The Southwest Border Area

The southwest border area, compared to other portions of the United States, has a style that is all its own. The ethnic cultures that flow through these areas make it unique, and can only be compared to the type of culture that is seen in places within the outskirts of Megaopolis, such as New York City. Around these areas, people live their lives a bit differently than the rest of the world, mainly due to their cultural backgrounds and beliefs that they have brought into their present day lives, either from their own families who have kept their cultures alive within the United States, or from others who are new to our country from Central and South American countries. We can see these clear differences when we compare Sacramento, a Northern California city, to Los Angeles, a Southern California city. Though only 365 miles separate the outer portions of each city to one another, the differences that we see between these two cities is phenomonal.

Where do you plan to go today?
(Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2743/4349302703_e101171483_z.jpg)

For starters, we can see the comparisons between people by looking at the populations that are found within each county. According to the 2000 Census Bureau statistics for the county of Los Angeles, the county housed an estimated 9,848,011 residents, with 48% percent of those residents being Latino. The county of Sacramento housed an estimated 1,400,949 residents in 2009, with 20.5% of those residents being Latino (Census.gov). Both the larger population and the larger percentage of Latino's within Los Angeles contributes to its very consistent ethnic activity that can be see throughout the county. Whereas Sacramento is normally focused around being a city that is very unprovoked by just one culture, making it unbiased to any ethnicity.

Go ahead. Count how many cars there are.
(Source: http://philip.greenspun.com/images/pcd0222/los-angeles-traffic-44.4.jpg?)

These numbers make the difference on what to expect in each major county. In Los Angeles county, the Latino culture has its imprint on just about everything. Many billboards and advertisements come in both English and Spanish. More businesses and government jobs favor individuals whom are both fluent in both English and Spanish instead of just one. Certain items, such as specialty snacks like Pulparindo's (which consists of the dried pulp of a tamarind covered in sugar and chile salt) or bakery items such as pan dulce (sweet bread) are commonly found in the southwest border area, but are more rarely found elsewhere. Not all residents are expected to know English, which is acceptable here due to the mixture of the population, but would not be acceptable in areas such as the Great Plains or the Agricultural Core. Images of the Virgin Mary and Guadalupe are seen more often than in other places, due to the strong Catholic influence from Mexico, where Catholicism is the dominant religion. Latino's are proud of where they've come from, and who they are now. They widely show their roots throughout the county, and keep their culture thriving by bringing it into their daily lives.

Latino culture runs deep through Los Angeles
(Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2631/4177317768_9e73d1524e.jpg)

However, a very different picture is shown in Sacramento. The county (and most namely the city) consists of a very mixed "melting pot" which prevents any particular ethnicity from becoming dominant. An article in Time magazine explains this phenomenon, they name Sacramento "America's most diverse city", explaining that the residents here have found multiple ways to blend in together without being biased or segregated. Multi-racial couples are common here, and transparency is seen both in classrooms and businesses, even through language barriers. The only common area where race still plays a role that separates people is within the church and through gang activities (Stodghill.) This kind of diversity allows Sacramento to run like a well maintained machine, and prevents issues such as hate crimes from occurring.

Diversity is seen normally through within any workplace in Sacramento.
(Source: http://www.sacda.org/assets/img/diversity/div3.jpg)

However, these characteristics do not make one area better than the other. Each county shares its strengths and weaknesses in their own ways, and its a matter of how an individual fits within these characteristics that allow them to fit within their environment. The cultures that we live within can only effect us as much as we'd like them to, and its our choice to either embrace our surroundings or dismiss them.

Why Can't We Be Friends?
(Source: http://pndblog.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/08/diversity_4.jpg)