CULTURAL HUMILITY SERIES: LATINE

Minnesota’s history, and its current makeup, would look drastically different were it not for the significant contributions of the Latine Minnesotan community. This community has impacted our state for the better, and all while facing the mercurial changes in policy and public opinion that constantly relitigates who deserves to live here.

The Latine community formed in Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century, beginning a longstanding and continuing role as a vital part of Minnesota’s economic development. The community’s presence grew, strengthened, and settled, going on to make invaluable contributions to the fields of community organizing, art, politics, culture and commerce.

The ever-looming threat of being labeled as “other” by those in power persists today. And yet, the inextricable ways in which the Latine community forms the fabric of Minnesota continues to enrich and strengthen us as a state.

Community Demographics and History

Even though we are part of the U.S., we have our own identity, our cultura.”

Marisol Chiclana-Ayala, Founder & Executive Director, Boriken Cultural Center

Why Minnesota?

The initial migration of Latine people to Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century was largely driven by job opportunity. Ever since, the community has adapted to the ever-changing stances of the government and public opinion, which have alternately supported and vilified this community’s efforts to work, live, and thrive in Minnesota.

The first significant job opportunity that drew the Latine population — primarily from Mexico — to Minnesota was sugar beet farming. This work was labor-intensive, poorly remunerated, and seasonal. A shift occurred in World War II with the passing of the Bracero Program, which encouraged Latine people to migrate to Minnesota to replace the work force deployed overseas.¹

This tumultuous pattern persists. Strict immigration policies enacted in 2017 at the federal level have threatened the wellbeing of a significant portion of Minnesota’s population, especially the undocumented members of the Latine community. Ongoing racist and xenophobic beliefs put a damaging strain on the families who have become a significant portion of our state’s population.

_{COMMUNITY CULTURAL HEALTH}

The Minnesota Latine community comprises many different cultures with distinct customs and beliefs, which extends to how each community perceives health and healthcare. Building rapport and resisting assumptions or generalizations is essential to best serve all members of this large and diverse community.

Family Organization
Many Latine communities are organized around a patriarchal, nuclear family unit. It is not uncommon for family members to accompany each other to doctors’ visits, or to seek advice or treatment from family before seeking out professional care.

Respect and dignity are critical from healthcare practitioners, especially for elderly community members; overfamiliarity, especially in a healthcare setting in which private matters must be discussed, is often not well-received.

^{COMMON CULTURAL CONCEPTS}

Marianismo

The high value Latine women place on being dedicated, loving and supportive wives and mothers. Latine women can be reluctant to reach out for help because they believe they need to self-sacrifice for the greater good of their family.

^{COMMON CULTURAL CONCEPTS}

Familismo

Loyalty to the extended family that is more important than the needs of the individual. Grandparents, aunts, cousins, and even people who are not biologically related may be considered part of the immediate family. A large number of family members might be consulted on medical questions.

^{COMMON CULTURAL CONCEPTS}

Machismo

A strong sense of masculine pride. In the positive, machismo can be a health motivator through family-centeredness. In the negative, it can be associated with violence and abuse, alcoholism, and risk-taking behaviors.

^{COMMON CULTURAL CONCEPTS}

Fatalismo

The belief that individuals cannot alter their disease process because it is part of their destiny.

^{COMMON CULTURAL CONCEPTS}

Respecto

The tradition of placing a high value on demonstrating respect in interactions with others, especially with people in authority and older people. This is reflected in the Spanish language with formal and informal pronouns.

The Role of Religion

Many Latine community members practice Catholicism, which can influence views on key aspects of health, such as a religious prohibition against hormonal or physical birth control. Religion also plays a significant role in beginning and end-of-life care. The baptism of newborn infants, or the performance of last rites right before death, are considered essential sacraments for a person’s soul to enter heaven.

Some Latine community members subscribe to beliefs around folk illnesses, in which physical ailments are brought on by supernatural causes. Certain physical maladies are considered as either “hot” or “cold,” and holistic or home remedies are prescribed accordingly, perhaps by folk medicine practitioners.

_{KEY CHALLENGES}

As of 2021, 15.6% of the Latine community in Minnesota did not have health insurance, which restricts access to healthcare providers.¹⁰

Undocumented members of the Latine community face significant barriers to receiving healthcare. They are currently ineligible for federal and state public benefit programs, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or MNSure. However, one positive development was the passing of a budget agreement in May 2023 that will allow all undocumented Minnesota residents to enroll in MinnesotaCare, a subsidized insurance program, beginning in 2025. While this is certainly a promising step forward, the undocumented community still contends with fears of deportation or legal consequences for seeking care as a person with undocumented status, which provides a silent barrier to care.¹²

The Latine community struggles disproportionately with chronic health conditions. In Minnesota, the death rate due to diabetes is two to five times higher than the non-Hispanic population. The Latine youth population also reports the second-highest level of smoking of ethnic groups in Minnesota, which contributes to heart disease and increased risk of cancer. Rates of chronic conditions are directly related to social determinants of health: Nationwide, Latine neighborhoods have only one-third the number of supermarkets of other neighborhoods, and nine times the density of advertising for fast food as white neighborhoods.¹³

CULTURALLY-BASED SOLUTIONS TO HEALTH CHALLENGES

Culturally relevant MNSure Navigators can be essential resources for the Latine community in accessing adequate care.

Providing language resources can improve healthcare experience. For example, Latine migrants who have immigrated from Guatemala may only speak their Indigenous language, K’iche’ or Mam. Further, medical terminology varies between Spanish-speaking countries. A “spoken language healthcare interpreters registry” can ensure these community members have access to quality medical interpretation, building confidence in their treatment.

Enacting Health in All policies, frameworks which adopt a more comprehensive and holistic view of public health, can facilitate the forming of healthy behaviors and improving environments to address social determinants of health.

Murals.

Public art plays a significant role in the history of the Latine community in Minnesota. Grounded in the Chicano Movement of the ‘60s, in which communities boldly advocated for equal civil rights, they were a way of embracing cultural heritage through artistic expression, beautifying shared common spaces, and creating a sense of ownership of space.

Entrepreneurship.

Mercado Central, a marketplace in Minneapolis, is considered “a national model of community development.” The Plaza del Sol in Saint Paul, similarly, is a shopping center in development, in which Latine entrepreneurs can serve their community.

Community organizing.

Communidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES), founded in 1981, is the largest Latino-led nonprofit organization in Minnesota. Its mission is to “advance social and economic equity and wellbeing for Latinos,” offering a comprehensive range of services, from arts to health and wellness. The Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), launched in 1999, “help[s] Latino entrepreneurs and small businesses in Minnesota launch and grow.” They are a provider of loans as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a financial lender that specifically serves and increases equity for historically financially underserved communities.

^{TODAY'S LEADERS IN MINNESOTA}

Luz María Frías

was appointed the first Latina Deputy Attorney General in Minnesota in 2020.

María Isa Pérez-Vega,

a hip-hop artist who grew up in Saint Paul, was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2022.

José Luis Fitch Jiménez,

an internationally renowned Mexican artist based in Minnesota, is a mentor and creative entrepreneur, specializing in fine art and working across gallery and urban art settings.