Latino Focus Group
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Latino Focus Group
Date of focus group : December 17 , 2020 and December 22 , 2020 Facilitators : Alexa Aragonez , Weberlin Herrera and Lidia Ortiz Demographics of the group
• Gender : Female ( 5 ), Male ( 3 )
• Race / Ethnicity : All Latino
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Summary & Quote Highlights : Racism and Cultural Competence / Awareness and Creating a Sense of Belonging
Across both Latino focus groups , participants believed that they were comfortable living and working in Arlington and did not experience blatant racism , but many cited that there was a need for increased cultural awareness and competence about the Latino culture and among Latinos . Most participants felt as though there was a lot of work to be done for the greater Arlington community to truly embrace the Latino community . Some suggested that there could be a central community space where people can celebrate their Latino culture and come together . This space would then generate a sense of belonging for Latino residents . It was important to the participants that Latinos feel like they are as much of the Arlington community as any other part .
• “ I haven ’ t found too many people that feel like they ’ re constantly under the chronic stress of racism ” and continued on with that “ but … we need to continue to encourage more people to reach out to other cultures both Latinos with black … sometimes [ even ] within our own Latino community , [ Latinos discriminate ] against certain Latinos [ that are ] darker … at the individual level is where we need all ask ourselves that question .”
• “ Having a space to where you can have those celebrations having a space where you can have a center for education to provide people with those opportunities as well , I think it ’ s such an important thing because a lot of the times … people don ’ t feel like they have that support … It ’ s like , it ’ s not that they don ’ t know …[ but it is that ] they ’ re not taught that they should care about these sort of things or care about their education . And I think that Having a space , you know , where they are able to do something like that where they can explore , you know , their heritage [ and ] be able to express the way that they Celebrate is such an important thing to our community . I think that ’ s one thing that really should be looked at . You know what I mean is to be able to , like I said , have that space to feel safe and be amongst Not only people that are just like you . But to be able to find people who are very interested in learning more about other cultures as well .”
Perceived Barriers to Civic Engagement and Public Representation
• In both Latino focus groups , there was a discussion of the need to engage Latinos in decision-making in Arlington . Though there may be a lack of political efficacy because of lack of exposure to civic engagement when they were young or because some cannot vote in elections , some civicallyengaged Latinos are prevented from serving on boards and commissions because they are not citizens . These barriers are then exacerbated by the belief that only those residents that are a part of “ old Arlington ,” are the ones that are well-connected in the community , are the only ones that are given the opportunity to be decision makers . A secondary component about engagement that was discussed was the importance of representation . Participants wanted to see more “ people that look ” like them in different career fields and positions of power .
Unity Council Report 122