UNRAVELING THE MULTICULTURAL RIDDLE: CLUES FROM SOUTHERN APPALACHIA AND HISPANIC NEW MEXICO

Compares the histories of southern Appalachian natives & northern NM Hispanos to comment on contemporary multiculturalism. Similarities between these two mountain groups are identified in the areas of settlement, forms of internal heterogeneity, & economic relationship to & with mainstream US society. It is argued that the two regions are also comparable in terms of their interactions with outsiders, & roots of present-day multiculturalism can be found in those interactions. Mainstream attitudes toward Hispanos & Appalachian natives have most frequently been exploitative, negative, &/or paternalistic, but many representatives of the mainstream -- especially religious workers & artists -- have been swayed by local ways. Outsiders have moved in & worked for local causes. The two mountain peoples have resisted the melting-pot recipe, sometimes with violence, but most often with strategic, selective acculturation. A truly harmonious multiculturalism is, however, prevented by local-outsider income disparities. 89 References. E. Blackwell