Hispanic_American_Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity Theresa Webber ETH/125 July 17, 2011 Susan Mills Hispanic American Diversity There are several groups of people that make-up what we segregate into one category. That category is more or less known as Latino or Hispanic. The information that is about to be divulged will briefly discuss such topics about four different groups of the Hispanic community. They are identified as linguistic, political, social, economic, religious and familial conventions and/or statuses of these groups living in the United States. Mexican Americans Initially, much of the Mexican American population was brought into the Union by annexation. The two year Mexican-American War ended with the United States annexing Texas, California, and various other areas from Mexico, immediately making the Mexican Americans the second largest minority in the U.S., second only to African Americans. After that time, immigration into the United States has played an important role in the life of Mexican Americans. As of 2001, there were an estimated 4.5 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Richard Schaefer stated that, "As of 2002, about 23% of Mexican Americans were English dominated, 26% were bilingual, and 51% were Spanish dominated" (Schaefer, 2006, 241). That means that contrary to popular belief, not all Mexican Americans use Spanish as their sole language. The political battle that Mexican Americans have been engaged in, almost since their annexation into the Union can be summed-up in one word, representation. The Mexican American population has been under-represented in politics and economy since the beginning. Chicanismo and La Raza are movements like Black Power that emphasized a positive Mexican American self-image and look to non-conventional forms of political activity to help the Mexican American foundation. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, over 70% of the American Hispanic population is Catholic. This accounts for the Hispanics as a whole, but according to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2001, 64% of the Hispanic population of the U.S., was Mexican American. That means that Catholicism establishes the majority religion for Mexican Americans and the Hispanic culture, completely. Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans also became part of the Union through war; the Spanish-American War of 1898, to be exact. Puerto Rico is actually not a state but is classified as a commonwealth. Puerto Ricans were given American citizenship in the Jones Act of 1917. Some have labeled Puerto Rico the last American colony. Spanish is the official language of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico, 1998), even though the United States has tried repeatedly to teach English as the primary language in the public school system. Currently, 85% of the people that live on the main island of Puerto Rico are Catholic, 8% Protestant, 2.3% non-religion bearing, 3% other. A lot of what has happened in Puerto Rico in the last decade has centered on the smaller Puerto Rican island of Vieques. The U.S. Navy has been conducting live and simulated military practices on the island since before the Second World War. Much of the political battles in Puerto Rico have been fought to eradicate these military practices. The Federal Government finally obliterated the practices in 2003. The Puerto Rican population that does not live on the islands, but on the mainland United States, is close to 3 million; mostly in New York. Two-thirds of Puerto Rican families own their own home. This is just as high, if not higher, than the non-Hispanic white population. South Americans People from these various countries constitute a wide variety of languages, cultures, customs, religions, and racial segregations. The predominate language of South American immigrants, is Spanish, but other languages include French and Protégées. Furthermore, in many of these countries there is a color-inclination, which is racial segregation beyond simply black and white. There are names for every shade of skin color, from fair to dark. Some think that immigration from these South American countries is causing a brain drain in those countries. The theory states, that the intelligent people are moving to America because of civil conflict, sociopolitical challenges, etc… There is a significant Dominican population in New York City, constituting a full 7% of the population in that city. The average South American immigrant has still $20,000 less than the average non-Hispanic white family income in the United States. Additionally, unemployment among these immigrants stands at 5.1%, which is almost 2% higher than non-Hispanic whites, but is one of the lowest Hispanic unemployment percentages. Cuban Americans Cubans started migrating to the United States as early as 1565. The major immigration period started in 1960, with Fidel Castro declaring Cuba communistic, leading to what has been called the "Cuban Refugee Crisis". Cubans have assimilated rather easily into American society. I’m uncertain the percentage of Cuban Americans that speak only Spanish/English, but the lack of information seems to imply that there is not a significant group one way or the other. Cuban Americans are mostly Catholic, like other Hispanics, but also have significant involvement in, "Protestant, spiritualist, nonreligious, and atheist" religions (Cuban American, 2006). Over half of the Cuban American population lives in Miami, Florida. One of the biggest Cuban American political groups is the Cuban-American National Foundation. This political group backs the end of communistic Cuba under Fidel Castro. The initial immigrants of the Cuban Revolution view the Cubans of the third movement of immigration as Marielitos, which is a term set aside mainly for undesirable refugees. In conclusion, the main similarity between all four Hispanic cultures is the Spanish language. Even though not all Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, South Americans and Cuban Americans speak Spanish, the majority in each division still do. Other similarities also include the Roman Catholic religion; However, not all Hispanics practice Roman Catholicism but more than half, with figures as high as over 70%, claimed to be affiliated with the Catholic Church. The major differences between these ethnic groups are economic prosperity and assimilation. It appears that the smaller Cuban American population in Miami is the most affluent, primarily focused around cigar manufacturing. Puerto Ricans would fall at the end of the line. They have the highest unemployment and lowest average family income. In the course of my research, I would characterize this unemployment and average family income gap to both groups’ nature of immigration. Cuban immigrants are refugees escaping communist Cuba looking for a better life in America. Puerto Ricans are already a part of America and have less determination to change their standard of living. I conclude that the Hispanic community as a whole has a long way to go. Through better immigration laws, improved political ties with Latin American’s countries and determination to the Puerto Rican independence situation, the United States can improve immigrant's ability to conform into the American culture in a productive way. References Cuban American. (2006). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 19, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php'title=Cuban_ American&oldid=38109081 Mexican american. (2006). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 19, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php'title=Mexican_American& oldid=39858364 People. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2006, from Welcome to Puerto Rico Web site: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/people.shtml Puerto Rico. (1998). Microsoft Encarta. Retrieved February 19, 2006, from Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Puerto Rico. (2006). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 19, 2006, from Encyclopedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. Schaefer, T. (2006). Racial and ethnic groups, tenth edition. Old Tappan, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Stevens-Arroyo, A. M. (2000). Catholicism's emerging role in Puerto Rico. America, 182(13), 8. Retrieved February 19, 2006, from Academic Search Premier