American Dreams

What do Bowling Green residents think of the city’s immigrant population?

An informal survey of 20 residents on a recent evening found that most respondents were aware of the city’s diverse population, but they were uninformed about how many immigrants were here or where they came from.

Every person interviewed said the city had a significant amount of international residents. But when asked what percentage of the population immigrants represented, none gave an accurate number. Most guessed immigrants made up 20 to 50 percent of the Bowling Green population. One person guessed 10 percent. In actuality, about 8 percent of Bowling Green’s population is foreign-born, according to 2005-2007 U.S. Census data.

When asked what country they thought immigrants came from, residents almost always said a Hispanic country. Of the 40 countries mentioned, 24 were Latin or South American countries. The most prevalent answer was Mexico, with 14 responses. Hispanic residents make up 4.4 percent of Bowling Green’s population, according to the Census. Most of the  Hispanic population is from Mexico, accounting for 2.9 percent. The Census denotes the second largest source as “other” Hispanic or Latino countries. Several local Hispanic advocates note Bowling Green has a significant population of residents from El Salvador.

All 20 people who were interviewed, including four immigrants, said immigrants need to learn English.

Bowling Green Mayor Elaine Walker agrees.

“I believe it is important for all immigrants to learn the native language of their adopted country,” Walker said. “That said, I am the granddaughter of Polish immigrants who came to the United States as teenagers.  They moved into a town with a large Polish population and three of the four spoke broken English until their death.”

“It provides a wide variety of perspectives, experiences and cultures,” Walker said. “It also carries with it challenges, such as integrating the immigrants into our population.”

“With our immigrant population, I believe the good far outweighs the bad,” Walker said.

Don and Nancy Young, Bowling Green residents since the late 1940s, say international perspective is important. The Youngs housed a woman from Liberia in 1982 and a woman from Cambodia in 1997.

“[We’ve] been blessed,” Nancy Young said. “Maybe that’s why we do this.”

Nancy said the women she took in and all immigrants she has met through her years in Bowling Green have been the most appreciative people. She said they are thankful for what they have and what they are given.

“You learn a lot from mixing with them,” Young said. “A lot about the world and different kinds of people.”

But the Youngs said they have seen a drastic change in Bowling Green’s immigrant population.

“I think it’s time for me to die, it’s changed so much,” Nancy Young said jokingly.

Census data shows that Bowling Green’s international population has grown dramatically since the 1980s. Between 1985 to 1989, 185 immigrants moved to Bowling Green. From 1990 to 1994, another 616 immigrants moved in, and in the next five years, 2,178 foreign-born residents moved to town. The most recent Census data, estimates from 2005-2007, indicate the total number of foreign-born residents in Bowling Green is 4,420, or 8.3 percent of the population. With this influx came many immigrant-owned businesses and restaurants that have contributed to “a more urban feel and high quality of life,” Walker said.

Some Bowling Green residents don’t appreciate the change. One man wrote a letter to the editor to the Bowling Green Daily News in April 2006, outraged that Americans protested for the rights of illegal immigrants.

“It is a sad day when an illegal immigrant has more power over our nation than does its citizens,” he wrote. “It is time to close the door and weed the garden.”

The Daily News has reported several instances of hate crimes against immigrants. These include graffiti, a cross burning in the yard of a Hispanic family and cards left in driveways and near mailboxes by the Ku Klux Klan.

Other residents take advantage of immigrants, said International Communities Liaison Officer Monica Woods of the Bowling Green Police Department. She said immigrants are often the targets of crimes, some violent.

“The 'bad guys' become aware that immigrants often won't report crime that happens to them, so they become vulnerable to criminals,” Woods said. “Our efforts are daily to educate our immigrant residents, regardless of their immigration status, that they have a right to feel safe in their community.”

Angela Jones is an English professor at WKU and also serves as the secretary for the board of directors of the International Festival. The festival, made up of dozens of booths representing different countries, is an annual one-day celebration in Bowling Green’s Circus Square Park. She said the festival is necessary to celebrate the different nationalities of Bowling Green to increase awareness and acceptance of diversity.

Jones moved to Bowling Green from Kansas three years ago. “I was happily surprised,” she said, “to find such cultural diversity – even on my short street in my cookie-cutter subdivision, I have neighbors who are Bosnian, Chinese, and Vietnamese!”

Jones noted the many native languages spoken in the Bowling Green public schools. “Bowling Green is a progressive community,” she said.