The urban question and identity formation: The case of second-generation Mexican males in Los Angeles

Abstract

The concept of downward assimilation warns that second-generation Mexican-origin youth in the inner city are at great risk of developing a “reactive” identity and acculturating into chronic poverty through socialization with third-plus generation racial minorities. I test this proposition by examining and comparing ethnic boundary formation for 42 second-generation Latinos from two disadvantaged neighborhoods in Los Angeles: one predominantly Mexican immigrant and the other with a sizeable representation of a racial minority group, African Americans. I find that urban conditions influence ethnic identity but not as proposed by downward assimilation. Social isolation from white Americans in urban neighborhoods means that the Mexican second-generation rarely embraces a “reactive” identity but instead adopts and expresses various and competing ethnic labels, holding strongly to an immigrant identity. Latino young men experience the Black/Latino urban neighborhood as a contested space and urban violence as racially charged. These urban conditions strain race relations and “brighten” rather than “blur” ethnic and racial boundaries and identities between the Mexican second-generation and Blacks. This study suggests that to understand identity formation and acculturation processes in central cities, it is essential to consider how structural conditions impact social interaction in urban space.