Ethnic Diversity and Community

This essay is an autobiography of the community I currently reside in and have for the last 14 years. The city of Auburn, Indiana where I was born is approximately 15 miles to the west of Butler. Since 1962 my birthplace has grown immensely partially due to the fame of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum and Kruse International which is a high dollar automobile auction similar to Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale, Arizona.

According to the U.S. Census (2000) there are 2,725 people currently living in Butler, Indiana. The U.S. Census also estimates that 98.2% of the DeKalb County area which includes Butler, Indiana is white. The current ethnic groups represent less than 2% of the current population. This reality requires some ingenuity on my part in an effort to complete this essay concerning ethnicity within the community. The 2% reflected by the U.S. Census of races other than white residing in the DeKalb County area compromise; one black male, three Native Indians, one Asia, no Pacific or Hawaiian Islanders and an estimated 87 Hispanics.

In the following essay the attempt will be in reflection of the Hispanic people currently residing in the area and some of the history along with possible reasoning for why the area has remained predominately white for roughly 175 years. The county seat in Auburn, Indiana also within DeKalb County was established in 1835 and to this day is most famous for horse drawn carriages. The introduction to the automotive industry came in the Cord Duesenberg which began as a horse drawn carriage produced by the Eckhart Carriage Company founded in 1874 by Frank Eckhart of Auburn, Indiana.

The city (town) of Butler, Indiana is located in the northeast section of the state with the city of Auburn to the west being the closest to a large metropolis. This is the case to the east as well with Edgerton, Ohio located 15 miles away. Ethnic diversity within the area is nonexistent in a community of only 2% of the residents. The majority of this group is of Hispanic origin.

The challenge for the non-white residents in the area is certain to be racism. DeKalb County in general and particularly Newville, Indiana (approximately 17 miles from Butler) is a center for racial hate. The American Knights is a branch of the Ku Klux Klan led by a man named Jeff Berry who is titled as the Imperial Wizard in the organization. The residency of individuals like Berry are a reminder of what racial hatred can do but also what they cannot do as illustrated in an article published by the Anti-Defamation League.

"Not every attempt to jumpstart the Klan has been successful. In the 1990s, Indiana was one of the centers of Klan activity, as two major Klan groups were based in that state. However, one of them, the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, largely collapsed after its leader, Jeff Berry, was convicted in 2001 for conspiracy to commit criminal confinement with a deadly weapon after holding two reporters at gunpoint." ADL (2008).

The presence of this type of radical and racist group could be an indicator for the absence of blacks within the community. The Hispanics in the area do not seem to be under the same line of reasoning as the blacks in the area have been in the past. There is a "tolerance" level concerning the Mexican population here. Granted, Jeff Berry and the KKK organization he attempted to revitalize are gone but, I think the fear created by the group lives on in the mind of blacks here.

The Hispanics have assimilated within the area well acquiring employment, business and home ownership through dedication and hard work. The area is surrounded by heavy industry including steel makers within the stock market such as Steel Dynamics Incorporated.

The challenge for whites within the area is language. Many of the Hispanics in the area speak primarily Spanish which is a major frustration in the workforce. The occasion I remember the best was when I was asked to be the "interpreter" for a new employee who was Hispanic. "How am I supposed to communicate with him, I don't know Spanish!" I expressed to my supervisor.

The reply was simply for me, to do the best I could. The only way that I could see this being accomplished was to demonstrate what needed to be done for my coworker. This worked well in the situation as we de-flashed plastic parts and packed them into shipping crates. He was a good worker and did the job before him well. The coworker who strangely enough was named Don picked up English quickly while working alongside myself and other employees. I even picked up some Spanish and our communication efforts were made easier in the process.

In the process of his assimilation into American society this individual seemed to gravitate to anything that would help him better understand American society. I think this is the case with most of the Hispanic population here and throughout the country. The Hispanics in this area seem to embrace American society in most aspects except language. A large part of Hispanics I have worked within the past seemed to have no real desire to learn the language and typically spoke in Spanish among themselves in small groups away from their white coworkers. This is an annoyance to many though these actions never bothered me personally.

Prejudice is an unfortunate reality that effects more than minority groups of people. In a predominately white community prejudice is lessened due to a lack of minority groups to pick on, so consequently, whites pick on whites (Indians in my case) for various reasons. Hair was always the bias issue, for me, in this racially motivated teasing. Some examples of the racial slurring suffered through coworkers in particular were:

"Looks like someone needs a scalping!"
"Curls are for girls."
"Get a hair cut you hippie!"
"Cut your hair and I'll hire you."

These are just a few examples with the latter being the most devastating, for me. Employment was gained with a large corporation in the area with excellent pay and benefits upon hiring. There is a 90 day "probationary" period titled Pre-Employment and once completed and full-time hiring was established benefits like health insurance and 401K were possible. On my 89th day in the pre-employment period I was called into the office and informed that if I cut my hair the company would hire me full-time. If I choose to not cut my hair then I need not bother reporting to work on the following day.

This was a blatant expression of discrimination and many individuals were contacted with the complaint all to no avail. Documentation in company policy among other guidelines within company policy was cited as the sustaining reasons for the dismissal. Company policies such as these in opinion are legalized prejudice.

The right of any individual to be an individual should not be governed by company policy. The United States Constitution clearly states:

"1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." U.S. Constitution (1787).

Deprive according to the Constitutional dictionary (2008) is defined as:

1.To take something away from; divest. 2. To keep from the possession of something.

The constitutional rights provided relate to the plight of the Hispanics in thee area as well. There are companies in the area that will not hire Hispanic residents who speak only Spanish. These companies make the claim that the language creates a barrier they cannot overcome and substantially reduces productivity in the workplace. As illustrated above in my own experience with a Hispanic coworker this reasoning is not true.

There is a need for cooperation on either side of the problems associated with language in the workplace. Individuals must make actively involved efforts in community and the surrounding industry to help alleviate the situations that face the workplace. The ability to establish a bilingual atmosphere within employment is a must not only in rural America but the country in general. The growth in the Hispanic residents within the United States is the largest growth rate of any nationality currently in the United States meaning bilingualism is a must countrywide.

The resources within education, financial assistance toward education, company programs generated toward bilingualism in the workplace are all beneficial toward understanding each other and coping with our differences. Racism is an issue that; unfortunately, will possibly always plague the nature of humanity and the world we live in.

Every year we progress as a people is another milestone to cross within our understanding of each other. The world revolves around a particular race reality seemed to suggest while others suffer in the consequence of their decisions. I suppose this statement could be deemed a racist or finger pointing accusation but in contrast time and time again throughout history the white race seems to be responsible for many of the elements associated with social injustice.

The reasoning in moving to rural small town America stems from these observations. Growing up in Indianapolis and living in many other large cities within the United States there is a clear understanding of the social injustices suffered by minorities across the country. The belief that these types of racial hate and
discrimination are waning is possibly a sound opinion but to create a valid argument would be a vast undertaking that could prove to be fruitless in reality.

References

U.S. Census Bureau (2000), State and County Quick Facts
Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/18/18033.html

A Sightseers Guide to Engineering (2008), Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum
Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://www.engineeringsights.org

Anti-Defamation League (2008), Extremism in America
KKK Recent Developements: New Klan Groups Emerging
Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://www.adl.org

The U.S. Constitution Online (1995-2007), The Constitutional Dictionary, Deprived.
Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://www.usconstitution.net/glossary.html#DEPRIVE

The U.S. Constitution Online (1995-2007), Amendment 14-Citizenship Rights
Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html