Paula D. McClain

Professor of Political Science, Public Policy, & African/African-American Studies

Dramatic demographic changes are occurring in the United States and some  of the most dramatic changes are occurring in the South from Latino immigration.  Latinos, by and large, are an entirely new population in the region.  How are black Southerners reacting to this new population?  Using survey data gathered from a Southern location, this article explores several questions related to whether blacks see these new residents are friendly neighbors or economic competitors.  Results suggests that blacks and non-blacks perceive a potential economic threat from continued Latino immigration, but that blacks are more concerned about the effects of Latino immigration than are whites. 

Paula D. McClain is professor of political science, public policy and African and African American Studies at Duke University. A Howard University Ph.D., her primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority political and social competition, and urban politics, especially public policy and urban crime. Her most recent articles have appeared in the Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Politics, American Political Science Review, and American Politics Quarterly. Westview Press published the fourth edition of her most recent book, "Can We All Get Along?": Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics, coauthored with Joseph Stewart, Jr. was published in mid-2005. She is a past vice president of the American Political Science Association, a past president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, served as Program Co-Chair for the 1993 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, served as Program Chair for the 1999 annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association, and served as Program Co-Chair of the 2003 International Political Science Association World Congress to be held in Durban, South Africa. She also served on the Advisory Committee of the Directorate of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences of the National Science Foundation. She is currently president of the Southern Political Science Association (2005), and is Director of the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences.