Hispanic Teenagers Join Southern Mainstream – Georgia

“In October, Frankie and a classmate, Kristen Galarza, made local history when they were named homecoming king and queen, the first time Hispanics won both titles in the same year. The coronation stirred astonishment, jubilation and some outrage in this Southern town, which is being transformed by Latino migration and is still struggling to adapt to its evolving ethnic identity.

While Hispanics now account for more than 20 percent of the population here, they still live mostly on the margins of society, largely invisible in local politics and the upper echelons of business. As adults, Hispanics, blacks and whites rarely mix socially.

But in the bustling classrooms of Atkinson High, Hispanic teenagers are slowly but steadily integrating into student life. The transition is sometimes awkward and painful, but young people here are casually challenging the traditional social hierarchy in ways once unimaginable.”

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