Hispanics and African Americans - Mores and Value System - Research Paper Example

Hispanics and African Americans - Mores and Value System Introduction Lifestyle and values are some of the significant elements of culture. They show in greater detail the aspects and operations of a specific culture and society. Value system is in fact the material expression of culture. The lifestyle and mores between the Hispanics and the African Americans are as unique and intricate as culture itself. These two minority groups possess beliefs and value system inherent in their cultural identities. Hispanics and Blacks have beliefs and systems that are similar and different in many ways. Ultimately, the ideas and ideals of the Latinos and the Blacks can be visibly glimpsed through their ways of life and living. This essay explores the values and mores of the Hispanic community and the African American society. Also, this paper examines the comparison and contrast between these two cultural minority groups. And finally, this paper tackles the importance of method used in researching its sources. Hispanic mores The mores of the Latinos, comprising 2.7% of Alabama’s total population, can be viewed in two general perspectives: family and society. First, the family or la familia is considered by the Spanish-speaking community as the “most important institution” (Ponton, 2001). La familia includes the extended family of the nuclear household: blood relatives. Hispanic people believed that it is in the family that roles are assigned and distributed among its members. For instance, the machismo father is fundamentally the provider and protector of the family’s needs and safety (Ponton, 2001). Basically, one’s worldview starts from the domain of the family. The concepts of respeto, machismo, and marianismo are apparently transmitted from parents to children via cultural tools (Vygotsky’s term). Language, as an artifact, is closely related to the “spirit of the nation” (as cited in Del Valle, 2002, p. 68). It is the means of acquiring knowledge (Ajayi, 2006). The notion of respeto or respect, as an example, is learned or inculcated through the parents’ style of child-rearing. The Spanish-speaking mother, for one thing, verbally teaches her children the values and systems inherited from her Hispanic identity. And Latino children actually show respect to their parents by performing household chores. And second, mores can be observed in the relation of the family’s member to the society. The virtue of the Latino can be shown through the notion of the guest role. During colorful fiesta, for instance, the Spanish-speaking host warmly welcomes his or her guests (Odom et al., 2010). The Hispanic host usually welcomes the arriving guest with a verbal or non-verbal message: This is your home. In fact, the guest is splendidly treated like a royal king or queen. He or she is well served with the best food and drink available within the household’s resources. Another example is the social norm characterized in lending items, which is “[i]ntegral to this [Hispanic] culture” (Falcon, 1998). Be it big or small, lending items requires no paper contract but rather “social construct” via la palabra or verbal promise. A Hispanic woman, for instance, may ask for a cup of sugar from her neighbor with a good faith that she will repay this kindness (Falcon, 1998). African American value system The value system of the African Americans can be best understood through their perception of the relationship of the individual to the world, and vice-versa. First, the relation of the individual to his or her community is an essential element for the African American people. It is the touchstone for a society to remain cohesive and intact (as cited in Hecht, Jackson, & Ribeau, 2003, p. 9). In this sense, the community is traditionally defined as an integral group composing of individual members. On the other side of the scale, African Americans believe that an individual can become a conscious being only if this individual sees him or herself in terms of other people (as cited in Alexander-Snow, 1998, p. 30). Apparently, they discard the philosophy associated to individualism and attempt to view the individual person within the social context. For instance, the reference to one another as “brother” or “sister” largely reflects a sense of “experiential community” (Alexander-Snow, 1998). This aspect of language, at certain measure, is closely associated to the African American’s struggle against racism (Rogers et al., 1994). And second, the relation or harmony of the universe to the individual fundamentally affects the community’s life. African Americans give strong emphasis to the “understanding of all things” (as cited in Alexander-Snow, 1998, p. 30). The individual, the community, and the cosmos generally comprise these “all things” for the African American people. Like spirituality to the material stuff, the universe is interconnected or interlinked to the people’s daily living (Hecht et al., 2003). For instance, the funeral rites exhibit the importance given to the praxis of understanding all things. In fact, its wake reflects a “sense of collective responsibility” (Ntloedibe, 2006). In attending the wake, African Americans express their sympathy and respect for the dead’s “climax of life” (as cited in Ntloedibe, 2006). Some of them even hug the corpse as a sign of an intimate farewell to the deceased. Comparison There are three elements that connect Latinos and African Americans: (1) perception on spirituality and the material world; (2) relationship to the community; and (3) uniqueness of their language. First, the Latinos and the African Americans greatly consider the important role played by the cosmos or the spirit of nature to their lives. There is a sense of necessity to unite or harmonize the workings of the human being to the nature of nature. The Hispanics, for one thing, believe that the Spirit (translated as God) oversees men’s thoughts and actions. And the fate of the people greatly depends on the will of Heaven. The African Americans, on the other hand, perceive that man and nature are interrelated. For them, man has special relation or place to the universe. Second, Latinos and African Americans view their communities as an extension of their personalities or selves. For example, the function of the Hispanic individual is directly associated to his or her immediate community. The concept of simpatia is an apotheosis of how an individual should ideally treat his or her fellow men (Ponton, 2001). On the other side of the scale, African American individual views the society as part and parcel of him or herself. The individual person is never different or alien to his or her group of colored-skin people. And third, the Hispanics and the African Americans possess language quite distinct from the rest. Their languages are social inventions characterized by their cultural identities. Latinos and Blacks highly value their inherited languages. For the Spanish-speaking people, names associated to the family are greatly favored; examples of these are mama, papa, and familia. Like the Hispanics, the Blacks possess intimate words explicitly connected to family names: brother and sister. Apparently, the languages of the Latinos and African Americans have correlation to roles of the family. Contrast There are three major factors that contrast the lifestyle or mores between the Hispanics and the African Americans: (1) family virtue versus social/tribal role; 2. filial individuality versus social individuality; and (3) perspective of the community. First, the Hispanics clearly emphasize the values and morals in contrast to the Blacks. Latinos have many and varied virtues; palabra de honor is one of their numerous character traits. However, the African Americans give high regard to the metaphysical aspect of “virtue” between individual to individual. Undoubtedly, Blacks possess ethics that serve as the fabric of their social norm. Nonetheless, the substance and form of the Latinos’ moral framework are very different to the African Americans’ ethical system. Second, the notion of the individual is far from similar between Hispanics and Blacks. For example, Latinos largely consider the individual in the context of family relation. For them, family is considered as the basic unit of the society. Thus, the individual member of the family significantly contributes to the well-being of the whole community. Moreover, a Latino individual becomes a social being only when he or she functions well within the sphere of family life. In contrast to Hispanics, the African Americans view the individual in the tribal or social context. And third, the African American people give high importance to the community or tribe. On the other hand, the Spanish-speaking people highly consider the importance of family in comparison to the society. Without question, Latinos highly regard the relevance of social sphere but only in the context of family life. Method use The method used for this paper is the approach utilizing the search engine over the Net. The books and journal articles in the Questia Online Library are heavily read, reviewed, and synthesized. Questia is said to be the world’s largest online collection of books and articles. It provides fast and reliable resource materials for the topics ranging from humanities to social sciences. Using Questia is very helpful because it allows the researcher to find the source materials in a fast and reliable manner. It was necessary for me to first look and gather via the search engine for the books and journal articles that would be of great help to my research endeavor. After gathering my complete sources, I read thoroughly the reading materials and attempted to interpret them. Interpreting, at certain rate, is a subjective process or approach. I could say that I synthesized the information through thorough and disciplined interpretation. It is essential to me, as a teaching professional, to synthesize the information for me to fully understand and master the subject in question. Conclusion The lifestyles and mores of the Hispanics and the African Americans evidently exhibit the form and substance of their cultures and societies. The values and system of these minority groups are manifestations of the culture per se. Apparently, these two minority cultural groups possess some cultural aspects of similarity and difference. Besides the complexity of language, it is clear that both minority groups have comparison in terms of their perception and relationship to the physical and non-physical worlds. On the other hand, these minority groups are diverse in their particular projection of individuality, family, and community. References Ajayi, L. J. (2006). Multiple voices, multiple realities: Self-defined images of self among adolescent Hispanic English language learners. Education, 126 (3), 468+. Alexander-Snow, M. D. (1998). From African to America: The relationship between culture and experience. In K. Freeman (Ed.), African American culture and heritage in higher education research and practice (pp. 23-31). Westport, CT: Praeger. Cokley, K., & Helm, K. (2007). The relationship between African American enculturation and racial identity. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 35 (3), 142+. Del Valle, J. (2002). Historical linguistics and cultural history: The polemic between Rufino Jose Cuervo and Juan Valera. In J. Del Valle & L. Gabriel-Stheeman (Eds.), The battle over Spanish between 1800 and 2000 (pp. 64-75). London: Routledge. Falcon, R. (1998). Salsa: A taste of Hispanic culture. Westport, CT: Praeger. Hecht, M. L., Jackson II, R. L., & Ribeau, S. A. (2003). African American communication: Exploring identity and culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Ntloedibe, F. (2006). A question of origins: The social and cultural roots of African American cultures. The Journal of African American History, 91 (4), 401+. Odom, T. Z., Suco, M., Sandoval, P., Rubio, F., Fernandez, L., & Gonzalez-Rubio, E. (2010). Welcome to the 2010 fiesta website. Retrieved from http://www.fiestahbc.com/en/ Ponton, M. O. (2001). Hispanic culture in the United States. In M. O. Ponton & J. Leon-Carrion (Eds.), Neuropsychology and the Hispanic patient: A clinical handbook (pp. 15-30). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Rogers, W. W., Ward, R. D., Atkins, L. R., & Flynt, W. (1994). The history of a deep South State. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). Alabama [Data file]. Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US01&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR5&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-_sse=on Read More