Hispanic American Diversity - Research Paper Example

 Hispanic American Diversity Introduction Globalization has increased all over the world and this has helped people to broaden their perspectives revolving around different issues. Assimilation is one factor which has played a great role in the integration of different cultures all over the world. The United States with a huge population has assimilated people from all over the world. Hispanics constitute a major portion of the US population these days. Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans Cuban Americans and Central Americans are a part of this Hispanic population. This essay would revolve around these four groups and would put forward different aspects that help to understand their background and ethnicity (Schaefer 2010). Mexican Americans Mexican Americans have been living for a very long time in the United States and have adapted accordingly to the demands of the culture and society. In 2006 it was found that 14 percent of the documented immigrants in United States belonged to Mexico. These Americans are diverse when it comes to their language. Twenty six percent of the Mexican Americans can talk in both Spanish and English, 23 percent o f them talk English whereas 51 percent speak Spanish. The political stance of Mexican American remains the same like the other Hispanic groups as they have been long ignored in the political arena because of their language differences. However their voting rights were established long back and they are able to vote easily. It has also been realized that they form a great portion of the voters and they have been specifically targeted by many leaders. Although their political strength is increasing with every passing day it can be still seen that injustice prevails against these immigrants in terms of education, testing and immigration reforms. The Mexican Americans follow the principles of Catholicism accordingly. The economic condition of these Americans has not become any better as there still remains a huge gap between the born Americans and the immigrants. The rate of poverty, unemployment is higher in this group if compared with the Whites (Schaefer 2010; Keedle 2010). Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans form another major group of Hispanics in the United States. These Americans tend to be more oriented towards the English Language as they have been a part of the US history. These people have known to be undergoing a phenomenon known as neocolonialism as they are not able to accept the American identity as a whole. The economic stance of the Puerto Ricans is not as good as the whites and they are known to suffer from a higher rate of unemployment too. These Americans are not able to get jobs with higher wages in Puerto Rico and this forces them to move out to the mainland. Puerto Ricans are known to follow the principles of Christianity respectively. Pentocostalism is a form of belief which is practiced by these people. The political arena of these Americans is not any better as they are not even allowed to vote for the US president. The problem of Puerto Ricans which is different from all the other Hispanic groups is that these people want their own identity to survive rather than the one they are getting from United States (Schaefer 2010). Cuban Americans The Cuban Americans are less in number to their other counterparts but still form a significant portion of the Hispanics living in the United States. These Cuban Americans tend to speak both English and Spanish but they believe that their original language should not be dropped off (Spanish). The religious priority of these Americans is also Catholic. The political stance of this minority is not as great as the other groups as they tend to be less in number with less education. Their political stance revolves around the strengthening of the ties with Cuba. The Cubans are believed to have a positive effect on the US economy as they are known to be hard workers. The early immigrants from Cuba were able to achieve greater success in America because of their formal background with good education. The immigrants who came later (also known as Marielitos) were not able to prosper because they did not have a positive background. It has been seen that these Americans still want to go back to their country if their communist government is overthrown (Schaefer 2010; Official Website 2012). Central Americans The Central Americans are known to be the most diverse amongst the Hispanics. These Americans belong to different countries and hence speak different languages. Many of these Americans speak Spanish, Portugese, French and Dutch. The strong differences of this group form an important reason because of which they are not able to cope up with the other Hispanics. The educational status of the Central Americans is better or as good as the whites but the economic status of these Americans is lower than the whites. The rate of unemployment amongst this group is higher than the whites because of which they are not economically stable. This generation of Central Americans can take a very long time to assimilate in the new culture because of the diverse background that they belong to. The religious perspective of these Americans is also different because of their diverse nature. They can either belong to the Catholic group or to other religions such as Islam or Buddhism. The Central Americans do not have to play a strong role in the political arena of America like the other groups (Schaefer 2010; Brick et al 2011). Conclusion The major differences between these groups revolve around their political, linguistic and economical arena. The Mexican Americans can be said to be more stable than all the other Hispanics living in the United States. The Central Americans are the most diverse of these groups as they tend to speak in languages other than Spanish. The Mexican Americans are more stable in terms of economics and politics. These Mexican Americans have been able to form their own communities whereas the other Hispanic groups have still not been able to do so.The political stance of Puerto Ricans revolve around the phenomena of neocolonialism whereas the stance of Cuban Americans is deviated towards the ties with their own country. The Central Americans do not play a significant role in the political arena. All these Hispanics are seen to have one thing in common which relates to their religion, economics and language. The rate of unemployment amongst the Hispanics is higher than the Whites. The language spoken by most of the Hispanics is Spanish and they are usually Catholics. References Official Web Site: The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF). Web. 06 Feb. 2012. . Top of Form Keedle, J. (2010). Mexican Americans. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Bottom of Form Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States. Kate Brick, E Challinor, and Marc Rosenblum 2011. Top of Form Schaefer, R. T. (2010). Racial and ethnic groups. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Bottom of Form Read More