Hispanic_American_Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity Deanna L Davis ETH 125 October 30, 2011 Jeffery Day Hispanic American Diversity The road to a diverse and equal rights proposal in the United States remains a constant and ever changing issue between many cultures. Many would like to say that the white American should be the only one with all the rights that are afforded. However, with this controversy always looming in present day and in our future we need to take into consideration the ever-growing population of other cultures as well. In the United States, we have several Hispanic Groups that make up a good portion of that diversity. Four of those are Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban American, and Costa Ricans. The status of those groups can be seen in the population growth over the last 50 years. The first group to be discussed is the Mexican Americans whom have fought the longest to establish themselves within the United States while seeking out the American dream. In as little as 11 years ago the Hispanic population comprised approximately 20.9 million persons in the United States. While that population continues to grow the challenges are also continuing to present themselves in a different way than in the past. The percentage of this culture by age group seems to be an average age of 24.4 years. The reason for this could be the task of assimilation made easier for the younger adults than for the elderly. The complexity of assimilation and immigration into the mainstream Anglo-American society seems to be the main concern for the governing parties in the U.S. It was presumed that these immigrants would not just assimilate but become part of what is known as The Melting Pot and create a new American Culture. This has yet to be established but continues to be a work in progress for many of those whom would like to become American citizens. While the population of Mexican Americans grew from 17,089,892 in 1994 to 26,623,147 in 2004 the percentage rates are indications of how fast the populations are increasing throughout the U. S. The next group of immigrants is the Cuban American and their assimilation into the United States. With the ever-growing population of Mexican Americans, the Cuban American population has not grown as high or as fast. The first Cuban immigrants to arrive in the United States were just after the rise of Fidel Castro in 1959-1962. The second departure from Cuba began in 1965 to 1974, which was sanction by the U.S. and Cuban governments and were named “freedom flights”. The next group to arrive happened in 1980 known as the Marielitos, which came from all segments of society in Cuba. The fourth and last group to arrive and continues to this day are the Balseros. These are the people that continue to come to the U.S. by way of improvised boats, and others that were in the special visa lottery system both Cuba and the United States agreed too and implemented in 1994. The demographics of the Cuban American has managed to migrate from Florida all the way north to New Jersey and New York but also west to Texas and California. Cuban immigrants are automatically given citizenship upon arrival to the U.S. if they came by boat and managed to get to the shore before the coast guard could reach them. Others who remained in the boats were turned around and sent back to Cuba. To this day more than two-thirds (68%) live in Florida with all others spread amongst the other four states. The third group to migrate to the United States is the Costa Ricans with a population of I,800,000 as of 2011. Unlike the Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans Costa Ricans originated in Spain are of European decent as a opposed to Mestizo. The first Costa Ricans settled in 1522 but were not fleeing there country but looking for other industries to invest their time and money in. Costa Rica is an important trade ally with the United States. This culture is very similar to our own since they believe in democratic government, human freedoms, free trade and many more shared values. As we can see by the population in the U.S., it is vastly different from their counter parts who have settled here. The fourth group of immigrants is the Puerto Ricans whom on July 4, 1950 were allowed to draft their own constitution establishing the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Then in 1953 the United States had the largest immigration of Puerto Ricans on the mainland totaling 69,124 and emigrating to New York, New Jersey, and Florida. With the concentration on the east coast as their main migration route, the influx to New York City and surrounding areas were higher than any other segment in the United States. According to some articles this immigration in the 1950’s started because of an over population in Puerto Rico. In today’s society these people depended on factory work to make a decent wage to send to their families still in their homeland. However, with the economy as it is more and more of these people are at-or- below poverty level and continue to struggle with the American Dream. There are well over four million Puerto Ricans living in the United States, which exceeded the number in Puerto Rico itself. This group of immigrants of Spanish decent is the second largest compared to Mexican Americans representing the largest. With the growing number of immigrants to the United States in present day the differences between these four groups is not the language but their origin and the politics behind them. Most if not all have the knowledge that coming to America constitutes establishing the American dream and providing a better living for their families. While not all have struggled to make that happen, most will tell you that their hope is still alive. Furthermore, out of the four groups only one the Costa Ricans came not because of political strife or poverty but for continued education and commonality with the United States and its Democracy. Nevertheless, it is the Mexican Americans who at this point and time continue to struggle with attaining this dream of political freedom and bountiful harvests for their families. The influx of Mexican people has created many problems, and continues to astound the United States, and Mexico on how to create harmony between our two countries. Yet all groups remain in different geographical areas and in different stages of status within the United States. It is without understanding as to why these groups have not forged an alliance with each other to help with the increase in status. Until we as the people of the United States realize that a unity among these people and ours can be made with compromises on both sides nothing will ever change. References: http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v91/outline17.htm http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php'ReportID=137 http://www.state.gov/pa/ei/bgn/2019.htm http://www.state.www.topuertorico.org/history6.shtml