Kara Weinacht

Sills
SOC 301-02
Interview Transcript
11/6/2008

Interviewer: Here we go. We are gathering data that is important in helping to

understand the barriers to immigrant incorporation into the Triad. This is a research
study. Research studies include only people who choose to take part. You are being
asked to voluntarily take part in this study in order to share your awareness and
understanding of immigrants. This interview will be recorded. The recording will be
used for research purposes only. It will be destroyed after a transcript is made. No
identifying information will be associated with the transcript in order to protect your
identity. You are free to refuse to participate, or to withdraw your consent to
participate in this research at any timewithout penalty or prejudice. Your
participation is entirely voluntary. We may wish to quote from this interview either
in reports, presentations, or articles resulting from this work. Your identity will be
protected and a pseudonym or alias will be used in the place of your real name. Do
you agree to allow me to quote from this interview?
Respondent: Yes
I: Okay, well then, we can get started. Umm, tell me a little bit about yourself.
R: I am currently a senior,graduating in December from UNCG. From Raleigh, North
Carolina. 21.
I:Huh. How long have you lived here?
R: Since I started college, so, four years now.
I:Alright. Umm, are you an immigrant?
R: No I am not.
I:Okay. In what ways do you work with immigration or migrants?
R: I’m currently a member of S.A.L.S.A., which is Spanish and…
I: Latino?
R: Yes, Spanish and Latino Student Association.
I: Yeah
R: And, well, we just did something where we went to elementary schools for, uh,
parent night.
I: Okay
R: And the ones, those of us who could speak Spanish translated for the parents
who couldn’t understand.
I: Can you speak Spanish?
R:Not very well. I understand just a little but not enough to be of help translating
for someone.
I: Umm, how long have you been involved with S.A.L.S.A.?
R: This is actually my first year, my first semester.
I: Uh, why’d you decide to start?
R: Well I’m currently…I’m in a fraternity and we’ve got three brothers who are all
Latino.
I: Okay
R: And I’ve always been a fan of Latin culture and I figured it’d be something cool to
do.
I: Yeah
R: So I joined.
I: Okay, umm, besides the school thing, what other stuff have you done with
S.A.L.S.A. dealing with immigrants, or migrants, immigration?
R: Last month, umm, September, we did the umm Fiesta del Pueblo, which is a large
street fair in High Point.
I: Okay
R: No, not High Point, Winston Salem. Where it’s just a day of, umm, things for the
Latin culture, music, food, you know, people selling things, things like that.
I: Mhmm.
R: And a bunch of us volunteered and went up there for that.
I: Okay. Umm, what is the ethnic and national makeup of the organiza… of
S.A.L.S.A.?
R: It’s predominantly Latino, there’re some people that are Columbian, I think there
may be one or two Prevuians, someone’s from Uruguay, then there’s, you know,
Caucasian-Americans.
I: Is there, well is there a lot, is it mostly…
R: It’s predominantly Latino.
I: That’s cool…
[Background noise and pause]
I: Alright, well, umm, I guess tell me about the immigrants you work with. You said
children at schools…
R:Well, [clears throat], a lot of them, from what I’ve seen are first generation – they
just got here, not too long ago. They may have been here for like a couple years
but they haven’t been here long enough to, you know, get a good grasp of the
community as far as, you know, how to navigate, do things, hence needing
translators for talking to their students’… their children’s teachers. So, we try and
get with those. There’s also the uhh… that’s pretty much it, first generation people
that just got here not too long ago.
I: Are there any other issues besides the language barrier and …navigation…I
guess…?
R:Well of course lots of people come who immigrate from places like Mexico are
looking for jobs and though there are lots of lower-wage jobs that they could do,
there aren’t always jobs for everyone, so, there’s still people dealing with, you
know, homelessness and hunger. And we’re actually doing a canned food drive
right now to donate food to the Greensboro Urban Ministry in hopes that they see
some of that. And there’s also another place that’s predominately for Latin-
American people who need help and assistance.
I: Umm what…are there any different needs depending on, uhh, like where they
come from? Like, you said there were Peruvians…well I guess that’s in…but the
immigrants you work with?
R: All their needs are pretty much the same as pretty much anyone else, you know,
food, you know, information on how to go about getting things that they need as far
as going through social programs and things like that. It’s just the language barrier
is usually a big thing even though there’s lots of things that are, you know, written
in both English and Spanish, you know, you still have to talk to someone and that
person may not speak Spanish so, you still need someone, another person to help
you, who can bridge the gap for you.
I: Yeah. [Sighs.] What are the most difficult issues that you have come into contact
with dealing with immigrants?
R:[Whispers to passerby.] She’s in S.A.L.S.A.
I: Oh, that’s funny. She should come…
R: And Louise, who’s the president, actually walked by just as we were starting too.
I: Oh, that’s really funny.
R: Umm, what’s...
I: Do you want me to ask the question again?
R: Yeah, what was the question?
I:Umm, what are the most difficult issues you have, you face working with migrants?
Language, again? Or…
R: Uhh…
I: Other ones?
R: Language is always probably…
I:Yeah…
R: …going to be the biggest…
I: …That’s always a big one.
R:…since I don’t speak Spanish fluent enough to really help myself. But, I’m pretty
much just a body to help things. But, language, and sometimes pride does come
into it, you know, not wanting to ask for help.
I: Oh!
R:So, sometimes you know, a parent might not want to ask for help but in the, in
turn, the children might suffer because of that pride and things like that. Especially
if they’re from Mexico, with machismo, you know, the man doesn’t want to ask for
help from anyone. You gotta take care of your own family, so having to get through
that is always hard.
I: Umm, [sighs], do you collaborate with other umm, like organizations or other
people?
R:I know that we do the, uh, Casa de Guadalupe. It’s a place that immigrants can
go…
I:Umm I think… Is that by… it’s the apartment kind of complex? Is that right? With
the playground?
R:Yeah. And they do, uhh, a flea market type thing,sometimes they do just like
clothing drives, where you can donate clothes, things like that. So we work with
them. Umm, Greensboro Urban Ministry, just for donating food and things like that.
So, various other places around Greensboro and the Triad area.
I: So, you, you work with Casa de Guadalupe?
R: From time to time.
I: You guys like, volunteer?
R: Yeah.
I:Okay. Umm, what other services are there, specifically for immigrants in
Greensboro?
R: There’s the usual services that you would go through, like Human Services to get,
you know, you might need some help for your children, as far as getting, you know,
dental work, umm, maybe some food vouchers, you can go to Greensboro Urban
Ministry to get some food, things like that, there are shelters that they can go to if
they don’t have a place to stay, umm, I’m not really sure about, like, specific where
you can go get a voucher for this or that, but, things like that are what I know of.
I: What are the, ha, this is so…umm, I guess repetitive…but, what are the barriers to
providing services?
R: I guess probably, haha, past language is probably…
I: Besides language and machismo
R: …machismo, is probably just pride.
I:Okay. Do the immigrants know about the services? Like the vouchers and stuff?
R:They probably wouldn’t know, like, just on their own, they probably wouldn’t know
that they exist. It takes someone who is looking out for them to let them know that
it exists.
I: What do you think can be done to increase services or service awareness to
migrants?
R:Probably, well I guess the biggest thing would probably be, umm, putting the
information in places that, you know, we know that they frequent. Uhh, grocery
stores, shelters, things like that, umm, as well as…I’m not sure…umm, maybe
making it available in like unemployment offices, things like that.
I: Mhmm.
R: Just places that you know that, someone who’s down on that level would
probably frequent and you know that would connect to a lot of the population.
I: Umm, does your organization provide any of these services?
R: No, we don’t really provide…
I: Yeah, you just help out other…
R: We’re just college students…
I: Uhh, what services are there specifically for immigrant children?
[Pause]
R: Probably the same as anyone else.
I: Really?
R: I mean, I’m not sure if there’s like any more services specifically for you know,
Latino-American or Latin immigrants as opposed to, you know, just poor children-
that there’d be anything specific. But , umm, I think I was trying to get us to work
on, it’s Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse where you take a
shoebox and fill it with, umm, Christmas presents.
I: Oh.
R:And you turn those in, but, I’m going to try to get us to do that. Umm…
I: Do you think they’ll go for it?
R: I’m working on it still.
I: Okay.
R:Just because everyone’s trying to propose different things that we can do for the
community. But, umm, of course, Casa de Guadalupe has things..
I: Mhmm
R: …but, you know, it’s kind of, I’m newer, so I’m not sure exactly specifics, but I’m
sure there are,probably within Casa de Guadalupe and other places like that. But, I
couldn’t say “they have this” or…
I:Yeah. Well how does being an immigrant child differ from adult immigrants?
R: Immigrant children have a better opportunity, because they’re young, to you
know, absorb American culture, I’d say. And learn. They still…when you’re six, and
you come to America, you have a chance to still learn the language and it’d be
relatively…be very good at it by the time it’s really, really important, you know,
such as you know, middle school and high school, as opposed to a parent who’s, 30,
40, and they’re kind of past the peak of like, learning things such as, you know,
besides how to do a job.
I: Well what about parents who, uhh have too much machismo to ask for help for
their children? Do you think that could impact…
R: That’s probably always going to be a problem for the children.
I: Okay.
R: If your parents aren’t going to get the help for you, than the only other way would
be in school.
I: But you still think the children have a better opportunity?
R: They always have a, well, I mean, most parents are trying to make a better life
for their children so they still have a better opportunity than, say, the parents
would.
I:Okay. Umm, should services be focused on immigrant self-sufficiency?
R: Repeat that one more time.
I: Should services be focused on immigrant self-sufficiency?
R:Umm, I would say yes because you should always set it up so that they’re not
depending on it. It should always be something to help them, not, you know,
hinderthem as well.
I: What are the barriers to becoming self-sufficient?
R: Too much help.
I: Too much help?
R: Like, when you offer too much help it makes it too easy for them to just sit back
and accept it and live off of that and not do any work for themselves.
I: Okay, so, I guess, let’s talk about an example, maybe?
R: Let’s say..
I: Like, I guess, well we had talked about like translators, like some people get used
to having everything being translated for them, so they just don’t try to learn the
language.
R: Right.
I: Umm, where do you think they should draw the line with that? Like, you know
what I mean? Like…
R: As far as translators, I’m not really sure, I mean some people it’s just kind of hard
to learn a new language, I know I’m struggling with it, myself. But, as far as, I say a
different example would be, say, like, things like food stamps, things like that,
where you know, they become dependent on getting those food stamps and if
anything, would to say, happen, like there’s an interruption in getting them, and
they didn’t get a job because they thought that it was coming, and they lived off of
that, then their children are stuck and they’re stuck with no food, you know, nothing
to eat, things like that.
I: Yeah.
R: It kindahas to trickle down after that. So…
I: Yeah. Well, what, I guess, should be done about that?
R: Well, there are things in place like, there’s the, uhh, what is it? I can’t remember
what it’s called, but it’s basically says that there’s a particular time period that you
can receive aid.
I: I think it’s like…
R: It’s like six months or so
I: …yeah it’s like six months but like…
R: And it’s kinda like alright, you know that…
I: …it’s so quick.
R: …in six months you have to be self-sufficient otherwise, you’re in trouble because
you’re not going to have a job or anything.
I: So they gotta go by that?
R: I mean, they know that they’ve gotta get on their feet in that six months,
otherwise, they would be hungry.
I: Okay.
R: So, it’s kindaone of those things that pushes you- that motivates you to find a
job. And hopefully, before the end of that six months you’ve found a job, and
they’re stable, and your employment and things like that.
I: Yeah. [Sighs] How long, how long does it take for immigrants and refugees to
become self-sufficient in the United States?
R: I couldn’t tell you. I mean, it probably varies.
I: Yeah.
R: Some people may never really ever…
I: Uh huh.
R: Some people are very quick because they were, I don’t know, a little more
prepared for the transition than others.
I:Okay. Umm, how does documentation, as in a visa, or, umm, citizenship, play a
role in service provisions?
R:Well, I know as far as, things like getting a driver’s license, it makes it a little more
difficult, because, in some states, you can’t get one without being a citizen. And,
but North Carolina you can, you can get an I.D. and as far as getting proper I.D.
goes a long way towards getting employment.
I: Mhmm.
R: And, so, if you can get a visa, it makes life a lot easier than not having one.
I: Okay. [Pause]. Umm, in your opinion, should agencies have restrictions on the
basis of documentation? [Pause]. Like, healthcare services sometimes won’t…
[Pause].
R: I’m kind of, in the middle on that.
I: Okay.
R: I’m not really sure.
I: Okay.
R:I think that, I mean, lots of people need help, but there’s always going to be
people who take advantage of it, so, there needs to be a line somewhere, as far as,
identifying those who need help. So…
I: Mhmm. Umm, what do you believe is the hardest part of adjusting to American
society?
R: I’d say navigating,trying to find employment is probably the hardest thing to do.
Though there are lots of opportunities to work under the table, per say, work a
construction job without having to pay taxes and things like that. You still have to
find those opportunities, you know. There’s always the stories of, you know,
contractors rolling up to Home Depot and, you know, picking up a couple guys, you
know, but you still have to like, stand in that line, in that group of guys and hope
that someone picks you and says “yeah, I’ll give you some, I’ll give you a job for the
day.” So…
I: Mhmm. Umm, I guess, is language the most important barrier?
R:Language goes a long way in acceptance, I’d say. Speaking Spanish is a barrier in
America, I’d say, because it’s not American, it’s not English.
I: Yeah.
R: I mean, so, if you speak English, you gain, it’s a certain level of trust, because
they know that you at least identify with that much with you. People want to hire
people that share things in common, and, not speaking English when your employer
speaks English and doesn’t speak Spanish helps.
I: What is being done to assist with the language barrier for immigrants who are
new to the area?
R: Uhh, publishing things in both English and Spanish, as well as, there are, you
know, there’s free like, E.S.L. classes provided. Like, you know,city parks and
recreation places, things like that. So, you can go to those. Of course I think most
of the announcements for those are in English, so, it’s probably not the best way of
advertising it, but, there’s things like that where you can get in.
I: Mhmm.
R: Get those…
I: Umm, does S.A.L.S.A. have interpreters….we said that already, didn’t we?
R: Do they have?
I: Interpreters.
R: Well, not in like,the meetings. In the meetings everyone speaks English. But
there are people who interpret. There’s one or two people that are actually certified
interpreters.
I: Oh, okay. Do you think Greensboro is a culturally diverse place?
R: It’s very diverse. You can drive down High Point Road and it’ll go from, umm, a
Vietnamese restaurant, to a Mexican restaurant, to a Japanese restaurant, to a
Soublaki (spelling unknown) place, I’m not even sure what…Turkish food, to Indian
food, to, you know, Burger King. And, so on and so on as you go down the road.
I: Okay. Umm, in your opinion, does the increasing number of immigrants to
Greensboro present any problems?
R: Everyone would probably say that they’re taking jobs, but I recognize that they
only take jobs that no one wants.
I: I think that too. I agree.
R: And, so, the only problems would probably be for them, since they actually don’t
qualify for the jobs that most people want because of their immigrant status, so, it
just makes it harder for, them, you know amongstthemselves, their population, to
get employment. Because all the jobs that they, on average, would qualify for are…
[Background noise talks over interviewee]
I: What are some of the ways S.A.L.S.A. has helped the community become more
aware of immigrants?
R: We do things like, umm, let me think. Maybe two or three weeks ago we had
Chile, there was a Chilean cook who came, he came into Greensboro and he cooked
in the caf and there was salsa music and we showed people how to dance, things
like that, which just brings awareness to the culture at U.N.C.G., which we hope, you
know, will trickle down and bring words to the community, things like that.
I:How successful have you been, I guess? Umm, With that and other things?
R: I’d say fairly successful. There are more and more Latin American people coming
to U.N.C.G.for that, so the diversity is increasing here, which helps to spread it in
the community, I’d say. And then, programs like our Comelona ,which is actually
two weeks away. It’s like a party kind of thing.
I: What’s it called?
R: Comelona. It’s c-o-m-e-l-o-n-a. Like, come and then lona.
I: Yeah, what does it mean?
R: I have no idea.
I: Hahaha.
R: But it’s pretty much like a party…
I: Okay.
R: …kind of thing.
I: For S.A.L.S.A. members or just every…
R: For anyone who wants to come. I think that there’s a price for a ticket, which is
like really expensive, but it’s really good, fun time. Salsa music is played, lots of
dancing, people will show you how to dance if you don’t know how to.
I: Yeah.
R: It’s just a really fun time. Which, just, you know, brings more awareness to the
culture.
I: Mhmm. So you, how do you measure successes and failures? By diversification,
or…
R: I think that diversification is probably a good measurer. I mean, if you’re getting
less and less diverse than you’re probably not doing something right. But if you’re
becoming more diverse than, whether it’s you or not, something, you’re, what
would be the word, the thing that you’re working towards is at least succeeding
somehow, which is always good.
I: So you, S.A.L.S.A., what is S.A.L.S.A. working towards?
R: Awareness for…
I: Awareness?
R: Yes, for Latinos and Spanish-Americans.
I:Okay, yeah, so I guess that would be successful. Umm, in your opinion, how do
most people in the community feel about the foreign-born population?
R: Uhh, no different than they felt about twenty years ago or thirty years ago. They
still worry, you know, it’s competition, and no one wants competition, so…
I: Yeah. [Pause]. So, are they open to immigrants living in the communities?
[Pause.]
R: On average, probably no, but then you find places like Greensboro where, I’d say,
they’re fairly open to it.
I: Yeah.
R: Accepting.
I: What are the major differences between large cities in the U.S. as compared to
the Triad area in their reception of immigrants?
R: In large cities, I’d say, like New York, you don’t really have acceptance, you have
neighborhoods where you know, you have like Little Italy, Little Tokyo, wherever,
there’s, like, there’s an acceptance, it’s just a bonding of the culture and they form
their own little area.
I: Mhmm.
R: As far as Greensboro, you don’t have the economy to do that, so everyone’s just
kind of forced together.
I: Okay.
R: So, to intermesh, so, I’d say it’s… I don’t even remember what the question was, I
think I could start answering it.
I:[Laughs]. I think you answered it.
R: What was the last part?
I: How are big cities and…
R: That’s…yeah.
I:…versus little cities in their reception of immigrants? Are immigrants ever
discriminated against?
R: Yes. Umm…
I: In what ways?
R: There are stereotypes, you know, that they’re lazy, wanting all free rides, stealing
jobs, I mean, it’sdiscrimination, not necessarily on what they’ve done, but an effort
to gain an advantage over them. I’d say, like, you produce stereotypes that would
benefit, like, say, a white person, so that they get a job as opposed to an immigrant,
say, like, stocking the back room at Target. You use these stereotypes so that a
white person gets a job over the immigrant, even though the immigrant has the
better work ethic. The white person gets a job because they don’t have that
stereotype. And it’s just assumed that they’ll work hard.
I:Okay. So, which groups of immigrants do you think are discriminated against?
R: I’d say all. Especially Latino immigrants are probably the most discriminated
against. And then, I’d probably say those that come from, [pause] well, currently,
probably the Middle East. They’re discriminated against a lot. Umm I’d probably
say the least are Asian immigrants, but that’s because their culture is more of an
internal thing, and so, you don’t really have to depend on the rest of society, you
just need your culture,and it supports you know, adapting to the American way of
life. So…
I: Who discriminates against them?
R: I’d say everyone.
I: Everyone?!
R: Everyone! I mean…
I: Even themselves?
R: Yes.
I: Really?!
R: Everything’s a competition. I mean, there wouldn’t be, yeah, I mean, all different
cultures, and different countries have their things against each other. You know,
Cubans have something against Columbians, Puerto Ricans have something against
Dominicans…
I: Did you see, umm, this has nothing to do with the interview, Zohan this summer?
R: A little bit of it.
I: It, that’s what it did, it had umm two Middle Eastern countries, and then it was like
Romeo and Juliet, but it was really funny. Umm, but how big of a problem is this?
The discrimination?
R: Discrimination is a problem because it prevents them from working together.
Umm, it’s the same thing with just poor people in general, you’re all fighting for the
same jobs, so, the worst thing you could possibly do is divide yourself. Because if
you divide yourself than employers can use, can put you against each other, and
you both end up working for less.
I: Okay.
R: Which is, I guess, the purpose of a union. Where, if you’re united, than you can
all demand the same thing and… Or there might be fewer jobs. Those who do have
jobs make more money, and can support, you know, their family members who may
have also been going for those jobs, but at least they make more money as one
person, as opposed to a lot less separately.
I: Well, how big of a problem is this? Like, the discrimination?
R: I’d say it’s improving, but it’s still a problem, like, a serious problem. As far as,
and progressing as a culture in America.
I: Umm, do you have any concluding remarks about immigrant incorporation into
the Triad? Or anything else related to what we have discussed?
R: Mmm, no, I don’t think so.
I: Well, I’m going to turn this off then.