Greg Freeman: More City Residents Defy The Labels Of "Black," "White". P-D 2/18/1999

Headline: MORE CITY RESIDENTS DEFY THE LABELS OF "BLACK", "WHITE"
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thu., Feb. 18, 1999
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

Diversity in St. Louis

While it didn't get a lot of media attention -- it wasn't breaking news, after all -- an effort last week by Mayor Clarence Harmon and the city's Civil Rights Enforcement Agency was perhaps the city's biggest acknowledgment of its diversity.
Instead of a traditional Black History Month celebration at City Hall, Harmon and the agency hosted a "National Race Relations Day" event in the building's rotunda. There, Harmon and other city officials recognized and spoke of the diversity of St. Louis.

By now, some reading this are scratching their heads. The diversity in St. Louis isn't like that of cities like New York or Chicago. It doesn't scream out at you here like it does in some places. Many here think St. Louisans belong to one of two groups: Black or white.

But to believe that is to miss out on a quiet revolution going on: Immigrants have discovered St. Louis.
Without lots of fanfare, people of different nationalities have been moving to St. Louis by the thousands, making the city their home. Their migration offers the city a real opportunity to counter its population losses, welcoming immigrants to fill the void. When Harmon, Comptroller Darlene Green, Aldermanic President Francis Slay and Circuit Clerk Mariano Favazza addressed the diverse crowd attending last week's event, they welcomed the city's newly emerging diversity. Some noted that St. Louis' future, to a certain extent, is in the hands of some of its newest immigrants who are choosing the city as their home.

To see this diversity, one needs only to travel the city.
St. Louis is home to a growing Hispanic community, one that now boasts its own newspaper, Que Pasa?, countless arts events and religious activities. For the first time, a radio station, KXEN (1010 AM), is broadcasting Spanish-language programming daily. A growing Hispanic community is developing along Cherokee Street in south St. Louis. Some estimate that as many as 50,000 Hispanics -- from such places as Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Peru and Chile -- live in the St. Louis area, and the number is growing. Census figures show that the Hispanic community here has grown as much as 40 percent since 1990.

But Hispanics aren't the only ethnic group whose numbers here are increasing.
As many as 15,000 Bosnians are believed to live in the area, and their numbers are becoming noticeable. Several Bosnian restaurants and cafes are popping up, and some south St. Louis neighborhoods are developing a Bosnian flavor. Dijana Groth, editor and publisher of Plima, a local Bosnian-oriented magazine, says more and more businesses are hiring and training Bosnian-speaking people to help business. "Southern Commercial Bank, for instance, hired one woman to help Bosnian customers, and they've since hired several Bosnian employees, " she said. Other firms, like real estate and insurance companies, are also making more appeals to Bosnians.

The number of Asians also is growing here. A stroll along South Grand Boulevard will find a plethora of restaurants, shops and stores, along with a sense of a population that's increasing in both numbers and economic strength. This population -- made up of people of Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Korean, Filipino and other nationalities -- has its own diversity.

With English as a Second Language classes gaining in popularity and organizations such as the International Institute working harder than ever to help people settle here, a quiet transformation is taking place in St. Louis. As immigrants tell others about this city's assets -- the family-friendliness and the low cost of living are no small factors -- we're seeing more and more people taking their places among the city's new urbanites, people who can't simply be tagged as "black" or "white."

The transformation is a healthy one for St. Louis. In the end, it may help the city in ways that stadiums and other monuments never could.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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