Hispanic Infiltration Brings Cultural Diversity to Rogers

Last updated Saturday, January 7, 2006 11:10 PM CST in News

By Lori Harrison-Stone
The Morning News

His need for a better income and his bilingual skills eventually landed Lopez a job with the Rogers School District as a translator. It wasn't long before his people skills also were apparent, and Lopez was soon forming a multicultural club at the high school.

"Things were not good in Rogers then; kids were fighting," Lopez said. "What we tried to do is help things through music. We started to find common ground."

A federal civil rights review of the School District's policies for teaching English to Spanish speakers helped promote the club's efforts. The multicultural club grew, reaching out through local television spots and with live dance and music performances centered on a message of getting along despite differences.

Lopez went on to work for the city of Rogers as a community liaison to the Hispanic population when John Sampier was mayor. Through the position and the multicultural club, Lopez promoted the idea of working on common ground despite differences that would take time to get past.

There were still problems. A group of young Hispanic men settled in the area and tried to make trouble with gang-type activity. Lopez said they were encouraged to understand that many people moved to Northwest Arkansas to get away from that environment, and their behavior wouldn't be tolerated.

There was also a problem in a Rogers mobile home park where Hispanics fought government control, particularly code enforcement rules for residential areas. Through a radio broadcast, Lopez was able to encourage other Hispanics to understand what was truly going on, and soon that problem was resolved.

Lopez is well aware that the cultural and language differences still exist in Rogers, but he thinks progress has been made between Anglos and Hispanics accepting one another.

The first generation of immigrants has the most difficult time learning the language and becoming a part of their new community, he said. Most of the first generation of Italians who moved into Tontitown decades ago never learned English either, Lopez pointed out. He believes the children of the first generation of Hispanics to move to Northwest Arkansas will make greater strides, and their children even more.

For the future, Lopez hopes more can be done to encourage Hispanics to get involved in the community and local government. Communication is key, he said. So many young people in the area are graduating with bilingual language skills, and those skills should be used to help build a stronger bilingual community, he said. Learning each other's language is a sign of respect, Lopez said.

The Mayors

Sampier, who saw the start of the Hispanic movement during his 18-year stint as Rogers' mayor, also believes the community is doing well, especially considering how quickly the Hispanic population grew in the area. It takes time for both cultures to learn to accept changes in their lives, he said.

"The idea that (Hispanics) don't want to learn the language and fit in culturally is mistaken," Sampier said. "It just takes time."

The fact that Rogers was a fairly diverse community before the Hispanic influx has helped with assimilation, he said. The area has been a sort of melting pot for people from all over the country, even the world, since the Industrial Revolution, he said.

Although those immigrants were from all over the United States, there were still heritage and political differences, Sampier said.

He believes the community needs to embrace the new diversity and build on it.

"Diversity is the reason we're the most powerful country in the world," Sampier said. "People smarter than me recognize that, with everybody, we bring so much to the table it's our strength."

The local school systems have faced the toughest struggles and Sampier said he admires what they have accomplished. The rapid population increase has also stressed the local infrastructure, he said, adding that traffic is his biggest frustration with that growth.

Sampier doesn't believe the immigration issue cost him the mayor's position in 1998. He said recently that elections are won and lost for a variety of reasons, and he's convinced it was time for a change. He lost to current mayor, Steve Womack, that year after a heated election that seemed to center on the Hispanic issue.

Womack said he didn't run on the immigration issue, but it "played a role" in the election. He was endorsed by Americans for an Immigration Moratorium, a local group advocating changes in the immigration system.

Immigration has also played a role in Womack's administration.

"A week doesn't go by that I don't get a call or calls with a nexus of immigration," he said.

He resents accusations of bias that come up when immigration is discussed. Problems can't be resolved if they're not discussed, Womack said.

"No one wants to be accused of bias against his fellow man," Womack said. "But, the fact is, the mixing of cultures that are in so many cases different is problematical."

Most people will say they don't "personally" have a problem with Hispanics, but then begin reciting a laundry list of issues that have come up in the community.

"There are a number of wonderful immigrant people living in this community of all types," he said. "Unfortunately, an element that has found its way here gives the others a bad rap."

People coming to the area illegally are more likely to be involved in other illegal activity, Womack said.

"For me to totally disregard the effects of bad behavior or behavior not consistent with community norms, isn't acceptable," he said, adding that he's not paid to "sugar coat" what is happening in the community.

City Effort

Womack likes what the city is doing to encourage assimilation. After taking over the mayoral reins from Sampier, who helped start a Hispanic soccer association that is still active today, Womack launched the Rogers Community Support Center. The organization publishes an annual guide or "Friendly Facts for Living in Rogers Area," designed to help guide newcomers through the relocation process. It's published in both English and Spanish.

Cesar Aguilar, executive director of the Community Support Center, assists Hispanics with a variety of issues. He believes the city is doing well becoming a community with its new diversity.

The biggest problem is communication, Aguilar said. It takes an average of seven years to become fluent in English, and there are few media outlets catering to the Hispanic community with local news, he said.

"To be a community, we need the same communication in English and in Spanish," Aguilar said.

A program offered through the Community Support Center provides English classes for Hispanic families. Children get homework help while the parents get English lessons, then they come together to practice English.

Aguilar said more classes like that need to be offered because Hispanic children are getting caught in the middle. They often have to translate for the parents on issues that may be too mature for them to understand, he said.

The Community Support Center also holds a multicultural festival every year and launched a program in 2002 called "Cops in Soccer" that puts police officers on the Hispanic soccer teams.

"More cities need to do something like this," Aguilar said. "Rogers has taken bigger steps than other cities."

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