Rome Latinos: ‘We Are Not Being Heard’

By José Reyes, Reporter

ROME, Ga. — Despite a large and growing Latino population in Rome and Floyd County, area Latinos report being woefully underrepresented in governance, policy, resource allocation and civic life.

One out of every five Rome residents is Latino, according to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The figure above represents the race and ethnicity breakdown of Rome, GA. in 2020.

Because Spanish-speaking Latinos are often marginalized, advocacy on their behalf is of utmost importance, said Claudia Navichoque, event outreach coordinator for Primary Healthcare Centers and an active leader in the community. As one of those advocates, she said she has had to spread herself thin in order to represent the Latino community.

Claudia Navichoque, a Rome High alumna, has worked with non-profits in the Rome community.

Navichoque is active through non-profit organizations such as One Community United and Hospitality House.

For example, with so few Latinos in positions of power or authority, it is difficult to secure adequate resources. Though she has never been hired to write grants, Navichoque said it’s often her who is turned to to write grants because she is the only Latina in her work spaces. And grants are the lifeblood of many non-profits’ funding.

She said she looks for grants that specifically seek to fund projects and programs for Latinos.

“You can look for those grants, and you can write those grants,” she said.

Navichoque said that typically grant-writing isn’t compensated, underlining the need for more Latinos in positions like hers.

Glass Ceiling

Rachel Bascope-Vidal has worked with the English as a Second Language Program throughout her time at Berry. This year she is the Student Director of the program.

Representation of Latinos in positions of power matters because it is from these positions that Latinos can find the support and attention that their particular needs demand, particularly in the area of language, said Rachel Bascope-Vidal, a senior Latina at Berry College and student director for the College’s English as Second Language (ESL) program.

Joandra Mendoza is a Rome High alumna and is currently an elementary school teacher at West Central Elementary.

“Each person brings their own set of skills, but a lot of us are bilingual,” said Bascope-Vidal, who is Colombian. “We are able to bring so many things to the table and improve areas in Rome.”

One area of urgent need for Latino representation is the Rome City School Board of Education.

“We don’t have representation on our board and that makes no sense because we have such a huge Latino population,” said Joandra Mendoza, a 4th grade English/language arts teacher at West Central Elementary and a graduate of Kennesaw State.

Battling Stereotype

Rafael Carballo former priest at St. Mary’s church has recently been reappointed to Transfiguration Catholic Church in Marietta. Caraballo worked with several generations of Latino parishioners throughout his time at St. Mary’s.

Not only do area Latinos lack representation and, therefore, agency, they face “rampant” discrimination, according to Father Rafael Carballo, a priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church from 2016 until only recently. Carballo now is priest at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Marietta.

He said that a common stereotype he encountered is that Latinos are only suited for blue-collar jobs.

“You can give them some opportunities to continue living, but we don’t want them to go any further than this because we do not want to lose the labor force,” Carballo said, describing the stereotype. Carballo is Puerto Rican.

More than 50 percent of the parishioners at St. Mary’s are Latino, according to Carballo, with hundreds of members of color, which justifies One Community United’s designation of St. Mary’s as Floyd County’s most diverse religious community.

Todd Ollis is a teacher at Rome High School and has worked closely with Latino students as the club advisor for the Organization for the Advancement of Latin American Students.

The stereotype is simply unfair, even ignorant.

“We have richness in each (Latino) culture and background,” said Eliana Campbell, ESL teacher at Rome High School. “We need to respect each other’s differences and live in a more tolerant society. You can learn from Latinos.”

Todd Ollis, also an ELA teacher at Rome High, said he has been able to learn from his Latino students and expand his cultural knowledge, an experience he said he has found he would not have had if he taught elsewhere.

“The Latino community in Rome is such a huge one at this point that it’s also such a driving force in the community,” Ollis said. “We could all learn from each other. We are a part of the same community so we should make the best of that.”