Community's Identity Questioned As Demographics Shift

"In a town changing without overt rancor, they are neighbors without the neighborliness, separate groups leading lives that don't touch, even though their property lines do. It's a new challenge for this historic place -- re-creating community."

"Since 2000, the historically black town of North Brentwood has become 25 percent Hispanic."

"Some black residents are concerned about what these changes mean for their community, even as they worry about seeming intolerant. Newer Hispanic residents say they get along with everyone, and if there is subtle awkwardness to their brief hello-goodbye exchanges with black neighbors, they're too busy working and raising their families to notice."

"Decades ago, the county was roiled as it shifted from majority-white to majority-black. Peter Shapiro, a former Town Council member and County Council chairman, who is white, has seen friction between blacks and Latinos in other Prince George's neighborhoods. Perhaps because of its strong sense of identity, Shapiro said, North Brentwood seems determined not to repeat those mistakes."