South

The Stars and Bars is dancing a reluctant merengue with the flags of Simon Bolivar.A nice vacation earlier this summer to visit the in-laws in North Carolina revealed this interesting juxtaposition: along my daily morning walk I passed by the old cemetery in Statesville, set aside in 1756 to inter the remains of the town's pioneers and the dead from the Indian Wars and later the brave men who died in Civil War battles defending the Confederacy.

The burial ground is in the old part of this small town, across the street from the massive Greek-revival Presbyterian Church and a stone wall away from the still-active 19th century synagogue that's cute in its modest design and size, compared to the nearby churches.

A couple of blocks away, Statesville's downtown seems straight out of Main Street USA central casting: a jewelry store, the old bank, the 19th century city hall (with arches reminiscent of L.A.'s much larger city hall of the same era)

I was jolted to see - for the first time in the decade or so I've been visiting - the red, yellow, and blue of the Colombian flag. Those South American colors filled storefront windows, at one establishment respectfully next to the more proportioned North Carolina flag and the Stars and Stripes. I'm a bit slow to see the change. Between 1990 and 2000 the Hispanic population in North Carolina grew nearly 400% to nearly 400,000 people. Most are foreign born Mexicans, with a small portion from South and Central America.

So in Statesville, it's the Colombians who've planted their flags on Main Street and are waiting for someone to join them at the dance.