Barrio

In the United States, the word barrio is used to denote a Latino or Hispanic neighborhood within a city, typically a lower socioeconomic class or working-class neighborhood. Derived from the Arabic barri (meaning “outside” or “wild”), the word barrio is used throughout much of the Spanish-speaking world to refer to neighborhoods, districts, or municipal divisions within a city, regardless of socioeconomic status. Found in urban centers throughout the country, barrios have been at the heart of the development of Latino communities and Latino culture in the United States for over a century. They have also faced issues of poverty, discrimination, infrastructure and schooling deficiencies, crime, and gang activity typical of many American inner-city areas.

While most barrios today include a mix of Latinos from various national origins, traditionally they have been dominated by one immigrant group, which varies according to region or city. For example, Mexican American barrios are strongly concentrated in Texas and the southwest; Puerto Ricans are the majority in New York City and Philadelphia barrios; and Cubans are concentrated in Miami. Barrios in many parts of the country (particularly in the southwest) have a particular look and cultural landscape that makes them different from other urban neighborhoods, including brightly colored houses, fences enclosing house properties, colorful murals in residential and commercial areas, and ethnic shopping centers. Housing stock is also older in barrios than in other parts of the city, with houses having been passed down from generation to generation.

In terms of demographics, a barrio has been defined as an ethnic neighborhood where at least 40 percent of the population are of Latino origin and at least 40 percent of the residents live in poverty. Because of this link between barrios and poverty, historians have typically attempted to fit barrios into a “ghetto model,” which has created a generalized image of the barrio with pejorative meaning. In other words, a barrio is portrayed as a place where people are forced to live and where residents are unskilled, poor, ill educated, and ignorant about the means of getting ahead in American society. However, scholars such as Ricardo Romo have revisited this distorted ghetto image, arguing that the majority of Latinos, for reasons of language, kinship, and folk customs, chose to live together in barrios. These communities have provided, particularly for new immigrants, a sense of identity into the homeland and a transition into American society, acting as “agents of localized acculturation.” That being said, restrictive real estate covenants and prejudices have historically prevented barrio residents from moving into Anglo neighborhoods.