ireland,

Italy, France, Germany,

However, after the war, Michigan

received sizeable groups of immigrants, the largest
numbers coming from Canada,
20

the United Kingdom, Germany,

U.S. Census of Population,
1940, 1970.
21

1900,

1910, 1920,

Data communicated by U.S. Department of Justice,
Immigration a n d Naturalization Service, Washington, D.C.,
September, 1971.

16

TABLE 1
F OREIGN—B O R N POPULATION:
C I T Y OF K A L A M A Z O O
COMPARED T O STATE OF MICHIGAN, C E N S U S
YEARS 1900-1960
Michigan

Kalamazoo City
Year
NO.

% of

Total

No.

% of

Total

1900

4,710

19.3

541,653

22.3

1910

6,881

17 .4

597,550

21.2

1920

7,2 32

14.9

729,292

19.8

1930

6,492

11.8

852,758

17.6

1940

4,802

8.8

686,185

13.0

1950

4,145*

7.1

603,735*

9.4

1960

4,894

5.9

529,624

6.7

Source:
U.S. C e n s u s of Population.
*Foreign-born W h i t e only.

and Italy.

Most o f the immigrants entered the urban areas,

particula r l y Detroit, G r a n d Rapids, Flint, Dearborn, and
Lansing

(Table 2).
T h e current of European immigration brought many

Latvians to Kalamazoo.

Latvia, a small country on the

eastern shore of Baltic Sea, Europe, has b e e n in turn
dominated,

occupied,

or a n n e x e d b y various o t h e r nations

for long periods in its history.

T h e po p u l a t i o n of

17

TABLE 2
MICHIGAN:
IMMIGRANTS A D M I T T E D B Y R U R A L AND U R B A N
AREA A N D C I T Y OF INTENDED RESIDENCE* YEARS
ENDING JUNE 30, 1950, 1960, 1970
Residence

1950

1960

1970

Under 2,500 inhabitants

2,411

571

921

2,500 to 99,999 inhabitants

4,333

3, 509

4, 556

Dearborn

—

641

—

7,128

3,723

4,003

Flint

191

153

208

Gr and Rap i d s

614

309

214

—

152

Detroit

—

Lans ing
C ity not rep o r t e d
Michigan
Source:

4

6

35

14,681

8, 271

10,730

D a t a Commu n i c a t e d b y U.S. D e p a r t m e n t of Justice,
Immigration a n d Naturalization Service, W a s h i n g ­
ton, D.C., September, 1971.

Latvia was about 725,000 in 1800 a n d 1,940,000 in 1935.
Therefore,
small.

Latvian emigration has always b e e n relatively

T h e number of foreign-born L a t v i a n s in the U n i t e d

States re g i s t e r e d about 20,670 in 1930 a n d 23,190 in 1940.

22

H e n r y G. Halla, A Study of the Latvian ExileImmigrant G r o u p of K a l a m a z o o (M.A. Thesis, Western M i c h ­
igan University, Department of Sociology, Kalamazoo,
1959), p. 4.

22

18

Latvian immigration to the United States rose drastically
during the years immediately following the end of World
War IX but fluctuated greatly after 1950.

The number of

immigrant aliens born in Latvia admitted to the United
States wa s 206 in 1946,

17,494 in 1950, and 353 in 1960.

A decline o f Latvian immigration appeared in the number
of Latvians who reported under the alien address program
during 1960 and 1970.

The decline was general in almost

all the states which received considerable numbers of
Latvians

(Table 3).
T h e slow-down movement was also evident in the

number of immigrants entering the United States directly
from Latvia.

In fact, Latvia was not the last permanent

residence for all Latvian immigrants.

Many came from

other countries, especially Russia a n d Germany.

The

majority of people w h o composed the Latvian community in
Kalamazoo left Germany recently.

When the Soviets re­

turned to Latvia in 1944 after a first occupation in 1941
and a temporary retreat, many Latvians fled the new regime
and reached Germany.
23

A f t e r the fall of Germany,

the

U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and
Naturalization Service, Annual Report, 1960 (Washington,
D.C.:
Gov. Print. Office, 1961), p. 43.

19

TABLE 3
LATVIAN ALIENS WHO REPORTED UNDER THE A L I E N ADDRESS
PROGRAM, BY SELECTED STATES OF RESIDENCE,
1960, 1970
1960

1970

New York

3, 518

1,659

Michigan

2,801

1,444

Illinois

2,241

1, 306

Pennsylvania

1,643

517

Ohio

1, 546

682

California

1,460

7 30

Massachusetts

1,125

632

N ew Jersey

1,100

596

119

31

State

Texas
Source:

U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and
Naturalization Service, Annual Report, i960;
1970 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1961; 1971), pp. 73, 104.

Latvian refugees were lodged in displaced persons camps,
where they were supported by the victorious allies through
the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency.
Kalamazoo had practically no Latvian population
before 1948, when the Displaced Persons Act w a s passed.
Immigrants under the Act were not subjected to quota

20

limitations; but a n y prospective immigrant was required
to have a resident U n i t e d States cit i z e n as a sponsor,
who guaranteed to p r o v i d e the immigrant w i t h hou s i ng and
employment upon his arrival.
provisions.

In v i e w of these legal

Rev. car l i s Laupmanis,

a Latvian-born m i n ­

ister of the East M ain Methodist C h u r c h in Kalamazoo,
recruited sponsors

for his fellow displaced Latvians in

Germany from his parishoners as w e l l as from other K a l a ­
mazoo churches.
So several grou p s of L a tvians came to K a l amazoo
between 1949 and 1951.

A l t h o u g h t hey faced a housing

shortage at that time,

their adjustment to the new e n ­

vironment was
origin.
easy.

facilitated by their European culture

A c c u l t u r a t i o n and assimi l a t i o n were relatively
T h e y g r a dually a ssimilated into the K a l amazoo

population in a manner that no concentrations or a Latvian
neighborhood developed in Kalamazoo.
T h e Latvian population in K a l a m a z o o approximated
340 families or 1100 persons in 1959 a n d has changed
little since that time.

The growth of a Latvian c om­

munity in this area has been very slow,

because the

number of new Latvian immigrants w a s quite insignificant
after 1951 and m any older Latvians became assimilated.

21

About 95 per cent of the Latvians in Kalamazoo were
Lutheran b y religious preference, a fact whi c h differentiated them from other minority groups.

24

The Orientals in Kalamazoo, predominantly Chinese
and Japanese, also preserved their own characteristics
as a minority group.

The beginning of large-scale Chinese

emigration to the N e w World dates back to 1847, when 800
Chinese coolies from A m o y arrived in Cuba and the first
trickle of Chinese joined the gold rush in California.
Only 42 Chinese entered the United States in 1853, but
by 1883 the number of Chinese in this country totaled
about 288,400.

The Japanese came later; they registered

some 229,000 from 1893 to 1919.25
Few Chinese and Japanese settled in Michigan b e ­
fore World War II.

Michigan registered only 240 Chinese

and 9 Japanese in 1900.

The Oriental population in the

state became significant between 1910 and 1920; it con­
tinued to grow and reached a relatively high point in 1930

24
25

Henry G. Halla, p. 6.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Immigration,
Annual Report of the Commissioner General of Immigration.
1919 (Washington, D.C.: Gov. Print. Office, 1919),
Appendix I .

with about 1,080 Chinese and 180 Japanese.

26

The growth

of Oriental population in Michigan depended largely on
the in-migration movement, as the comparison of foreignborn and native Chinese and Japanese indicates (Table 4).

TABLE 4
CHINESE AND JAPANESE POPULATION IN MICHIGAN,
CENSUS YEARS, 1900-1970
Japanese

Chinese
Year
Foreign-Born

Native

Foreign-Born

Native

1900

211

29

7

2

1910

178

63

36

13

1920

512

280

151

33

1930

653

428

96

80

1940

492

432

71

68

1950*

1,619

1,517

1960

3,2 34

3,211

1970

6,407

5,221

Source: U.S. Census of Population.
*No data available for foreign-born and native Chinese and
Japanese after 1940.

26U.S. Census of Population,

1930.

23

T h e Oriental population in Michigan declined
slightly during W o r l d War II; but the pos t w a r economic
prosperity a t t racted m any people of A s i a n ori g i n to the
state.

Census data enumerated 1,619 Chi n e s e a n d 1,517

Japanese in 1950; these numbers increased to 6,407 and
5,221 res p e c t i v e l y in 1970.
also in the state.

About

3,600 Filipinos were

T h e Orientals turned chi e f l y to the

industrial zone of M i chigan a n d were g e n erally concen­
trated in the southeastern counties.

T h e spatial trends

of Chinese and Japanese p o p u l a t i o n in Mic h i g a n from 1900
to 1970 showed that m a n y central and n o rthern counties
lost most of their Oriental population, w h i l e the South­
east gained considerably.
K a l a m a z o o has r eceived a relatively small number
of Chinese a n d Japanese since 1900.

The

first sizeable

group of Japanese entered K a l amazoo after W o r l d W a r II.
Most of the Chinese migrants in Kalamazoo came from sur­
rounding states or Detroit.

For many the u ltimate goal

was to make a quick fortune a n d then return to China.
Therefore,

t hey preferred the least-competitive occupa­

tions such as laundry service,
trade, a n d handicrafts.

restaurant work,

retail

T h e Japanese more e a s i l y accepted

an uprooted migration, a n d m a n y were content w i t h

24

education or factory employment.

Since the number of

successful Orientals in these occupations was limited in
Kalamazoo, and many Chinese a n d Japanese came to W e s t e r n
Michigan University for educational purposes a n d went bac k
to their home countries immediately after the completion
of their d e g r e e s # the growth of Chinese a n d Japanese
population in K a l a m a z o o r e m a i n e d quite slow even during
the last few years

(Table 5).

TABLE 5
KA L A M A Z O O COUNTY:
CHI N E S E A N D JAPANESE
POPULATION, CENSUS YEARS 1900-1970
Year

Chinese

Japanese

1900

2

—

1910

9

—

1920

20

1930

20

—

1940

14

—

1950

27

26

1960

48

88

1970

144

147

Source:

U.S. Census of Population.

1

25

Most of the Chinese and about half of the Japanese
in Kalamazoo preferred city life.

The proportion of urban

Chinese, however, was decreasing from 100 per cent in 1930
to 90 per cent in 1940, 80 percent in 1950, and 65 per
cent in 1970.

On the contrary,

the proportion of urban

Japanese grew slowly from 46 per cent in 1950 to 53 per
cent in 1970.

27

Urban or rural, the Orientals in Kalamazoo kept
their strong family and group ties.

Each Chinese was a

part of "a strange invisible emp i r e , " and all were linked
by the “interlocking membership of clans a n d tongs in the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce with headquarters on Mott
Street in Mew York";

28

the Japanese mind never lost the

view of Fuji clouds and cherry flowers; and the Filipinos
and other Orientals clung tightly to their fine customs
and traditions.
ental population,

But in Kalamazoo the small size of Ori­
the absence of serious friction between

whites and yellows, and the eagerness of Orientals in
balancing their own culture with the American way of life,
27

U.S. Census of Population 1940, p. 82; 1950,
p. 152; 1970, p. 78.
28

Corsi, In the Shadow of Liberty (New York:
Press and The N e w York Time, 1969)
pp. 159-76.

Arno

26

facilitated acculturation and assimilation.

As a result,

the Orientals were dispersed throughout Kalamazoo.
In fact, the Kalamazoo major population was hardly
aware of the existence of an Oriental community in the
area, although many people enjoyed fine food in Chinese
restaurants or witnessed Japanese instructors in a Judo
class.

Quite possibly the Orientals in Kalamazoo were

able to adjust to their host community,

thereby appearing

to be absorbed into it culturally and spatially.
Another minority group in Kalamazoo was the A m e r ­
ican Indians.

The Indians in Michigan were the descen­

dants of the Menominees, Winnebagos, and several other
tribes that once roamed the Great Lakes region or moved
into the area from the eastern seaboard.

29

A t the begin­

ning of the twentieth century American Indians were mainly
concentrated in Isabella, Emmet, Leenalau, Chippewa, and
Baraga Counties.

Most of them stayed away from the indus­

trial zone of Michigan.

T h e y lived from farming, hunting,

fishing, collecting wild rice and gathering nuts,

29

roots,

U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Indians of the Great Lake Area (Washing­
ton, D.C.:
Gov. Print. Office, 1968), pp. 15-16.

27

and berries.

T hey cultivated corn,

squash, beans, and

tobacco in garden patches near their permanent villages.
In search of better living conditions,

small

groups of American Indians have come to Kalamazoo along
wit h the general migration movement into southeastern
Michigan since World War I.

Kalamazoo County registered

no American Indians in 1900 and only 4 in 1910.

This

number increased to 2 54 in 1970, w hen about 50 per cent
of the Indian population was urban.

The growth of the

American-Indian group in Kalamazoo has been relatively
rapid since 1950; but the group still accounted for about
1.5 per cent of the total number of Indians in Michigan
(Table 6).
Most of the American Indians in Kalamazoo tended
to treasure the richness of their old culture, but they
willingly accepted the American w a y of life to attain
better social status.

In the acculturation process, they

were in a subordinate position and were obliged to change
and conform.
Among Kalamazoo minority groups that seemed to
stay quietly in the background, the Latvians were favored
by their European origin and advanced more quickly to

28

TABLE 6
KALAMAZOO:
A M E R I C A N - I N D I A N POPULATION,
C ENS U S YEARS 1900-1970
Year

K a l a m a z o o Coun t y

State of Michigan

1900

—

6, 354

1910

4

7, 519

1920

20

5,614

1930

28

7,080

1940

17

6, 282

1950

44

7,000

1960

106

9,701

1970

2 54

16,854

Source:

U.S. Census of Population.

assimilation.

T h e Orientals and the A m e r i c a n Indians

nurtured carefully their own cultures, hut the small size
of their communities a p p a r e n t l y placed few barriers in
the w ay of acculturation.

T h e settlement p a t t e r n s of all

these groups w e r e similarly characterized b y a w ide dis­
persal throughout the K a l amazoo area.

29

The Blacks

In contrast to other minorities treated,

the

Blacks in Kalamazoo appeared a clearly important group.
T h e y were part of the long h i s t o r y from Africa to America
and from the U n i t e d States rural South to the urban North.
In fact,

thousands and thousands o f Black slaves were

shipped annually to the New World, w hen the powerful
countries of W e s t e r n Europe turned their a t t ention to
the trade in men in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The earliest Blacks in Virginia,

a l though listed as ser­

vants in the census enumeration of 1623 and 1624, marked
the begin n i n g of the involuntary importation of human
beings into the U n i t e d States w h i c h was to continue for
more than two h u n d r e d y e a r s . ^
T h e Blacks in the U n i t e d States numbered 7 57,000
in 1790 but increased to 8.8 m i l l i o n at the opening of
the twent i e t h century.

The 1960 census enumerated 18.9

million, and b y 1970 the Black population had reached
22.6 million.

A l t h o u g h the rate of natural increase was

g enerally higher for Blacks t han for the rest of the

^°«John Hope Franklin, F r o m Slavery to F reedom
(New York:
A l f r e d A. Knopf, 1967), p. 71.

30

population,

the proportion of Blacks in the total p o p u l a ­

tion dec reased from 19 per cent in 1790 to 11 per cent in
1 9 7 0 . 31
T h e Black migration from the South to northern
cities is a w e l l - k n o w n phenomenon.

Michigan,

located in

the commercial-manufacturing zone o f the U n i t e d States,
has received an increasing number o f Blacks since the end
of the nineteenth century.

By 1900 Blacks had settled in

all the counties of Michigan,
common.

except

for Luce and R o s ­

Way n e and W a s h t e n a w w e r e the southeastern counties

that registered high e r numbers of Blacks.
tion of Blacks, however,
different counties,

The d i s t r i b u ­

ranged from 1 to 4,500 through

and Black po p u l a t i o n made only 0.9

per cent of the total Michigan population.
The

first w o r l d war gave rise to the w a v e of Black

migrants from the South, and the number of Blacks in
Michigan jumped from 17,000 in 1910 to 60,000 in 1920.
Despite the economic crisis in the 1930's, Black
31

Irving J. Sloan, The A m e r i c a n Negro:
A Chron­
ology and Fact Book (New York:
Oce a n a Publication, Inc.,
1968), p. 86; and U.S. Department o f Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, T h e Social and E c o n o m i c Status of Negroes in
T he U n i t e d States, 1970 (Washington, D.C.:
Gov-. Print.
Office, 1971), p. 7.

31

population in the state continued its r a p i d growth and
reached 208,400 during W o r l d W a r IX.
T he pos t w a r industrial development in Michigan
encouraged b oth intermetropolitan and rural-to-urban
migration.

A b o u t 717,600 Blacks were e n u m e r a t e d in the

state in 1960.

Several counties registered almost equal

numbers of Black and white males.

The B l a c k population

in Michigan totaled 991,066 in 1970, representing 4.3
per cent as compared to the national proportion.

32

T h e m a j o r i t y of Blacks streamed t o urban areas.
Small groups entered K a l a m a z o o during the second half of
the nineteenth century; and b y 1900 the n u m b e r of Blacks
in the city reached 470.
Blacks to northern cities,

T h e main m i g r a t i o n o f southern
however,

seem e d to generate no

significant Black settlement in Kalamazoo.

While 50,000

Blacks were rushing to C h i c a g o between 1910 and 1920, the
Black population in K a l a m a z o o grew slowly f rom 685 to
752.

33

At the time of W o r l d W a r I K a l a m a z o o was still a
32

U.S. Department o f Commerce, B u r e a u of the
C e n s u s , General Population Characteristics. Michigan. 1970
(Washington, D.C.:
Bureau o f the Census, 1971), p. 63.
See also A p p e n d i x A, Table I, Michigan:
Distribution of
Black Population b y County, 1900, 1970.
33

St. C l a i r Drake a n d Horace R. Cayton, Black
M e t r o p o l i s , Vol. I (New York:
Harper & Row, Publishers,
1962) , p . 58.

32

city of less than 50,000 inhabitants and its industries
experienced no serious manpower shortages.

The massive

wave of Black migrants was strongly directed to larger
cities, especially N e w York, Chicago, and Detroit.

The

Black population in Kalamazoo continued to grow through
the 1930's crisis; but its size remained relatively small
until W o r l d War II (Table 7).

TABLE 7
KALAMAZOO;
BLACK POPULATION,
CENSUS YEARS 1900-1970
City
Year

County
Male

Female

Total

1900

239

2 32

471

564

1910

360

325

685

790

1920

385

367

752

806

1930

507

460

967

1,031

1940

572

545

1,117

1,244

1950

1,259

1,209

2,468

2,694

1960

2, 590

2,687

5,277

5,756

1970

4,114

4,420

8,534

9,579

Source:

U.S. Census o f Population.

33

As might be expected,

the rapid increase of Black

population in Kalamazoo began after 1945.

Kalamazoo in­

dustries flourished; and manpower shortages prevailed.
The Kalamazoo paper and metalworking industries, along
with firms like the Upjohn Company, Cadillac Plastic &
Chemical Company, and The Vecta Educational Company, The
Vecta Group,
workers.

Inc. needed a large number of unskilled

The flow of Blacks to Kalamazoo rose sharply

after 1950, and particularly during the 1960-1970 decade,
since workers could easily get jobs as unskilled laborers.
During this time skilled,

semiskilled, and trainable

workers were scarce, and labor demand was so high that
few men were on the welfare rolls of the Department of
Social Services.

While the total population of Kalamazoo

County registered about 200,000, the number of unemployed
men on welfare was only five or ten, and those men quite
often had serious illnesses.

34

This shortage of workers

in Kalamazoo in the 1960's attracted large groups of Black
migrants to the city.

34

In fact, out of 180 Black heads of

Henry C. Thole and Eugene C. McKean, Business
Conditions in Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo: The W. E. Upjohn
Institute for Employment Research, 1971), p. 18.

34

household interviewed,

90 entered Kalamazoo after 1960

(Table 8).

TABLE 8
YEARS OF ENTERING KALAMAZOO OF BLACK
HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD
Year

Number

Percentage

9

5.0

1941-1945

13

7.2

1946-1950

31

17 .2

1951-1955

20

11.1

1956-1960

17

9.5

1961-1965

39

21.7

1966-1970

47

26.1

4

2.2

180

100.0

Before 1941

1971
Total
Source:

Based on interviews of a sample of Blacks in
Kalamazoo.
(Throughout this study all statis­
tical tables presented without specific indica­
tion of source are b y author.)

The Black migration to Kalamazoo was not only an
interstate but also an intermetropolitan movement.

About

26 per cent of the sample included Blacks born in various
areas of Michigan, especially Kalamazoo, Detroit, Grand

35

Rapids, and Battle Creek, while the majority consisted
of people born in the southern s t a t e s .

The reasons that

forced southern Blacks to migrate northward were the same
that had made the white men once take the risks of tre­
mendous westward adventures.

T h e Black who left his sunny

South for the cold and industrial North shared all the
glorious hopes of the West, all of its anxieties, corrup­
tions, and psychological maladies.

For many Blacks, to

move meant also to seek less discrimination.

Therefore,

those w ho realized that their aspirations might be blunted^
in large and crowded metropolises of the North poured into
smaller cities like Kalamazoo.

Although some came from

the West, most of the Blacks entering Kalamazoo originated
in southern states (Table 9).
About 80 per cent of the sample consisted of
Blacks who moved directly to Kalamazoo from their birth­
places.

Two persons resided in the West Indies several

years before their settlement in Northern United States.
One left Nebraska for the South, and then to Kalamazoo.
The others started from their birthplaces, but along the
way to Kalamazoo they stopped one or two years in larger
cities, particularly Chicago, Detroit, Washington, D.C.,
and N ew York.

36

TABLE 9
KALAMAZOO:

BIRTHPLACES OF B L A C K HO U S E H O L D HEADS

Birthplace

Number

Percentage

Michigan

47

26.1

Mississippi

45

25.0

Tennessee

18

10.0

Alabama

16

8.9

Ar k a n s a s

14

7.8

Georgia

10

5.6

Kentucky

8

4.4

Indiana

6

3.3

Louisiana

5

2.8

N o r t h Carolina

3

1.7

Texas

3

1.7

S o uth Carolina

1

0.5

Other

4

2.2

180

100.0

Total

F r o m 1900 to 1970 the Black po p u l a t i o n in K a l a m a ­
zoo increased eighteenfold.

A l t h o u g h the natural increase

p l a y e d an important role, a larger part o f the p o p u l a t i o n
g r o w t h was the result of migration.

Most of the migrants

37

settled in Kalamazoo after World War II.

T hey brought

with them deep aspirations of a better life, which was
also the dream of Mexican-Americans.

The Mexican-Americans

Several types of Mexican-Americans can be dis­
tinguished,

each possessing interesting characteristics.

The native-born Mexican of several generations*
antedated the United States itself.

standing

Mexicans were native

in the Southwest for decades when the region was still a
part of Mexico.

They became citizens of the United States

by birth but remained Mexican and Indian by culture.
Thus, th e y and their descendants were not immigrants.
A nother group was composed of descendants of
aristocractic Spanish families who were leaders and formed
the social, political,

and economic elite group in the

early settlement of the Southwest.

Some of these Spanish-

Americans clung firmly to the old-time status and lulled
themselves in the nostalgic dream of past glory.
The largest group of Mexican-Americans comprised
descendants of the Mexican laborers who immigrated to the
United States after the annexation of Texas.

A lso

38

included are M e x i c a n laborers w h o entered the United
States in recent years and w e r e naturalized.
Mexican immigration to the United States was slow
in the earlier periods.

O n l y one Mexican immigrant was

registered in 1820 whereas some 4,800 leg a l l y crossed the
common b o u n d a r y bet w e e n 1821 a n d 1830, a n d 6,600 the next
decade.
T h e a n n e x a t i o n of T e x a s and the w a r between the
U n ited States a n d Mexico see m e d to alter the rhythm and
pattern of M e x i c a n immigration, w h i c h d e c r e a s e d to 3,270
during the 1841-1850 period.

F r o m the m i d d l e of the

nineteenth century to 1970 the flow of M e x i c a n immigrants
rose sharply and reached a p e a k between 1921 and 1930
(Table 10).
Clo s e l y connected w i t h this Mex i c a n movement was
the recent m i g r a t i o n of Mexican-Americans
of the midwest.

into the cities

M o s t immigrants from M e x i c o and U.S.

citizens of M e x i c a n descent lived in five southern states,
namely Arizona, California,
Texas.

Colorado, M e w Mexico, and

Out of 5 mil l i o n M exicans registered in the U n ited

States in November 1969, about 4.3 mil l i o n w e r e from the

39

TABLE 10
MEXICAN IMMIGRATION T O THE UNITED STATES,
FOR DECADES:
1820-1970
Year, Period

Number
1

1820
1821-1830

4,817

1831-1840

6, 599

1841-1850

3,271

1851-1860

3,078

1861-1870

2,191

1871-1880

5,162

1881-1890

1,913

1891-1900

971

1901-1910

49,642

1911-1920

219,004

1921-1930

459,287

1931-1940

22,319

1941-1950

60,589

1951-1960

299,811

1961-1965

228,401

1966

47,217

1967

43,034

1968

44,716

1969

45,748

1970

44,821

Total

1, 592, 592

Source:

U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Na­
turalization Service, Annual Report. 1970 (Wash­
ington, D.C.:
Gov. Print. Office, 1971),
pp. 61-63.

40

Southwest.

35

Many of them annually followed the stream of

migratory farm laborers from Texas to the midwest.

Mich­

igan, one of the large users of seasonal farm labor, em­
ployed about 80,000 out-of-state seasonal workers each
summer, and Mexicans and Mexican-Americans accounted for
approximately 65 per cent of the total number.

36

The migratory laborers worked on fruit and vege­
table farms; they picked strawberries,
melons, pickles, apples, and tomatoes.

cherries,

peaches,

T h e y reached

Michigan in early June and left the state about the b e ­
ginning of September.
Since Wor l d W a r II increasing numbers of MexicanAmericans have been establishing permanent residences in
Michigan after the end of the agricultural work season.
Poverty, discrimination, and uncertainty in farm labor
were the main factors that urged young migrants to seek
employment on a year-round basis.

Although the Michigan

35

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
Census, Persons of Spanish Origin in the United States,
November 1 9 6 9 . Series P-20, No. 213 (February, 1971),

p . 4.
36

Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Status of
Migratory Farm Labor in Michigan, 1968 (Report and Recom­
mendations), p. 2.

41

Minimum W a g e Law required that a min i m u m of $1.2 5 per hour
be paid to agricultural laborers, wage practices still
left many of them below the hourly minimum.
rate per worker in picking strawberries,

The hourly

for instance,

went down to 50 or 30 cents on the first days of July,
and 80 per cent of days worked fell b e low the minimum
hourly w a g e .
On the other hand, housing conditions w ere deplor­
able.

Tens of thousands of field laborers lived in con­

verted sheds, barns, chicken coops, and old schools and
farmhouses.

Michigan had an estimated 3,000 agricultural

labor camps in 1968; but many remained

"far below decent

living standards and even the most minimal standards of
human dignity."

38

Educational facilities, health services, a n d so­
cial assistance for migrants and their children were in­
adequate.

Deficiencies in the educational program came

from poor administration,

lack of interest on the part of

37

Michigan Civil Rights Commission, A Field Study
of Migrant Workers in Michigan, 1969 (Report and Recommen­
dations), p. 12.
38

Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Status of
Migratory Farm Labor in Michigan. 1968 (Report and Recom­
mendations), p. 9.

42

directors and teachers,
staff members

insufficient Spanish-speaking

in key administrative positions, and

failure to stress and demand meaningful education.

Many

problems c omplicated the development of migrant health
projects a n d the p r o vision of social services such as
food assi s t a n c e a n d day care for migrant children.
F a r m laborers a lso suffered from the negative
attitudes of local communities towards them.

T h e y did

not receive equal treatment b y law enforcement agencies
in Michigan, a n d in some counties they obtained no eme r ­
gency aid. Furthermore,

job situations became uncertain,

because the d evelopment and use'of mechanical agricultural
equipment de c r e a s e d the need for manual field labor.
Therefore, m a n y Mexican-A m e r i c a n s attempted to
escape not o n l y from T e x a s but a lso from Michigan field
labor.
jobs.

T h e y s ettled in urban a r e a s , seeking permanent
This reorientation of the migrant stream to the

cities resulted in a gradual increase o f Mexican-American
residents in Michigan.

T h e state r ecorded about 13,340

persons of Mex i c a n origin in 1930 and 24,300 in 1960.

39

39

Manuel Gamio, El Inmiaranta M e x i c a n o (Mexico:
Universidad Nacional A u tonoma de Mexico, 1969), p. 48.

43

The number of Mexican aliens who reported under the alien
address program in Michigan during 1970 was 5,590; but
this program excluded citizens of Mexican d e s c e n t .

The

total number of Mexican-Americans in the state was estimated at 125,000 in 1969.

40

In this wave of Mexican-American settlement in
Michigan cities, Kalamazoo received several groups over
the past three decades.

The 1940 census enumerated only

three persons of Mexican origin in Kalamazoo a n d two out­
side the city.

The 1960 census reported 313 for the

Kalamazoo Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area and 233
for the city.

In 1969, Kalamazoo officials estimated the

Mexican-American population at about 1,000 in the county,
although this figure may be overestimated since the
Spanish-speaking Cubans and Puerto Ricans were often confused with Mexicans.

41

The Kalamazoo Mexican-Americans

mentioned in this study, however, are American citizens
of Mexican descent; in September,

1971 they numbered

approximately 800 consisting of about 130 heads of house­
hold and their spouses and children.
40
41

Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo G a z e t t e , September 21, 1969.
Kalamazoo G a z e t t e . October 7, 1969.

44

T h e majority of Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo
were born in Texas,

chiefly in the San Antonio area and

the counties of Hidalgo, Cameron, Nuesces, and Jim Wells.
Twenty per cent of those interviewed were born in Mexico,
especially in Nuevo Leon, Guanajuato, and Coahuila.

The

percentage distribution of Mexican-American heads of
household b y birthplace showed a higher proportion of
Texan-born in Kalamazoo than in the state of Michigan as
a whole

(Table 11).
T h e first sizeable group of Mexican-Americans

settled in Kalamazoo during W o rld War II.

Many of them

were cotton pickers in Texas; and although their family
incomes increased from about 365 dollars in 1941 to 950
dollars in 1944, wages were inadequate to meet the cost
of living.

Others had led a difficult life in Texas where

they labored 50 hours a week for only twelve d o l l a r s .
Mexican-Americans endured discrimination in Texas as
indicated b y low housing,

sanitation, and health condi-

tions, and little opportunities for formal education.

42

T h e war atmosphere had made them restless and
aware of opportunities elsewhere.

Like the Anglos moving

^ I n f o r m a t i o n from respondents.

45

TABLE 11
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN
HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY BIRTHPLACE, FOR
CITY OF KALAMAZOO A N D STATE OF MICHIGAN

Birthplace,.

Kalamazoo

%

Michigan

%

Mexico

20

25

Texas

67

60

3

2

Michigan

10

11

Other areas

—

Other Southwestern States

Total

%

Total N

2

100

100

60

695

Source for Michigan:
Harvey M. Choldin and Grafton D.
Trout, Mexican Americans in Transition:
Migration
and Employment in Michigan Cities (East Lansing:
Department of Sociology, Rural Manpower Center,
Agricultural Experiment Station, Michigan State
University, 1969), p. 83.

westward and the Blacks migrating northward, the early
Mexican-American settlers in Kalamazoo left their b i r t h ­
places in the hope of improving their livelihoods.

Leav­

ing Texas meant going to a new environment anywhere in
the North; therefore, most of the early Mexican-Americans

46

came to Kalamazoo rather by sheer luck than by any delib­
erate plan.
Other groups of Mexican-Americans moved into Kala­
mazoo immediately after W o rld War XI.

They were attracted

by information from relatives and friends as well as by
employment in the industrial flourish of this area.

About

35 per cent of Mexican-American heads of household settled
in Kalamazoo in the 1960's, when Kalamazoo industries were
short of workers

(Table 12) .

TABLE 12
YEAR OF ENTERING KALAMAZOO OF
MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD
Year

Number

Percentage

Before 1941

2

3.3

1941-1945

9

15.0

1946-1950

7

11.7

1951-1955

10

16.6

1956-1960

6

10.0

1961-1965

9

15.0

1966-1970

13

21.7

1971

1

1.7

Born in Kalamazoo

3

5.0

60

100.0

Total

47

The majority of Mexican-Americans in the sample
entered Kalamazoo between the ages of 15 and 34.

This

observation matched the findings obtained by the Michigan
Civil Rights Commission in its 1969 field study on migrant
workers in Michigan.

The Commission reported that 63 per

cent of the workers were under the age of twenty, and 30
per cent was in the age group 35 and over.

The absence of

persons in the age group 20 through 35 indicated that most
of the farm laborers were not the tough young workers as
so often visualized, but rather persons still too young
to become independent or too old to leave the migrant
stream.43
Most of the Mexican-American young adults had
strength, skill, language ability, and ambition; they
were able to drop out of the migrant stream to become
part of the industrial work f o r c e .

T h e older people

tended to continue to perform hand-harvest operations.
Therefore, a large proportion of those who moved into
Kalamazoo to seek employment belonged to the age range
20 through 29 (Table 13).
43 Michigan Civil Rights Commission, A Field Study
of Migrant Workers in Michigan. 1969 (Report and Recommen­
dations), p. 8.

48

TABLE 13
AGE OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD
WHEN ENTERING KALAMAZOO
Age Group

Number

Percentage

0-4

2

3.3

5-9

1

1.7

10-14

3

5.0

15-19

7

11.7

20-24

18

30.0

25-29

11

18.3

30-34

8

13.3

35-39

1

1.7

40-44

5

8.3

—

45-49

—

50-54

1

1.7

Not Migrated

3

5.0

60

100.0

Total

The young Mexican-American migrant thus joined
the labor stream In Texas and followed the crops through
Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois before coming to M i c h ­
igan.

He worked in the field in the Kalamazoo and sur­

rounding areas from June to August; then with the money

49

saved from farm labor,

he ventured into the city,

employment in Ka l a m a z o o industrial f i r m s .

seeking

Wages from his

job enabled h i m to assume the urban life; and v ery soon
he became a K a l amazoo resident a n d w as called an
migrant" b y the local population.

"ex-

Some Mexican-American

migrants initially settled further N o r t h in G r a n d Rapids
and stayed there one or two years,

then m o v e d to K a l a m a ­

zoo .
T h e o l der M e x i c an-Americans in K a l a m a z o o contem­
plated no plans of moving a w a y from the area.

Most of

their children w e r e not interested in leaving Kalamazoo.
A few youngsters, however,

dre a m e d vag u e l y of a better

life than that of their parents.

T h e y seemed ready to

go anywhere at a n y time, but their thoughts rather
pointed to the W est a n d new opportunities.
A pan o r a m i c view of the m i n o r i t y groups in K a l a ­
mazoo thus distinguishes two main features.

First are

those that have little visible impact in K a l a m a z o o such
as Latvians,

Orientals,

a n d A m e r i c a n Indians.

The L a t ­

vian immigration has not b e e n continually important; the
source of Oriental immigration has been stopped b y re­
strictive legislations; a n d the A m e r i c a n Indians,

in many

50

ways,

still belong to their communities in northern

Michigan.
In contrast,

is the conspicuousness of the Blacks

and the M e x i can-Americans.

The Black population has in­

creased steadily, and the massive Black migration from
the South has changed the appearance of many northern
cities.

The Mexican immigration now continues to supply

American agriculture and industry w i t h manpower, and the
migrant stream remains an overwhelming phenomenon despite
t

the mechanization of field labor.

The Black and Mexican-

American communities in Kalamazoo belong to the largest
minorities in the United States.

Not only are they o b ­

viously present but they also pose complex problems of
race relations and culture contact within Kalamazoo popu­
lation.

CHAPTER II
BLACK AN D MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMPARATIVE
ACCULTURATION IN KALAMAZOO

A process of acculturation evolves from the
formation of Black and Mexican-American communities in
Kalamazoo.

In the kaleidoscope of city life the con­

tact between racial groups is varied and complex.
White,

The

the Black, the Brown, and the Yellow in Kala­

mazoo not only look at each other's skin color but
also communicate w ith their minds and h e a r t s .

When

they see each other in the neighborhood, a public build­
ing, a restaurant, or on the street; talk to each other
at a bank, a school, or a church; work side by side in
an industrial firm or a m a r k e t ; they give of their own
culture g r oup and receive something in return.

Accul­

turation of the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans in
Kalamazoo involves race relations,
time.

51

culture contact, and

52

Race Relations

R a c i s m exists in K a l a m a z o o like in m a n y other
areas of the world.

The U n i t e d States C o m m i s s i o n on Civil

Rights views r a c i s m as

"any attitude, action,

or institu­

tional structure w h i c h subordinates a person or group
because of his or their c o l o r ."

So race in the United

States refers rath e r to color a n d its socio-cultural implications t h a n to purely biological characteristics.

44

The p e o p l e of K a l amazoo have undertaken intense
efforts to identify and solve the city's racial problems.
The Michigan C i v i l Rights C o m m i s s i o n recognizes that there
is a willin g n e s s on the part of most K a l a m a z o o citizens to
provide true e q u a l i t y and opportunity, but that in spite
of these efforts the minority groups perceive K a l amazoo
and its principal institutions as perpetuating patterns
of discrimination.

45

K a l a m a z o o Gazette comments on the status of race
relations in the area as follows:
44

T h e U n i t e d States C o m m i s s i o n on C i v i l Rights,
Racism in A m e r i c a a n d H o w to C o m b a t It (Washington, D.C.:
Gov. Print. Office, 1970), p. 5.
45

M i c h i g a n Civil Rights Commission, Status of Race
Relations in the C i t y of Kalamazoo. 1969 (Report and R e c ­
ommendations) , p. 2.

53

There are many people here, as there are in
other communities throughout the land, who
either disclaim that problems of racism exist
or close their eyes to what has been clearly
visible, or turn d eaf ears to sounds of pro­
test.
T hey ignore ugly reality.
In fact, the whi t e s and the minority groups in
Kalamazoo have sought mutual understanding through various
organizations, and particularly through the Kalamazoo
Community Relations Board, Kalamazoo County Community
Action Program, Douglass Community Association, and
Spanish-American Steering C o m m i t t e e .

The goal of the

Kalamazoo Community Relations Board is to promote,

foster,

and encourage improvement in human relations and to safe­
guard the citizens 1 rights to pursue peaceably their just
aspirations regardless of race, color, ancestry,

or

creed
T h e Kalamazoo Community Relations Board plays an
important role in facilitating communication between the
local government and the minority g r o u p s .

Even w i t h these

efforts, conflict on occasions has occurred.

In October,

1969, for instance, the City Manager said before the
46
47

Kalamazoo G a z e t t e . April 29, 1969.

Kalamazoo County, Directory of Community Serv­
ices Available in Kalamazoo County (Kalamazoo:
Community
Services Council, 1970), p. 15.

54

Michigan Civil Rights C o m m i s s i o n that
c e n t 11 of the Spanish-surnamed peo p l e
illegally and therefore resist,

"as m any as 30 per
"are in this country

and in fact avoid, all

possible contact" *yith K a l a m a z o o or a n y other governmental
unit

"because if discovered immediate return to Mexico is

probable."

This statement necess i t a t e d several subsequent

meetings w i t h area M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n representatives to
remedy m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g . 4 ®
In M a y 1971,

the K a l a m a z o o C o m m u n i t y Relations

Board b e g a n to compile a list of Mexican-A m e r i c a n families
in the area w i t h the hope o f encouraging t hem to voice
their opinions and state their complaints concerning d i s ­
crimination.

A l t h o u g h this pro j e c t did not receive the

cooperation of all members o f the K a l amazoo MexicanA m e rican community,

the results w ere quite successful.

A n o t h e r organization w h e r e m a n y Blacks and MexicanAmericans m a y find help is the K a l a m a z o o C o u n t y Co mmunity
Action Pro g r a m ( K A L - C A P ) .

T h i s a g e n c y has not b een e s t a b ­

lished exclusively for the m i n o r i t y groups,

but it was

rather born from the E c o n o m i c O p p o r t u n i t y Act of 1964 to

48K a l amazoo Gazette,

October 7-20,

1969.

55

carry out the "War on Poverty" in Kalamazoo.

49

The g e n ­

eral program of Kal-Cap i s :
T o create through comprehensive and coordinated
program activities, a climate of awareness
within which conscious, self-directed social
change can and will take place on the part of
individuals, families, human service agencies,
and economic and political institutions.5®
Since its formation in 1965, KAL-CAP has conducted
many specific programs for the poor.

Most of the clients

of KAL-CAP are Blacks and Mexican-Americans.
accomplished in 1970,

A survey

requesting the respondents to check

KAL-CAP programs with which they were acquainted, revealed
51
the followxng r e s u l t s :

a.

Head Start

67%

b.

School lunches

55%

49

KAL-CAP, Annual Report,
CAP, 1971) , p. 1.
50KAL-CAP, Annual Report.
51

1970 (Kalamazoo:

KAL-

1 9 7 0 . p. 17.

KAL-CAP, Annual Report. 1 9 7 0 . p. 55— Head Start
is a war-on-poverty program for pre-schoolers, funded
through the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
VISTA is the abbreviation of Volunteers In Service to
America; two VISTA workers were assigned to KAL-CAP in
1969 b y the Office of Economic Opportunity, and the VISTA
program in Kalamazoo, designed to provide the poor with
legal help, has been very much involved with housing
problems.

56

c.

Planned parenthood

53%

d.

VISTA

46%

e.

Adult education

39%

f.

Housing

37%

g*

Job training

37%

h.

Job placement

36%

i.

Credit Union

34%

3•

Children's Dental Program

24%

k.

Prevocational training

14%

1.

Financial counseling

14%

m.

Youth Economic Development

13%

On the other hand, Douglass Community Association
is a name quite familiar to most of the Blacks in North
Kalamazoo.

Douglass was founded in 1919 to serve the

leisure time needs of Black soldiers at Ft. Custer,
Michigan.

In 1929 Douglass was chartered as a neighbor­

hood organization to offer recreational services for
Blacks in Kalamazoo; and since 1964 it has been redefined
into a social service agency.
Intrefol

Priority programs are

(Intake-Referral-Follow up),

job development and

placement, home rehabilitation, and student field work

57

training.

52

The target area of activities includes K a l a ­

mazoo census tracts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (Figure 2).
Although Douglass gears services toward low-income
people regardless of race, most of its clients are Blacks.
INTREFOL is focusing on mental health, and cases involved
in this program since 1970 have been summarized as fol53
lows:

Total population of the service area
Active cases as of June 30, 1970

19,219
70

Active cases as of January 1, 1971

137

Estimated new cases,
June 30, 1971

119

Jan. 1, 1971-

Estimated cases closed June 30, 1971

104

Estimated active cases, June 30, 1971

152

Estimated new cases 1971-1972

238

Estimated waiting list, June 30, 1971

None

Few Mexican-Americans have come to Douglass C o m ­
munity Association for assistance.

Most of them rely on

52

Douglass Community Association, Mental Health
P r o posal. April 1, 1971-June 30, 1971, and July 1971June 30, 1972 (unpublished), pp. 1-2.
53
Douglass Community Association, pp. 10-11.

58

(it-**)

•

(i«.m i

t-«c

1 5 -A

ISA
fw

CENSUS TRACTS
I N KALAMAZOO 0 1 TY

AND

A I J A C S N T A R I A I M O ,1 0 7 ©

Fifwra

S

59

their own community.

The Mexican-*Americans in Kalamazoo

are interested in establishing a platform from w h ich they
can effectively voice their wants.

T hey have cooperated

with other Spanish-speaking people in the area to give
political support to the Spanish-American Steering C o m ­
mittee whose aim is to improve race relations between
Anglo and Spanish A m e r i c a n s .

The Spanish-American Steer­

ing Committee has placed representatives in the Kalamazoo
Community Relations Board,

introduced capable Spanish-

Americans to various city jobs, and negotiated with em­
ployers in Kalamazoo industries to offer more employment
opportunities for Spanish-Americans.

It has also helped

clear up many cases of legal charges against SpanishAmericans and continued a Spanish-American Radio program
started on July 10, 1971, under the title "El Despertar
De Una R a z a , " literally,

"The Awakening of a Race."

Despite these programs which serve the disadvan­
taged population in Kalamazoo, race relations still
present many difficult problems.

A fact reflecting the

current racial status is that most of the Blacks inter­
viewed have no w h ite friends.

Understanding between

Blacks and whites has developed so hesitantly that only

60

2 3 per cent of the sample represents Blacks who have
friends among members of the white dominant group.
The Mexican-Americans, compared with the Blacks,
seem to make white friends more readily.

Most of the

older Mexican-American men in Kalamazoo have a brown skin
c o l o r , while m any of their wives and children appear
white.

The difference of color between Anglo and Mexican-

American girls is not always evident, and many adults of
the Mexican-American families cherish friendship with
whites.

But still, the majority of Mexican-American

households have no white friends

(Table 14).

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission investigated
the status of race relations in Kalamazoo in 1969 and
found an awareness of racial problems and a willingness
to do something about them.

But it also pointed out that:

Anpther obvious deficiency is the almost total
lack of awareness of the existence of Spanishsurnamed population, although Mexican-American
families are increasing in numbers in the
Kalamazoo a r e a . 54
T h e findings of the Michigan Civil Rights Commis­
sion indicated that racial discrimination existed in the
54

Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Status of Race
Relations in the Citv of Kalamazoo. 1 9 6 9 . p . 2.

61

areas of employment,

education, a n d housing.

train minority workers

Efforts to

for skilled and technical labor

were insufficient a n d minority hiring was restricted to
lower job classifications.

TABLE 14
KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS BY
N U M B E R OF WHITE FRIENDS
No. of Whi t e Friends

Black

None

Mexican-American

77

70

1

7

15

2

4

8

12

7

100

100

180

60

3 and over

Total

%

Total N

Kalamazoo was confronted w i t h a de facto segregated school district.

The potential for increased stu­

dent tension came from the

"lack of fair disciplinary

and school closing policies."

Kalamazoo schools were

short of minority teachers and administrators, and on
the north side of the city where large numbers of minority

62

students were found,

schools w e r e ov e r c r o w d e d and lacked

adequate facilities.
School segregation reflected hou s i n g patterns.
Minority families w e r e concentrated in the areas contain­
ing highest numbers of deteriorating and d i l a p i d a t e d
houses.

D i s c r i m i n a t i o n in rental accommodations was

common, and the needs for sound low-income hou s i n g seemed
urgent.
The M i c h i g a n Civil Rights Co m m i s s i o n also m e n ­
tioned discrimination in law enforcement.

T h e r e were only

six Black and no Spanish-surnamed men in the Kalamazoo
Police Department.

Some members of the department did

not hesitate to translate d i s c r i m i n a t o r y feelings into
action, and these attitudes led m any m i n o r i t y citizens to
distrust the law enforcement institutions.

55

T h e situation in K a l a m z o o has changed since 1969.
More job opportunities have b e e n given to the Blacks and
Mexican-Americans,

the busing system has lessened school

segregation, m ore low-income hou s i n g has b een provided,
and race relations have improved.
Mexican-Americans
55

Some Bla c k s and

feel they receive satisf a c t o r y treatment

M i c h i g a n Civil Rights Commission,

pp.

3-4.

63

from whites; many think their children endure no discrim­
ination in schools; and some others believe that they have
run into few difficulties in finding adequate housing.
Discrimination, however,

remains obvious.

It is

relatively severe in employment for Blacks and MexicanAmericans.

The proportion of those who feel satisfac­

torily treated is very low in b o t h g r o u p s .

Race relations

appear somewhat better in housing and have accomplished
encouraging results in Kalamazoo schools.

In general,

the feeling of being discriminated against seems less
pronounced among the Mexican-Americans than among the
Blacks (Table 15).
Many minority group citizens in Kalamazoo want
improvements and expect that promises must be realizeable
in concrete terms.

Meaningful changes must mean

"access

to a good job, to quality education, to a comfortable
house, to a full measure of service, and to equal justice."

56

As long as the Blacks a n d the Mexican-Americans

in Kalamazoo consider racial discrimination a barrier to
their attainment of a better material life, they will con­
tinue to interact infrequently in their culture contact
with the white dominant group.
^ M i c h i g a n Civil Rights Commission,

p. 4.

64

TABLE 15
KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK AND
MEXICAN-A MERIC AN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY
FEELING ABOUT TREATMENT RECEIVED F R O M WHITES
Feeling

Black

Mexican-American

Treatment in E m p l o y m e n t :
Sat is factory
Fair
Discriminatory
Total

%

Total N

5
19
76

6
20
74

100

100

180

60

7
30
63

6
32
62

100

100

180

60

30
47
23

40
42
18

100

100

180

60

Treatment in H o u s i n g ;
Sa t i s fact ory
Fair
Discriminatory
Total

%

Total N

Treatment in Education:
Sat is factory
Fair
Discriminatory
Total

%

Total N

65

Culture Contact

K a l a m a z o o population bears the richness of many
cultures.

T h e Blacks and the Mexicans in the area are

first a n d foremost A m e ricans a n d have co n t r i b u t e d to the
development o f the A m e r i c a n culture.

But t hey h ave in ­

herited m a n y cultural characteristics from Africa; and
Mexico.

T h e contact b e t w e e n these m i n o r i t y grou p s and ~

the remai n d e r of Kalamazoo's po p u l a t i o n h a s created a twoway current of influence so that m any features o f the
Black and M e x i c a n cultures h a v e w e a k e n e d a n d d isappeared
while others have strengthened.
L a n g u a g e is an important cultural bond.
Blacks in K a l a m a z o o have come not from A f r i c a but
southern U n i t e d States.

T he
from

T h e i r settlement in the area is

the c o n t i n u a t i o n of an a c c u l t u r a t i o n process a l r e a dy
started in the South.

The result is that t h e i r language

is E n g l i s h w h o s e origin springs from the e a r l y settlers
in the U n i t e d States.

Rhoda L. Go l d s t e i n quotes Gonzalez

that:
Slovenly a n d careless o f speech, they seized
upon the peasant E n g l i s h used b y some o f the
early settlers . . . w r a p p e d their clumsy
tongues a b o u t it as w e l l as they could a n d
it issued through their flat noses and t h eir

66

thick lipa as so workable a form of speech
that it was gradually a dopted by other
slaves . . . .
So the Blacks in Kalamazoo have received the
language legacy from their forefathers.

M a n y Black

youngsters in Kalamazoo greeted each other,
asked,
it."

“What is happening?"

“Hi!", they

O r they smiled,

"I can dig

These idioms stand for "Hello; How are you?" and

"I understand."

Although almost all the Blacks in the

area speak only English and t r y to adjust their language
to the northern accent, their English still differs con­
siderably from that of the w h i t e Americans.
A large number of Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo,
on the contrary, are bilingual and Spanish is the mother
tongue.

Most of the older Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo

speak Spanish among themselves and English w i t h people
outside their community; but their Spanish seems better,
and some are unable to write English well.

About 2 per

cent of the Mexican-American heads of household; know only
Spanish.

The Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo find it dif­

ficult to improve their language ability, because most
of them spend twelve years or less in school
57

(Table 16).

Rhoda L. Goldstein, Black Life a n d Culture in
the United States (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company,
1971), p. 14.

67

TABLE 16
KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
A N D MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY
SCHOOL YEARS COMPLETED
Year

Black

None

Mexican-Araerican
5.0

1

1.7

2

2.2

3.3

3

3.9

6.7

4

3.3

1.7

5

2 .2

3.3

6

7 .8

20.0

7

5.5

13.3

8

6.7

6.7

9

3.3

1.7

10

6.7

6.7

11

8.9

8.3

12

33.4

13.3

13

5.5

1.7

14

5.0

3.3

Bachelor 1a Degree

3.9

M a s t e r ’s Degree

1.7

3.3

100.0

100.0

Total

%

Total N

180

60

68

K a l a m a z o o Gazette c omments that:
T h e language p r o b l e m is looked upon by most
Mexican-Americans and b y m o s t people w h o w o r k
w i t h them as the k e y to all t h e i r difficulties
in employment, education, or housing.
It is
a double-edge sword w h i c h d i v i d e s the MexicanA mericans from the rest of the community a n d
sometimes divides the M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n family
itself.
One edge o f the sword is that the lim i t e d k n o w l ­
edge of E n g l i s h usu a l l y excludes the Mexican-American from
high-paying m a n a g e r i a l positions a n d closes m a n y job o p ­
portunities b e f o r e him.

T h e o t h e r edge is the movement

of m a n y young Mexican-Americans a w a y from their parents ’
language.

In school these young people are encouraged to

master English, a n d they realize that the classical Span­
ish taught in class is far d i f f e r e n t in accent a n d content
from the Span i s h - E n g l i s h mixture spoken b y their p a r e n t s .
In the family t h e y speak only E n g l i s h to their parents,
w h o in turn r e f r a i n from communicating w i t h their children
in Spanish.

T h e result is that m o s t of the Mexican-

A m e r i c a n c h ildren under IS years o f age do not converse
well in Spanish.
Some Mexican- A m e r i c a n s in K a l amazoo t h i n k Spanish
should play a m o r e important r ole in high schools in the
58

K a l a m a z o o G a z e t t e . S e p tember 21,

1969.

69

hope of promoting a bet t e r understanding of Mex i c an cul­
ture.

Their ideas can be su m m a r i z e d in these sugges­

tions :
Spanish shou l d be offered in Jr. H i g h School.
More should b e done in schools to teach M e x ­
ican culture.
M e etings should b e held w i t h
community leaders a n d leaders in education to
see if opportunities for employment a n d college
scholarships can b e made av a i l a b l e to SpanishAmer i c a n students w h o are in n eed o f jobs a n d
w h o want to g o on to c o l l e g e . ^9
Certainly,

the language problems o f the Blacks

and the Mexican-Americans

in K a l a m a z o o are clo s e l y related

to their religious practices.
area are protestant,

Most o f the Blacks in the

read the E n g l i s h version o f the Bible,

attend services g i v e n in English, a n d find e q u a l i t y to
whites before God.

T h e y gather in various a c t i o n groups

for Kalamazoo protestant churches,

but they b e l o n g to no

single religious organization.
By contrast, almost all M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n s in the
area are Catholic.

Since C a t h o l i c i s m is not the religion

of the m a jority of Kalama z o o ' s population, the MexicanAmericans feel that their religion ties t h e m to g e t her
59
W r i t t e n suggestions g i v e n to K a l a m a z o o Community
Relations Board b y a M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n in the area, in
July 1971, w h e n he filled out a form entitled "SpanishAmerican Residence I n f o r m a t i o n . 1*

70

even more closely than their language.

T h e most meaning­

ful religious efforts of the Mexican-Americans in Kalama­
zoo consist of the formation of "El Grupo del Rosario
Mexicano" at St. Augustine Church in 1969.

T h i s organi­

zation aims primarily at strengthening the group bonds
under divine blessing, and all Mexican-Americans in Kala­
mazoo are expected to become m e m b e r s .

The Virg i n of

Guadalupe is worshipped at St. Augustine Church, where
Mexican-Americans meet every Wednesday evening to say
the Rosary and,
munity.

if needed, discuss problems of the com­

The leaders of El Grupo del Rosario Mexicano

regularly organize Sunday masses in Spanish at S t . Joseph
Church for the convenience of all Mexican-Americans in
Kalamazoo.
persons,

The attendance is usually from 20 to SO

including children, or about 5 per cent of Kala­

mazoo's total Mexican-American population.
El Grupo del Rosario Mexicano also has provided
help to Mexican-American patients in hospitals and has
raised scholarship funds for selected Mexican-American
students w h o w i s h to go to c o l l e g e .

The results have

been so far excellent in quality but limited in quantity,
because "Kalamazoo's Mexican-Americans need aid."®®
®°Kalamazoo G a z e t t e . September 21, 1969.

71

Both Black a n d Mexican-American groups in K a l a m a ­
zoo, however, are p r o u d of their own community values.
Perhaps the most characteristic culture feature of the
Blacks is the fraternity among all people of dark skin
color a n d their w i l l i n g n e s s to share.

Individualism a p ­

pears less developed among the Blacks than among the
whites.

Almost all the Blacks w h o w ere asked

"What is

the cultural characteristic that makes Blacks different
from w h i t e s ? " h a d a minute of reflection and gave answers
which can he summarized as
to get together."

"We like to share" or

“W e want

Most of the Blacks w h o first came to

Kalamazoo found that it was easy to get ac q u a i n t e d w i t h
other Blacks in the community (Table 17).
T h e Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo have b e e n able
to b u ild a more h omogeneous u n i t .

It seems that each

Mexican-American considers all the others as brothers.
They can get t o gether very easily, almost instantly.
Their Spa n i s h language and Catholic religion facilitate
understanding and unity, and the small size of their group
fosters close relations.
Brotherhood not only prevails among MexicanAmericans themselves but also reaches all people t hey
trust.

H ospitality is one of the splendid traditions

72

T A B L E 17
K ALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRI B U T I O N OF B L ACK
H E A D S OF H O U SEHOLD B Y DEGREE O F DIFFIC U L T Y
O F BECOMING A C Q U A I N T E D W I T H O T H E R BLACKS AT
T IME OF ENTERING KALAMAZOO
Acquaintance A m o n g Blacks

Number

Percentage

133

73.9

36

20.0

Easy# T h e n H a r d e r

7

3.9

Difficult# T h e n Easier

4

2.2

180

100.0

Easy
Difficult

Total

of their culture.

A foreigner w h o visits Kalamazoo and

knocks at the door of a Mexi c a n - A m e r i c a n home can be sure
to receive a w a r m welcome#
little Spanish.

especially w h e n he can speak a

The second time he comes back# he is a

real friend o f the family# w h o s e members eagerly t r y to
make h i m feel at home.
T h e role of the family is ano t h e r cultural c har­
acteristic o f the Black a n d M e x ican-American communities
in Kalamazoo.

Close kin s h i p is honored.

Information a nd

assistance f rom relatives constitute one of the m a in
factors w h i c h attract new migrants to Kalamazoo.

The

majority o f Blacks and M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n s prefer to stay

73

w i t h relatives or friends during the first steps of their
settlement in the a r e a

(Table 18).

TABLE 18
PERCENTAGE D I S T R I B U T I O N OF B L A C K A N D MEXICANA MERICAN H E A D S OF HOUSEHOLD B Y PLACE OF FIRST
STAY A T T I M E OF E N T E R I N G KALAMAZOO
Place

Black

M e x i can-American

R e l ative 1s

52

42

F r i e n d *s

12

32

R e n t e d House

28

15

8

11

100

100

180

60

Other
T o tal

%

Total N

The w ish t o h ave many c h i l d r e n seems stronger
among the Mexican-Americans than a m o n g the Blacks.

Fami l y

planning is p r a c t i c e d b y some B l a c k c o u p l e s ; but it is
g e n e rally not a c c e p t e d b y Mexican-Americans, w h o follow
the teaching of the C atholic C h u r c h against contraceptive
devices.

Most o f the Mexican-Americans expect to have

sons a n d large families.
is 3 for Black a n d 4

The a v e r a g e number of children

for Mexican-A m e r i c a n families.

74

About 35 per cent of the Mexican-American families have
5 or more children (Table 19).

TABLE 19
KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK AND
MEXICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES BY NUMBER OF CHILDREN
No. of Children

Black

Mexican-American

8

5

1

17

8

2

20

18

3

15

22

4

18

13

5

12

17

6

5

8

7

3

5

8

2

2

None

9 and over

—

%

100

100

180

60

Total

Total N

2

The power of an authoritarian father is highly
regarded b y the majority of Black heads of household.
It builds the strength of Mexican-American families.

75

The aut h oritarian father rules his
but compassionate hand.

family w i t h a stern

He takes r e s p o nsibility for p r o ­

viding his wife a n d children all their needs; he is proud
of it, a n d people

in the community respect h i m for it.

Many Black housewives work to support their families; but
the m a j o r i t y of M e x ican-American w o m e n stay home

(Table 20).

T A B L E 20
SELECTED F A M I L Y CHARACTERISTICS OF B L ACK A ND
M E X I CAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS IN KALAMAZOO:
B Y PERCENTAGE
Family C h a r a c teristics

B l ack

Mexican-American

Authoritarian F a t h e r :
Agree
Dis a g r e e

52
48

90
10

Homemaking Mother:
Yes
NO

34
66

78
22

180

60

Total N

The difference between Blacks and Mexican-Americans
is also evident in their value judgment on the development
of personality and the material success.

A c c o r d i n g to

Luis F. Hernandez, w h e n the rural Mexican immigrates to
the U n i t e d States, he brings w i t h h i m the values of his

76

society.
dition,

T h e s e values are g e n erally d i r e c t e d toward t ra­
fatalism,

resignation,

strong family ties, a high

regard for authority, paternalism, p ersonal relations,
reluctance to change, a g r e a t e r o r i e n tation to the present
than to the future,
"doing."

and a greater con c e r n for "being*1 than

T h e contrasting A n g l o - A m e r i c a n values point to

change, achievement,
progress,

equality,

impersonal relations,

efficiency,

scientific rationalization,

individual action and reaction,

democracy,

and a g r e a t e r concern for

d o ing than b e i n g . ^
For the most part, Hernandez*

ideas fit the

Mexican-Americans and the Blacks in Kalamazoo.

Most

people in b o t h groups c o nsider the d e v e l opment of p e r s o n ­
a l i t y more important than the material success, a l t h o u g h
they recognize their needs

for money.

T h e slight d i f f e r ­

ence between Blacks and Mexican-A m e r i c a n s concerning this
value judgment m a y be a t t r i b u t e d to the gre a t e r number of
Blacks, hence, m o r e disadvantaged peo p l e in that g roup
w h o feel the immediate n e c essity of m a t e r i a l things
(Table 21).
©1

Luis F. Hernandez, A Fo r g o t t e n A m e r i c a n (New
York:
Anti- D e f a m a t i o n Lea g u e of B'nai B'rith, 1969),
pp. 17-19.

77

T A BLE 21
KALAMAZOO:
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK
A N D MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY
VALUE JUDGMENT ON MATERIAL SUCCESS AND
DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY
Black

Value Judgment

Mexican-American

Material Success
more important

12

2

Development of Personality
more important

85

93

3

5

100

100

180

60

Both equally important
Total

%

Total N

Many other cultural features make the Blacks and
Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo distinctive groups.

One

of the reminders of African cultural traits cherished by
the Blacks in Kalamazoo is the loud rhythmic music.

A

little noise seems to give their weekends more excitement.
On the contrary, most of the Mexican-Americans enjoy songs
in Spanish and deep and sweet instrumental varieties.
American food is that of the Blacks; but Mexican
food is used almost daily b y a large number of MexicanAmericans in Kalamazoo.

"Tortillas" and beans provide

78

the mainstay of their diet.

Delicious Mexican meals are

prepared on anniversaries and festivals.

Every year the

Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo celebrate the independence
of Mexico on September 16 and the manifestation of the
Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12; and Mexican clothing
often solemnizes group gatherings on these d a y s .
Thus,

seeking relief from the difficulties of race

relations, the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans in K a l a ­
mazoo have relied upon their cultural heritages.

This

recoil into their own groups has made acculturation slow
and limited, although the Blacks seem to have the a d van­
tages of language and religion.

People in both commun­

ities realize that a return to their parent cultures is
just as distant as their complete assimilation into their
present social environment.

Time is on the side of change.

Time Involvement

Changes have taken place since the first trickles
of Blacks and Mexican-Americans came to Kalamazoo.

Some

of these migrants w e r e young boys following their parents
from the villages to the cities a n d facing life through
uncertain eyes; but they are now masters of their own

79

decisions and going a h e a d w i t h confidence.

Some others

suffered from loneliness hut are now supporting their
families w h ich include m a n y children.

Those w h o have

recognized the color a n d shape o f time in their hairs
and on their faces h a v e also w i t n e s s e d the development
of their communities a n d the effect of acculturation.
About 30 per cent of the Black and 30 per cent
of the M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n heads o f h o u sehold h a v e lived
in K a l a m a z o o for more than twen t y years, and some have
retired.

These parts o f the Black and Mexican-American

population

represent the older layers of their cultures

in the area and appear less susceptible to acculturation.
They have partic i p a t e d in the b i r t h a n d growth of their
communities and p a r t i a l l y molded the beliefs a n d behavior
of their children thr o u g h family education and group re­
lations

(Table 22).
But even t o d a y what they are is inextricably en­

tangled w i t h their cultural history.

The past has an

impact on the dominant as well as on the m i n o r i t y groups.
The process of a c c u l t u r a t i o n o p e rating in K a l a m a z o o since
the coming of the first Black a n d Mexi c a n - A m e r i c a n m i ­
grants have been influenced b y the various images of these
minority members t h r o u g h A m e r i c a n history.

The

"Negro

80

TABLE 22
PERCENTAGE OF B L A C K A N D M E X ICAN-AMERICAN
H E A D S OF HO U SEHOLD HAVING STAYED IN
K A L A M A Z O O P O R MORE T H A N 20 YEARS
No. of Years

31 and over

Black

Mexican-American

5.0

3.3

30

1 .7

5.0

29

2.2

3.3

28

1.1

1.7

27

0.5

1.7

26

1.7

3.3

25

3.9

3.3

24

1.7

1.7

23

2.7

3.3

22

3.9

1.7

21

5.0

1.7

29.4

30.0

70.6

70.0

100.0

100.0

Total
20 and under

Total

%

Total N

180

60

81

Slave" is the usual picture in the Old South.

Slavery

has left its stigma on the life experiences of m a n y Blacks
who have abandoned their birthplaces in Mississippi, A l a ­
bama, or other southern states; and while some migrants
think they have moved

"North to freedom,” many others

believe that they have merely "exchanged one kind of hell
for a n o t h e r ."

62

Other pictures of Black Americans include Black
soldiers w h o fought in the Union army. Black politicians
in the turbulent days of Reconstruction,

Black cowboys

who hel p e d open the West, Black troopers who rode with
Teddy Roosevelt, and Black workers who toiled on the
railroads,

on the farms, and in the factories.

All this

may give the "Negro" his dignified place among American
citizens.
T h e view of the

"Afro-American" has emerged from

the civil rights movement and the campaign to eliminate
segregation.

The moving oratory of the late Martin Luther

King has awakened the Black m i l i t a n t s .
freedom and equality has bred
62
(New York:

The fight for

"Black Power"; and through

Peter I. Rose, ed.. Slavery a n d Its Aftermath
Atherton Press, Inc., 1970), pp. xx-xxii.

82

the National A s s o c i a t i o n for the A d v a n cement of Colored
People

(NAACP), the Congress o f Racial E q u a l i t y (CORE),

the Student N o n v i o l e n t Coordi n a t i n g Committee
other Black organizations,

(SNCC), a nd

the prescription of Frederick

Douglass still echoes:
Power concedes nothing wit h o u t demand.
It never
did and it never will.
F i n d out just w hat a n y
people w ill quietly submit to and you have found
out the exact measure o f injustice a n d w r o n g
w h ic h will h e imposed upon them, and these will
continue till they are resisted w i t h either
w o r d s or blows, or w i t h both.
T h e limit of
tyrants are p r e s c r i b e d b y the endurance of
those w h o m they oppress.
T h e Blacks have long b een seeking not o n l y e q u a l ­
ity but a lso

"equal time."

Unquestionably,

the Black

protest in the sixties w i t h its demonstrations a n d riots
has sent reperc u s s i o n into all the Black communities
throughout the U n i t e d States.

The

flames of Rochester,

Watts, a n d Det r o i t have subsided, but their memories still
obsess the m i n d of many Blacks and whites.

64

So, a c c u l ­

turation of the Blacks in K a l a m a z o o has b e e n dee p l y a f ­
fected by events occurring outside the area.
63

York:

Peter I. Rose, ed.. O l d Memories. N e w Moods
A t h e r t o n Press, Inc., 1970), p. x x i .

(New

64 See A u g u s t Meier a n d Elliott Rudwick, e d s .,
Black Protest in the Sixties (Chicago:
T h e N e w York Times
Company, 1970).

83

The past w h ich haunts the Mexican-Americans in
Kalamazoo also has a long history.

The Mexican-American

cultural heritage encompasses the ancient civilization
of the Toltecs, w h ich has been highlighted by the archeo­
logical marvels of Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, and Mitla,
the fabulous city of Tenochtitlfin and the Floating Gardens
of Xochimilco, as well as by heroic feats of the Aztec
emperors Moctezuma and Cuautemoc.^^
The 1846-1848 Mexican war is remembered in Mexico
as the occasion w h e n this country surrendered an immense
territory.

In addition,

the Gadsden Purchase turned over

other lands to the United States.

These bitter roots have

been the source of many land problems concerning Mexicans
and Mexican-Americans in the United States Southwest.
T h e massive Mexican immigration to the United
States also constitutes an impressive part of the MexicanAmerican p a s t .

A m ong great numbers of laborers coming

from the northern and central plateaus o f Mexico are found
the grandfathers or fathers of many Mexican-Americans who
now reside in the United States.
69
Americans
pp. 1-5.

Many Mexican migrants

Y. Arturo Cabrera, Emerging Faces: The Mexican(n.p.s Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers, 1971),

84

feel that the journey to the United States Southwest is
a trip to another part of "their c o untry," and when
facing discrimination and poverty in the barrios, they
tend to believe that they are a

"long-suffering conquered

66
p e o p l e .11
The nostalgia of the past has pervaded most
Mexican-American communities in the United States,

lit

their pride, and scattered the seeds of "El Despertar."

67

From the strike of grape pickers in Delano, California,
in September 1965 to the violence in East Los Angeles in
August 1970, many important events occurred in the South­
west and communicated that the Mexican-American was
"neither docile nor subservient11 and that awakening might
well erupt into insurrection.

T h e names of such spokes­

men as Tijerina, Gonzalez, and Chavez have become familiar
to the Mexican-American youth.

The emergence and spread

of such organizations as La Raza Unida and the Brown

66

>

Manuel P. Servin, The M e x i c an-Americans: An
Awakening Minority (Beverly Hills:
Glencoe Press, 1970),
pp. 202-212.
See also:
Stan Steiner, La R a z a : The
Mexican Americans (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers,
1970).
67

"El Despertar" means "The Awakening."

85

Berets have united the Mexican-Americans and spurred on
their struggle for civil rights and equality.

68

"La Raza Unida de Michigan" states its objectives
as follows:
Its objectives shall be to promote and to e n ­
courage the formation of local chapters through­
out the State of Michigan, in order to contri­
bute to the promotion of justice and equality,
and it shall encourage active participation by
its members in activities that bring about
social change and social justice and equality
and the fulfillment of those rights guaranteed
b y the Constitution of the United States.69
A chapter of La Raza Unida de Michigan has been
initiated in Kalamazoo, and it may well play an important
rallying role among Mexican-Americans in this area.
ten members may start a chapter,

Since

the growing Mexican-

American community in Kalamazoo appears in favorable con­
ditions to fulfill this requirement.

The Kalamazoo Brown

Berets have pledged their commitment to the service, edu­
cation, and defense of La Raza in a twelve-point program
and also participated in several local demonstrations.
68
Armando B. Rendon, Chicano Manifesto (New York:
The Macmillan Company, 1971), pp. 1-2; 103-137.
69

By-Laws of La Raza Unida de Michigan,
pose and O b j e ctives.

I. Pur­

86

Definitely, acculturation of Mexican-Americans in K a l a ­
mazoo and in the Southwest has been touched by the in­
delible imprints of the past.
For the older Blacks and Mexican-Americans in
Kalamazoo,

time unfolds new hope for change.

The next

turn of acculturation will depend largely on their young
generation.

The Black population,

growing steadily.

in particular,

is

The proportion of children under 15

years of age is noticeably higher among the Blacks than
among the Mexican-Americans

(Table 2 3) .

Acculturation of the Blacks and the MexicanAmericans in Kalamazoo thus operates mainly through orga­
nizations established to promote understanding between
racial groups, through cultural exchanges, and under the
stress of time.

Some agencies convey the governmental

concern about the disadvantageous situation of minority
groups in the area, while some others reflect the efforts
of Blacks and Mexican-Americans themselves for intracommunity aid.

The Blacks seem to have the advantages

of speaking the language and practicing the religion of
the dominant group, but their skin color remains an almost
insurmountable obstacle to racial and cultural integrity.
The Mexican-Americans form a more closely knit community

87

TABLE 2 3
PERCENTAGE O F BLACK A N D M E X I C A N - A M E R I C A N
C H I L D R E N U N D E R 15 Y E A R S OF AGE
Black

Ag e

Mexican-American

1

4.6

0.9

2

5.8

3.3

3

3.9

3.7

4

2.0

4.2

5

2.6

2.3

6

3.5

5.6

7

3.3

2.8

8

4.5

3.7

9

7.3

2.3

10

3.3

1.9

11

1.8

2.3

12

6.9

2.8

13

3.3

4.2

14

6.4

4.7

Total

59.2

44.7

15 a n d over

40.8

55.3

100.0

100.0

547

217

Total

%

T o tal N

88

with its own language,

religion,

customs, and traditions.

"He are proud p e o p l e , " said one Mexican-American leader
to the newsmen; and true,

they are very proud of what they

have, and especially w h o they are.

70

Although Kalamazoo has made progress in the

"War

on Poverty," racial discrimination still complicates many
problems.

T h e Blacks a n d the Mexican-Americans in the

area are prone to counterbalance their material dissatis­
faction w i t h their cultural pride.

T h e i r plights are

tightly bound to the national Black and Mexican-American
problems and deeply influenced b y historical events.
Therefore, their acculturation in Kalamazoo has been
limited.

Changes are to come with their young generation;

but actually,

the results of acculturation are clearly

manifested in their spatial adjustment to the area.
70

Kalamazoo G a z e t t e . October 7, 1969.

CHAPTER III
BLACK A N D MEXICAN-AMERICAN SPATIAL
ADJUSTMENT IN KALAMAZOO

For many years the Black a n d the Mexican-American
migrants have been adjusting to their new environment.
Those w h o have come from the sunny regions of the United
States or Mexico are today ready to endure the severe
winters in Michigan; those w h o have dreamed of freedom
and equality are paving their own ways to attainment; and
all of them have invested their labor for the prosperity
of Kalamazoo.

Many Blacks and Mexican-Americans now own

their homes; others live in rented houses or have changed
residence several times without reaching adequate solu­
tions of their housing problems.

The spatial adjustment

of the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo has
resulted in different stages of separateness w h ich are
related to their different population and cultural char­
acteristics .

89

90

Black Separateness

T h e spatial separateness of the Blacks has g r a d ­
u a lly de v e l o p e d a n d appears quite evident today.

In 1940

w h e n the p o p u l a t i o n of K a l a m a z o o C o u n t y tot a l e d 100,080,
the Blacks n u m b e r e d about 1,240,
lived in the city.

71

o f w h i c h 88 per cent

Most of the Blacks w e r e grouped in

the Northeast, a r o u n d East B u t l e r Court, W a l b r i d g e and
Harrison Streets, a n d also b e y o n d the K a l a m a z o o River on
Amper s e e Avenue,

Ri v e r v i e w Drive,

and further East in the

area between G u l l R oad and M i c h i g a n A v e n u e .

There were

no ghettos as such, but the Blacks resided a l o n g side
Poles and o t h e r w h i t e s in this poorer part o f the city.
F r o m this m a i n settlement,

72

the B l a c k population

spread to the W e s t a n d South duri n g the two following
decades.

B y 1950 large numbers of Blacks w e r e found on

No rth Burdick Street and East Mic h i g a n Avenue,

and m a n y

resided in the Southwest down to Pioneer a n d Peeler
Streets.

In 1960 the Blacks w e r e so den s e l y concentrated

in N o rth K a l a m a z o o that in census tract 2 the Blacks
totaled 57 per c e n t of the p o p u l a t i o n
71
72

(Figure 3).

U.S. C e n s u s of Population, Michigan,

1940.

In f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y the Blacks in Kalamazoo
during i n t e r v i e w s .

91

0.04%

I
LJ
,

■'

O.OJW

■

Li
tMX

• 04%
0.00%
n r
tMO

0

.

No m
M l • MO)

'\

♦

*

t i t
H

wM

•

Sana

0000

1«m 4

• »
ST

1
k

M i l * MMB
O u t M IM
mi

kaum um

i H s n tiim a H o r

or

c m s u im c t m o

bucks

PBKUT OF TO M POfOUTIOM. MOO

U. t am

F tg u r *

3

1

92

T h e concentration of Blacks in K a l a m a z o o is a
p h e n o m e n o n of urban ghetthoization, w h i c h can he view e d
from a variety o f perspectives.

H u man ecologists i n d i ­

cate that economic factors p l a y a key role in explaining
the concentration of the poor b y po p u l a t i o n growth a n d
housing deterioration.

A s the c i t y grows,

middle- a n d

upper-class families b u i l d new houses on vacant land in
the periphery,

leaving their o l d homes n ear central c i t y

pa r t i cul a r l y to the poor.
inexpensive homes,

S i n c e the poor can only a f f o r d

they beco m e c o n c e n t r a t e d in the a r e a s

of "cast-off" housing.
Some analysts take into account the deep psychic
and social motivations, p a r t i c u l a r l y the sensitivity of
white A m e r i c a n s t o class differences.

T h e area in w h i c h

a p e r s o n lives is a n important indicator o f his p osit i o n
in society, a n d the residents o f a neighb o r h o o d g e n e rally
are on the same social level.

Therefore, a white p e r s o n

must w e i g h the implications of his own social standing,
w h e n he considers w h e t h e r to enter or r e m a i n in a r a c i a l l y
mi xed a r e a .
Others v iew the t r a n s m i s s i o n of "life values" as
the dominant factor of ghettoization.

T h e middle-class

citizens, almost regardless o f race, des i r e to have the

93

social,

cultural, and economic milieu and values of their

group dominate their own residential environment and the
educational environment of their children.

So families

and children of approximately similar views and attitudes
tend to cluster together.
On the other hand, m any studies attempt to analyze
the spatial expansion of the Black ghetto as a process of
neighborhood change.

The general process is conceptual­

ized as a "succession" occurring over time and involving
a sequence of stages from "penetration" and "invasion11
to "consolidation" and "piling-up."

Other studies char­

acterize the spread of Black ghettos basically as a spa­
tial diffusion process in w h i c h the Black is an active
agent and the role of the White is passive.

73

At a larger scale, however, the Black ghetto in
Kalamazoo appears as the spatial manifestation of a pro­
cess of acculturation, which involves both Black and white
groups and operates mainly through the elements of popu­
lation, culture, and time.

There is no diffusion by

active and passive agents, but rather a mutual adjustment
of Blacks and whites in their selection of residence.
73

Robert Elgie, "Rural Immigration, Urban Ghettoization, a n d T h eir Consequences," Antipode (December,
1970), pp. 41-44.

94

This adjustment created dramatic changes in the
population patterns of both groups during the sixties.
From 1960 to 1970 several census tracts in Kalamazoo C i t y
and adjacent area showed a total increase of over 20 per
cent while many others declined in population.
tern reflected that of the whites,

This p a t ­

since they represented

nearly 90 per cent of the total population.

The decrease

in East Kalamazoo, especially in census tracts 2, 8, 9,
10, and 11, came mainly from the out-migration of large
numbers of white residents.

In many cases the whites

moved out because the Blacks moved in; but often the
reasons w e r e quite complex.
Between 1960 and 1970, the white population grew
significantly in the West and South.

The highest increase,

however, w a s in the Southwest, where tracts 15.04 and
15.05 were dominated by Western Michigan University
(Figures 2 and 4).
T h e Blacks, on the contrary, were chiefly attracted
to the No rth side of the city.

The majority of Black in­

migrants found friends# relatives, a n d hcxnes in this
area.

In fact, the net change of Black population between

1960 and 1970 exhibited an increase of 2,052 persons in

95

I%

177.
♦ 1% +

11%

17%
9%

Figure 4

5%

96

census tract 3.

Changes in other tracts were less impor­

tant (Table 24).
This general movement of separateness between
Blacks and whites resulted in the relatively high concen­
tration of Black population in North Kalamazoo in 1970,
especially in the area covered b y census tracts 2 and 3.
Although tract 3 lost a total of 116 residents during the
1960-1970 period,

it still contained the highest number

of Blacks in Kalamazoo.

Homogeneity,

however, prevailed

in tract 2 where the Blacks represented 79 per cent of
the total population in 1970 as compared to 57 per cent
in 1960 (Figure 5).
Significantly,

spatial separateness exists not

only in Kalamazoo City as a whole but also at a smaller
scale when blocks or parts of a block are compared.

In

1950 a large part of the white population in North K a l a ­
mazoo consisted of Du£ch.

When the flow of Black migrants

spread into the area between 1950 and 1970, m any Dutch
moved out and sold or rented their h o m e s .

Most of the

whites w h o stayed were encouraged in their decisions by
the absence of economic advantages to leave, the presence
of other whites in the neighborhood,

or the closeness of

97

TABLE 24
KALAMAZOO:
NET CHANGE OF BLACK POPULATION
BY CENSUS TRACT, 1960-1970
Tract

1960

1970

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
C-13
14-A
C-14-B
15—A
C-15-B
C-15-C
16
17
18-A
18-B
C-18-C

680
2245
1169
115
37
90
196
113
419
6
40
54

979
2158
3221
334
138
287
149
106
385
74
89
17
3
83
186
355
92
186
12
103
43
15
14

Source:

—

2
22
93
26
73
2
12
3
1
3

Net Change
+
—

+
+
+
+
—

—
—

+
+
—

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

299
87
2052
219
101
197
47
7
34
68
49
37
3
81
164
262
66
113
10
91
40
14
11

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
U.S. Censuses of Population and Housina : 1960Census Tracts, Kalamazoo. Michiaan, pp. 14--16?
and Census of Housing, Block Statistics. K a lama­
zoo, Michigan. Urbanized Area, 1 9 7 0 , pp. 1-16.
Census Tracts C-13? 14-A; C-14-B; 15-A; C-15-B?
C-15-C; 18—A ? 18—B ; and C-18-C in 1960 became
13; 14.01? 14.02; 15.04, 15.05; 15.02; 15.03;
15.01; 18.01; 18.02; and 18.03 in 1970.

98

V

mm

m in iT w i m u — miw m

Fifur*

5

99

households whose heads belonged to the same racial and
cultural origin.
This gives today's North Kalamazoo,

especially

census tracts 2 and 3, a general pattern of mixed Black
and white neighborhoods,
tion.

each one having its own isola­

In tract 2, for instance, a completely white block

defies change.

Another block randomly selected in tract 3

exhibits smaller homogeneous groups of Black and white
households

(Figure 6).

T h e patterns of Kalamazoo population thus have
undergone great changes since the second w o r l d war.

The

whites generally have been shifting their residence from
the Central East of the city to the suburban areas, e s p e ­
cially to the West,

South, and Southwest.

T h e Blacks,

though attempting to expand throughout Kalamazoo, have
become heavily concentrated in the North side.

The spa­

tial adjustment of Black population has advanced into a
stage of developing separateness characterized by a g r o w ­
ing ghetto.

100

KALAMAZOO
DISTRIBUTION OF
BLACK AND WHITS
HOUSEHOLDS IN A
SAMPLE BLOCK

-J

J L_

L

a« :

nmomv

e"

a.

1972
,0
B
E3

O

CD
jr
1
*

I

i
Q
ED

[H3
E233

t | Oii*r«h
Wkit*
BUcK

E

Pm

Figure

C

1=1

1 Q
J ■

m k

st.

101

Mexican- A m e r i c a n Separateness

The Mexican-A m e r i c a n population in K a l a m a z o o p r e ­
sents a different pattern t han the Blacks.

it has exper­

ienced no g h e t t o i z a t i o n and formed no "barrios."
estingly, most o f the early Mexican-Americans

Inter­

settled

adjacent to the Blacks in the Northeast of the city b e ­
t w een Gull R oad a n d East Mic h i g a n Avenue.
further North a l o n g M t . Olivet Road.

S o m e resided

74

The s p r e a d of M e x ican-American p o p u l a t i o n in
K a l a m a z o o before 1960 g e n erally paralleled t h a t of the
Blacks.

Since small groups o f M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n s entered

the city during the decade following the end o f W orld
War

IX, many r e n t e d homes in census tracts 2 a n d 3 and

lived side b y side w i t h the Blacks.

D i s p a r i t y occurred

b e t w e e n 1960 a n d 1970, when the Blacks st r e a m e d to the
Central North a n d the Mexican-Americans s p r i n k l e d over
the Southeast a n d East.

A few M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n s stayed

outside the city in Portage,

Parchment, and Comstock.

A considerable number o f Mexican- A m e r i c a n s have
b e e n able to b u y homes.
74

Some a r e in the p r o c e s s of

Information provided b y Mexican-Americans in
K a l a m a z o o during interviews.

102

purchasing their places.

The majority, however,

have to rent modest or substandard housing

still

(Table 2 5) .

TABLE 2 5
KALAMAZOO:

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MEXICANAMERICAN HOMES BY OWNERSHIP

Ownership

Number

Percentage

15

25

5

8

Rent

40

67

Total

60

100

Own
Purchasing

Housing in Kalamazoo has been a critical problem
for the Blacks and the Mexi c a n - A m e r i c a n s .

A study of

Michigan's eleven largest cities by G l e n Bachelder in
1968 showed that Kalamazoo had the second highest propor­
tion of dilapidated housing

(4.45 per cent) and the

highest proportion (20.5 per cent) of dilapidated housing
occupied b y nonwhites.

75

Most housing discrimination

complaints coming to the Kalamazoo Community Relations

7 ^Kalamazoo G a z e t t e . October 23, 1968; and M i c h ­
igan Civil Rights Commission, Status of Race Relations
in the City of Kalamazoo, 1969 (Report and Recoimnenda^
tions), pp. 14-18.

103

Board and the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in the
first quarter of 1969 involved rentals; but the con­
struction of public housing remained an impossible solu­
tion because three times voters defeated proposed ordi­
nances to establish a housing commission.
Some private efforts, however, were made to pro­
vide low-income housing, mainly through the Loan Improve­
ment Fund Today (LIFT),

the Northside Development A s s o ­

ciation (NDA), the Kalamazoo Housing and Improvement
Corporation (KHIC), and the Interfaith Housing Council
(IFHC).

Under the joint undertaking of LIFTT-IFHC, Patwood

Apartments and Neighborhood Apartments were built.

The

majority of occupants of these new units were Blacks.
The Mexican-Americans rather relied upon their
own efforts.

The Spanish-Amerlean Building Effort (SABE)

was started in M a y 1971.

Its main purpose was to help

directly the Spanish-Americans in Kalamazoo to improve
their housing conditions.

The first steps of SABE con­

sisted of raising funds and encouraging Spanish-Americans
to repair and paint the homes they owned or were purchas­
ing.
tha t ,

Rev.

Jorge Capote, the founder of SABE, stated

104

This is a community effort to repair and paint
deteriorating homes.
Our initial effort in­
cludes approximately ten (10) homes.
The work
is being done by members of the SpanishAmerican Community . . . .
Any type of dona­
tion, either in the form of supplies or money
w o ul d be well received.^6
Since its beginning SABE has reaped satisfactory
results,

due to the favorable response of many people in

Kalamazoo.

T h e complete fulfillment of S A B E 's mission,

however, would require long-term projects within the con­
text of housing problems affecting all low-income people
in the a r e a .
Certainly,

the housing problems are closely re­

lated to the spatial character of the Black and MexicanAmerican groups in Kalamazoo.

The adjustment of these

minority communities has created meaningful differences
in their residential patterns.

The Mexican-Americans who

settled in the Northeast of the city before World War II
and those who entered the Central North between 1940 and
1960 were mainly attracted b y the availability of homes
and the presence of relatives and friends in these areas.
The apparent parity of Blacks and Mexican-Americans in
their early settlement and spread in Kalamazoo is a result

^ S A B E public letter,

July 1971.

105

of the same type of racial prejudice they faced in their
relations with whites.
of minority groups.

They all w e r e considered members

T h e Mexican-Americans, however, did

not relish the thought of living side by side w i t h the
Blacks.

Therefore, 'when North Kalamazoo became overwhelm­

ingly Black, most of the new Mexican-American in-migrants
stayed away from the Black ghetto.
The pattern of Mexican-American settlement o b ­
served today in Kalamazoo reflects the tendency of people
of Mexican descent toward clustering whenever possible
and settling in the urban fringe area.

The difference

between a Black ghetto and a Mexican-American

"barrio" is

recognizable in many cities of the United States.
Mexican-American "barrios" in Los Angeles,

for instance,

have been called "The Urban Villages," which are
the gray tenement tombs of the ghetto, " but

The

"not like

"sprawl over

the hills and into the arroyos and valleys, amid the weeds
and flowers."

77

Actually,

no Mexican-American barrios have been

formed in Kalamazoo.

77

T h e Mexican-Americans obviously are

Stan Steiner,
1970), pp. 140-142.

La Raza

(New York:

Har p e r & Row,

106

more dispersed and suburban in nature than the Blacks.
While the latter are mainly concentrated in the North
side,

the former reach the South and areas outside the

city limit.

The distribution of Mexican-Americans in

Kalamazoo shows no homogeneous large neighborhoods but
small groups of households located a few minutes walking
distance from each other.

Such groups m a y be found on

Mosel Street and Virginia Avenue, M t . Olivet Road,
Princeton Avenue, Eggleston Avenue, Lincolnshire Boule­
vard,

Bank Street, Olmstead Road, and m a n y other places

throughout Kalamazoo (Figure 7}.
From the spatial patterns of the Blacks and
Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo, one question may arise.
W hy has the acculturation process resulted in Black
ghettoization and Mexican-American clustering patterns
when the Blacks seem culturally closer to the whites
through their language, religion,

customs,

and social

values, but the Mexican-Americans constitute a distinc­
tive community w ith their own cultural heritage?
One part of the answer is found in the predominant
cultural factor:

racial discrimination.

Basically, both

the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo aspire
to total assimilation and equality.

When they confront

107

KALAMAZOO i DISTRIBUTION OF MSXICANAHE RICAN HOUSEHOLDS . 1 9 7 2

-J

r_

fj

L _ ,

•*

1______

i

nr

l._

.j

m Fm u Om » wn m

Figure T

108

racial prejudice from whites and rank among disadvantaged
people in the area, they react to this situation by r e ­
turning to their own cultures and strengthening their own
groups.

As sitting down and not cooperating can be a t t i ­

tudes of protest,

this

"looking inward" of the Blacks and

the Mexican-Americans constitutes their own ways of e x ­
pressing dissatisfaction and also discrimination against
the white dominant group.

The language and religion that

many Blacks in Kalamazoo inherit from their fathers in
the South are not only a sign of acculturation but also
a legacy of slavery and a reminder of Africa and old
hatreds.

Added to some social values adopted from the

white community,

they still remain inadequate to counter­

balance severe discrimination facts in employment, h o u s ­
ing, and education.
Like the Blacks,

the Mexican-Americans in K a l a m a ­

zoo are tied to their origin.
to the United States

Mexico is just adjacent

and has supplied a vast number of

Mexicans to American villages and cities.

Thus,

it is

not surprising that the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo
speak Spanish, practice Catholicism, and nourish their
customs and values.

The Black and the Mexican-American

communities have been growing in the same atmosphere of

109

racial prejudice; but they differ from each other in their
ways of showing discriminatory attitudes against discrim­
inators .
T h e other part of the answer lies in the number of
Black and Mexican-American residents in Kalamazoo.

Un­

doubtedly, many population characteristics such as age,
sex, occupation, and marital status may eventually be the
reasons that make Blacks and Mexican-Americans change
their residence; but the size of their groups plays a
predominant role in g h e t t o i z a t i o n .
No Black ghettos were found in Kalamazoo between
1900 and 1930, when the Blacks represented only 1 per cent
of the total population in the city.

Ghettoization began

in the 1930-1960 period, along w i t h the rapid increase of
Black in-migrants.

The spatial character of the Mexican-

American community in Kalamazoo today is to some extent
comparable to that of the Black population in 1920.
number of Mexican-Americans

The

is relatively small and a p ­

proximates 1 per cent of the total population in the city.
They present a spatial pattern which bears no common
characteristics with the Black ghetto in North Kalamazoo
or the Mexican-American barrios in the United States
Southwes t .

1X0

Thus, racial discrimination against the Blacks
and the Mexican-Americans and the size of their groups
in Kalamazoo constitute the main cultural and population
factors that govern their spatial adjustment.

Differ­

ences between the Black ghetto and the Mexican-American
clustering pattern indicate different stages of separate­
ness .

A Conceptual Outlook

The case of Blacks and Mexican-Americans in K a l a ­
mazoo throws light on a concept of acculturation appli­
cable to minority groups in g e n e r a l .

This study concerns

a minority group resulting from migration and coming into
contact with a dominant group, b o t h residing in an urban
area where the total population is from 2,500 to 250,000
and in a country where people enjoy security, peace, and
freedom.

78
In this environment the spatial character of the

minority group is the manifestation of a process of
78

In U.S. census language, the word “Urban" g e n ­
erally involves places larger than 2,500 in population.
Kalamazoo Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area approx­
imated 201,550 population, when this study began.

Ill

acculturation which operates between b oth migrant and host
communities through four elements:
Time, and Space.
ficial.

Population, Culture,

Divisions of these elements are arti­

There is no culture without a population, and

any population bears a culture.

Time cannot be conceived

without an idea of distance, and space implies a certain
time to go from one point to another.
ture,

Population,

cul­

time, and space are complementary; they all are

one (Figure 8).
Culture a n d time have a spatial expression
through people; even when these elements remain abstract,
they are ideas a n d concepts of the human mind.

Therefore,

the spatial adjustment of racial groups are the natural
manifestation of the acculturation process in which they
are involved.
Through this manifestation some factors prevail
over the others.

T h e spatial character of a population

is reflected primarily on the number of people and their
distribution in an area.

The size of population thus

plays a particularly important role in the contact of
minority and dominant groups.

The identity of a minority

group in a city largely depends on the number of its

112

8 PA C £

figure A
Element*

of

A cculturation

113

members.

A migrant community must reach a certain size

to be noticed b y the host population.

79

On the other hand, racial discrimination consti­
tutes the predominant cultural factor in the acculturation
process.

Discrimination,

of course,

is reciprocal; but

when the dominant group holds the keys of political,
nomic,

social, and cultural institutions,

eco­

racial discrim­

ination strongly disadvantages the minority group.
cultural exchanges through language, religion,

The

customs,

and values are usually unequal, and the subordinate com­
munity has to change and conform to the culture of the
dominant society.

The return of a subordinate community

to its own cultural heritage thus indicates the restric­
tions of acculturation and a reaction to the discrimina­
tory attitudes of people in the dominant group.
words,

In other

it is a form of discrimination against discrimi­

nation.
79

People in Kalamazoo paid little attention to the
area Mexican-Americans before 1969, and the fact was a c ­
knowledged b y the Michigan Civil Rights Commission as an
"almost total lack of awareness of the existence of
Spanish-surnamed population." The number of MexicanAmericans in Kalamazoo approximated 1 per cent of the
white population at the end of 1969, w h e n their spokesmen
were considered representatives of a minority community—
See footnote 54.

114

Certainly,

changes unfold through time.

The time

factor creates no decisive effects on the process of ac­
culturation.

It rather has a supportive action.

racial prejudice strengthens,
when it weakens,

When

time is additional; but

time becomes substractive.

time population grows and declines,

So through

culture flourishes

and shrinks, and spatial patterns expand and contract.
T h e spatial adjustment of a minority group within
the major population may result in conformity or separate­
ness.

Spatial conformity excludes g h e t t o i z a t i o n ; butr'

spatial separateness leads to clustering and forming
ghettos or

"barrios."

The host community also involves population, cul­
ture, time, and space.

Its dominant position cannot be

properly maintained if its population becomes smaller
than that of the minority group,
and its areal control lessens.

its culture collapses,
T h e process of accultura­

tion opens a two-way communication between the migrant
and host communities

(Figure 9).

Since the process of acculturation is character­
ized by its unity,

in which each element incorporates the

others, the predominant factors will give a clear and
meaningful picture of the process through its population.

115

TI M*

▼ IMl

DUcrimi*«ti*w

xorr
CMMPQTT

M > W LA Tien

POPULATION
CkvMttriiliu

Figur«

•

Modtl of A cculturation

FVocms

116

culture,

and time elements, and its spatial manifestation.

T w o predominant

factors w h i c h assume population a n d cul­

ture and provide an index of spatial adjustment consist
of:

1.

The relation b e t w e e n po p u l a t i o n of the migrant
c o m munity and that of the host community.

2.

Racial discrimination.

If population a n d culture are r epresented b y a,
the relation bet w e e n po p u l a t i o n of the migrant community
and that of the host c o m m u n i t y b y the ratio

and racial

discrimination b y d, then a measurement of acculturation
is made possible by

It is a s s u m e d that some degrees of discrimination
always exist in the relations bet w e e n m i n o r i t y a n d d o m ­
inant groups.

In other words,

there is always in the

m inority population at least one person w h o feels being
a little discr i m i n a t e d against b y mem b e r s of the dominant
community.

T h e refore d ^ 0.

117

The values of m and h are provided by census or
field data.

One of the many ways to obtain d consists

of averaging the percentages of heads of household in the
migrant community.

a)

who feel that the treatment received from members
of the host community is discriminatory in em­
ployment,

b)

education, and housing;

who have no friends among members of the host
community;

c)

who bear cultural characteristics not found among
the majority of host community members.

80

If ~ = 1, the population of the migrant community
equals that of the host community.

Beyond this value,

the minority group ceases to be a minority.
80
The Black and the Mexican-American heads of
household in Kalamazoo are assumed to bear the following
characteristics not found among the majority of whites in
the area;
1) Having four or more children; 2) Honoring
the family ruled by an authoritarian father; and 3) A d m i t ­
ting the development of personality as more important than
the material success.
These assumptions are based on "the
most frequent family sizes" of three children in the United
States, and on the contrast of A n glo and Mexican values
explained by Luis F. Hernandez.
See Ben J. Wattenberg and
Richard M. Scammon, This U.S.A. (New York:
Pocket Books,
1967), p. 48.
See also footnote 61 of this study.

118

If d = 100, all heads of household in the migrant
community acknowledge discrimination from members of the
host community.
Therefore,

the maximum value of a is

„
100

m j
a = — d =
n

If “ = 0.01, the migrants begin to attract the
full awareness of the dominant group and to play the role
of a community.
If d * 50, then the heads of household in the m i ­
grant community are equally divided about discrimination
from members of the host community.
Therefore,

the dividing value of a is
111 J
a = —
d=
h

0

.5r-

If 0 < a < 0.5, the migrants lack the community
character and face little or almost no discrimination.
Since the spatial manifestation of the accultura­
tion

process is

implied in a, the values of a indicate

the adjustment patterns

of the migrant community.

there a r e :
1.

Spatial Conformity (0 < a < 0.5)

2.

Spatial Separateness

(0.5 < a < 100)

Then

119

When racial discrimination is not particularly
strong with d * 50, separateness develops slowly until
the number of people in the minority group reaches
cent of the major population.

10

per

Then a = 5 starts a more

important stage.
When discrimination is at its peak d = 100, the
great pressure of the dominant community on the minority
group accelerates separateness,

even though the number

of the minority members represents a half of the dominant
population.

On the other hand, when the size of both

groups becomes equal,

the presence of too many minority

members creates racial competition and makes separateness
inevitable even in an atmosphere of moderate discrimina­
tion d * 50.

Therefore,

a = 50 indicates a high degree

of separateness (Figure 10).
Spatial separateness thus comprises three stages:

a.

Emerging (0.5 <

a < 5)

b.

Developing

a < 50)

c.

Developed (50

(5^

a ^ 100)

The first stage is characterized by a clustering
pattern.

The second creates concentration of the minority

population in specific areas so that parts of a block.

120

SPATIAL
MPAAATSMSAS

SPATIAL
COM PORN I TV

+■

■+"
0.S
I

IOO
I

50

Emerging

Developing

Figure 10
Stage* of Spdtiot Adjustm ent

Developed

121

a whole block, or groups of several blocks become h o m o ­
geneously crowded w ith minority people .

The third stage

shows large areas such as census tracts or districts
almost totally or totally occupied b y members of the
minority community.
T h e spatial adjustment of the minority group
members is closely related to their migration patterns.
Many migrants leave their parents or relatives in their
birthplaces and expect to come back some day; others
accept an uprooted migration and seek a new life in a
new environment; but most of them hope to find freedom
and equality at their places of destination and a s s i m i ­
late totally into their host communities.
A limited number of migrants are able to attain
cultural and spatial conformity and see their dreams come
true.

The vast majority become m i n o r i t y group members

and face different degrees of separateness.

A co n sider­

able number of migrants w h o feel frustrated *■and disappointed finally return to their homelands; but many flee
*

the ghettos which emerge unexpectedly in their first
migration destination.

T h e y venture further migrations

until they reach conformity.

People w h o are tired of

moving around and find ghettos or "barrios" everywhere

122

have to choose between enduring separateness or going back
to their places of origin (Figure 11).
Thus, the spatial adjustment of the Blacks and
the Mexican-Americans in Kalamazoo has resulted in observ­
able facts and measurable patterns.

Time,

indeed, p e r ­

vades all aspects of migration and acculturation; but the
major population and cultural factors that influence the
Black and Mexican-American spatial characters in Kalamazoo
consist of the size of these minority groups and their
problems of racial discrimination.

There lies the k e y

of differences between the Black and Mexican-American
stages of separateness.

This is implied in the concept

of acculturation, w h i c h proceeds through population,

cul­

ture, time, and space, a n d involves b oth migrant and host
communities.

123

rt'S •
t \,

f
r
*
■f
S
*

-

4 ----------

1

fvrtW
Kiytfmi

NigMCM
NwcMcnt

*

UNIT1*

AKKTWflM

Ftfur*
tl
MijroBon - AccuforaKott

Rclofom

CONCLUSION

Migration has created many minority groups in
Kalamazoo.

Some of them,

like the Latvians, the O r ien­

tals, and the A m erican Indians, play a minor role; but
the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans are the leading
migrant communities in the area.

Due to their important

minority status, these later groups have not only raised
serious racial problems throughout the country but also
echoed their aspirations and protests far away to Africa
and Latin America.
In the process of acculturation operating in
Kalamazoo between the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans
on one hand and the whites on the other hand, racial dis­
crimination has disadvantaged the minority people.

Ef­

forts have been made a n d improvements achieved; but dis­
crimination still persists in many areas, especially in
employment, housing, and education.

A s a reaction to this

situation, the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans have
turned to their own cultural treasures and preserved
124

125

ea r n e s t l y their traditions a n d values.

So acculturation

of the Blacks and the Mexican-Americans

in K a l a m a z o o has

been s l o w and limited.
Actually,

this r estriction is reflected on their

spatial character a n d results in a Black ghetto and a
Mexican-A m e r i c a n clustering pattern.

T h e Black p o pula­

tion is h i g h l y concen tr a t e d in the N o r t h side of K a l a m a ­
zoo City,

and the Mexican-A m e r i c a n s exhibit small groups

of househ o l d s located a short d i stance from e a c h other.
T h ese patterns constitute different stages of spatial
separateness.
A c c o r d i n g to the concept of a c c u l t u r a t i o n ana­
lyzed in this study,

conformity or separateness is the

spatial m a n i f e s t a t i o n of the process thr o u g h p o p u lation
and culture.
cultural

In other words,

the m a j o r demogr a p h i c and

factors m o l d the spatial patterns.

Therefore,

a measure m e n t of these factors gives the index o f c on­
formity or s e p a r a t e n e s s .
T h e case of Blacks a n d Mexican-A m e r i c a n s
amazoo,

in K a l ­

u sed as a check on this concept, p r esents the

following results:

126

1.

For the Blacks :

The 1970 census of population provides the number
of Blacks

(m = 8534) and the number of whites (h = 75664)

in Kalamazoo City.

Thr o u g h data analyzed in Chapter II

of this study, d is obtained by averaging the percentages
of Black heads of household

who feel that the treatment

received from whites is discriminatory in employment (76),
housing (63), and education (23); w h o have no white
friends (77); who have four children or more (40); who
honor authoritarian fathers (52); and who consider the
development of personality more important than the mate­
rial success (85).

2.

Therefore

For the M e x i c an-Americans:

This study provides the number of Mexican-Americans
(m = 800)

in Kalamazoo City; and through data analyzed in

Chapter II concerning the same cultural characteristics
as mentioned above for the Blacks, d is obtained b y averag­
ing 73, 62, 18, 70, 47, 90, 93.

a = ~ d =
n

Therefore,

0.6

127

Since the dividing value between Conformity and
Separateness is 0.5, the Mexican-American spatial adjust­
ment lies very close to the beginning of separateness,
as indicated by 0.6.

The Blacks, on the contrary, have

reached the stage of developing separateness with an index
higher than 5.0.

The actual spatial patterns observed in

Kalamazoo present characteristics that match these con­
ceptual degrees of adjustment.
Time,

indeed,

is inherent to any process.

Time

is bringing changes to people in both minority and domi­
nant groups in Kalamazoo.

Children of Black and Mexican-

American families are attending school side by side with
whites.

The number of Black and Spanish-American students

enrolled at Western Michigan University has been increas­
ing during the recent y e a r s ; and today white and non-white
students are getting along well w ith each other.

81

Mixed

marriages between Mexican-American girls and white A m e r ­
ican boys are practiced.

The acculturation process and

its spatial manifestation in Kalamazoo are changing.
81

Western Michigan University recorded 830 Black
and 131 Spanish-American students in 1970; these numbers
increased to 1,043 and 151 respectively in 1971. The
total enrollment was 21,713 and 21,846 (Data provided by
W.M.U. Administration Office, March, 1972) .

128

If the number of Blacks and Mexican-Americans
stabilizes at the present level and racial discrimination
l e s sens, the Black population would gradually spread over
the Southeast,

South, and Southwest of Kalamazoo,

and the

Mexican-Americans would break their small groups a n d de­
velop conformity.

If the wave of Black and Mexican-

American in-migrants and racial discrimination compete
in an endless growth,

then acculturation would become

very difficult; the flight of whites would point more
rapidly to the suburban West, Southwest,

South, a n d North­

east up to Parchment; the Blacks w o uld reach the stage of
developed separateness, census tract

2

would turn totally

Black, and the whole central North of Kalamazoo would
darken with dense and homogeneous g h e t t o s ; on the other
hand,

the Mexican-Americans would advance into developing

separateness, and

"barrios" would emerge in the Southeast,

mainly in census tracts

8

, 9,

10

,

11

where many whites

have been leaving, and perhaps small clusters of MexicanAmerican households would be found even in the Northeast
as well as in the Southwest outside the city limit.
There is, however,
in the near f u t u r e .

no indication of such patterns

The Kalamazoo manufacturing indus­

tries are expanding, and Kalamazoo is developing into an

129

important regional center for medical, educational, and
retailing activities-

This should result in more employ­

ment opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled workers
and attract more Blacks and Mexican-Americans to the city.
The population increase in both Black and Mexican-American
communities in Kalamazoo will continue to k e e p accultur­
ation limited, despite moderate improvements in race r e ­
lations.

During the decade ahead,

the Blacks and the

Mexican-Americans will progress slowly in their present
stages of spatial separateness.
in Central North Kalamazoo,

The Black concentration

especially in census tracts

2 and 3, would become gradually higher; and the MexicanAmerican clustering pattern would appear more obvious.
Certainly, migration and acculturation constitute
a vast area of investigation for cultural geographers.
The specific steps of advancement of the migrant community
within each stage of adjustment,
responding spatial patterns,

the measurement of cor­

the formation of a minority

group in a rural area or a megalopolis,

the spatial char­

acter of a migrant community whose religious leaders play
the role of political administrators,
between racial groups,

the relationships

culture, and spatial adjustment

130

in w a r time

. . . are some of the innumerable problems

that stem from this study a n d invite further research.
Race relations and their spatial implications
differ from people to people,

from one culture to another,

and from this moment to the next.
to immense horizons of learning.

Accult u r a t i o n is open

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A, TABLE I
MICHIGAN:

County
Alcona
Alger
Allegan
Alpena
Antrim
Arenac
Baraga
Barry
Bay
Benzie
Berrien
Branch
Calhoun
Cass
Charlevoix
Cheboygan
Chippewa
Clare
Clinton
Crawford
Delta
Dickinson
Eaton
Emmet
Genessee
Gladwin
Gogebic
Grand Traverse
Gratiot
Hillsdale
Houghton
Huron

DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK POPULATION
BY COUNTY, 1900, 1970
1970

1900
1

7
261
3
49
4

38
1,088
64
3

8

33
34
736
78
18,283

43
161
90
647
58
695
1, 568
65
29
40
1

35
4
39

202

11,955
4.103
17
14
785
5
43
50
23

8

2

75

285

68

68

277

60,338

1

10

5
39
119
35
44

4
128
45
71
39
25

10

131

10

132

Appendix A, Table I (Cont.)
County
Ingham
Ionia
Iosco
Iron
Isabella
Jackson
Kalamazoo
Ka lka ska
Kent
Keweenaw
Lake
Lapeer
Leelanau
Lenawee
Livingston
Luce
Mackinac
Macomb
Manistee
Marquette
Mason
Mecosta
Menominee
Midland
Missaukee
Monroe
Montcalm
Montmorency
Muskegon
Newaygo
Oakland
Oceana
Ogenaw
Ontonagon
Osceola
Oscoda
Otsego
Ottawa
Presque Isle
Roscommon

1900

1970

410
95
9
13
167
504
564
14
681

23,076

1

20

3
31
12

352
52
—

19
91
25
64
5
316

14,371
1,098
7 38
4
326
8,492
9, 579
—

1,274
339
23
554
492
5
6

7, 572
76
1,213
110

403
4
147

11

32
7
119
2

1

53
17

16,722
531
28,439
53

222

35
7

2

11
21

1
12

4
4
27

1

12
—

1

2,038
57

122

16
353
—

11

133

Appendi x A, Table I
1970

1900

County
Saginaw
St. Clair
St. Joseph
Sanilac
Schooleraft
Shiawassee
Tuscula
Van Buren
Washtenaw
Wayne
Wexford

26,856
2,703
1,02 3
14
3
30
346
4,456
17,822
721,072

438
79
96
11
2

44
36
676
1,240
4, 535
36

Total

15,816

Source:

U.S. Census of Population#

2

991,066
1900#

1970.

134

APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE
Plaai* Do Not Put Your N n t on This Questionnaire
Place of Yr. of
School Yrs. Occupation In Monthly I n c a m
Head of
Birth____Birth____ ex
Coexisted_____Kalamazoo______ (Optional)
Household
_________________________________________________________________
Spouse______________________________________________________ _________________
Childrenx 1
2 ____________________________________________________________________
3__ _______________________________________________________________________________________
4_______________________________________________________________
5__ _______________________________________________________________________________________

6

_____________________________________________________________________

7
Residence in 1950_______________________
Residenoe in 1960_______________________
Residence in 1970___
__
Do you own or rent your h

1955_
1965_

Occupation at Place of Origin
Monthly Family Income (Optional),
Occupation between Origin and Kalamazoo__________Mo. Family Income (Opt.),
Why did you move to Kalamasoo? Seeking Jobs
Escaping a Ghetto-living^
Escaping Rural Poverty
Joining Relatives_____ Other Reasons^
Did you move directly to Kalamasoo?
If Hot, Where did you move first?_
Did you move alone?________ If Hot, with whom?____________________________
Did you move by car
bus
plane______ other?____
What cities or towns did you stop along the way to Kalamazoo?,,
What year did you enter K a l amzoo?
Where did you first stay? Hotel ~
Friends

Motel

'Ranted House

Relatives

Did you feel it was easy to get acquainted with other blade (or Mexican-American)
people when you came to Kalamasoo?
Why do you feel that white people frequently move out of the neighborhood into
which black (or Mexican-American) people are moving?
What kind of treatment did you get from whites whan you were looking for jobs?
What difficulties did you run into in finding adequate housing?
How do you feel your children were received in Kalamazoo school a?____________
H o w m a n y w h i t e friends do y o u a n d y o u r fawilv have?

Where did you get help when you cams to Kalamasoo?___________________________
Do you have any plan to move away from Kalamasoo?
If so. Where?
Where is home to you?
Do you like to have a family ruled by an authoritarian father?_______________
Do you think that the material success is more isportant than the development
of personality?
NOTEt

135

APPENDIX B
SPANXSH-AMERICAN RESIDENCE INFORMATION
[from Kalamazoo Comunity Relations Board]

1.

Correct Name

2.

Correct Address

3.

Telephone Number

4.

Head of the House:

5.

Married

6.

Date of Birth

7.

House:

8.

How long in the U.S.A.

9.

Is he or she employed

No

Yes

Single

Own

Divorced
Place of Birth
Rent
in Kalamazoo
if employed, where?

10.

How much education

11.

Can he or she speak English & Spanish

12.

W i f e ’s Name

13.

Date of Birth

14.

If employed, where?

15.

Education
Childrens* Names:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

17.

Complaints

18*

Suggest lone :

Widowed

Write English & Spanish

,

Place of Birth

Date of Birth:

Place of Birth:

If in school,
where?

BI B L I O G R A P H Y

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Broek and Webb.
A Geography of M a n k i n d .
McGraw-Hill, 1968.

New York:

Bromwell, W i l l i a m J. History of Immigration to the United
States 18 1 9 - 1 85 5 . N e w York:
Sentry Press, 1856;
Augustus M. Kelly, Publishers, 1969.
Brown, Lawrence A.
Diffusion Processes and L o c a t i o n .
Philadelphia:
Regional Science Research Insti­
tute, 1968.
Brown, Ralph H.
Historical Geography of the United S t a t e s .
New York: H a r c o u r t , Brace & World, Inc., 1948.
Cabrera, Y. Arturo.
Emerging F a c e s : The Mexican-Americana
n.p.: Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers, 1971.
Choldin, Har v e y M. and Grafton D. Trout.
Mexican-Amerjeans
in Transition:
Migration and Employment in Mic h ­
igan C i t i e s . East Lansing:
Department of Sociology. Rural Manpower Center, Agricultural Exper­
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