Mexicans as a Major Part of America - Essay Example

Name of Writer] [Name of Professor] [Course Title] [Date] Avery Hispanic is the term used to refer to the people who are coming from Spain, or have any relation with her people or culture. Often the term "Hispanic" is used synonymously with the word “Latino”, although Latinos refers to those people belonging to countries in Latin America such as Mexico, Brazil and Columbia. “Between 1845 and 1854, the United States acquired half of the territory of Mexico. Eighty thousand Mexicans lived in these annexed areas at the time. These New Mexican Americans often worked as railroad crew, general laborers, ranch hands, farm workers, farmers, domestic servants and laundresses. “During the Great Depression, the Repatriation Movement caused much hardship for Mexican Americans. After World War II ended, the Bracero Program was soon introduced. This program made it easier for Mexicans to come to the United States, but it often leads them to be exploited by their employers.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American ) Roughly one in seven Americans is Hispanic. Hispanics constitute the largest minority group in the United States. According to the census taken on 1st July 2004, Hispanics accounted for 14.1 % of the population, around 41.3 million people. The growth rate from 1st July 2003 to 1st July 2004 constituted for about 3.6%, higher than any other ethnic group in the United States, and in fact more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0 %). Some 64% of the nation's Hispanic population are of Mexican. The overwhelming majority of Hispanics of Mexican origin are concentrated in the Southwestern United States, primarily California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. According to the Oxford dictionary, Devastated is describes as: “Completely destroyed or ruined”. However, looking at the statistics for the Mexican Americans or Latinos, we can see that they are increasing as a larger community annually. Furthermore, it has been calculated, by 2050 they will represent about 20 percent of the total U.S. population. This leads us to think, “How can the Latino population be a community that is devastated?” However, the real destruction does not lie in numbers, but in the problems and challenges the number poses for each community. According to the Pew Hispanic centre March 2006 survey, there have been 12 million illegal migrations. In the March 2005 estimate, two-thirds (66%) of the unauthorized population had been in the country for ten years or less, and the largest share, 40% of the total or 4.4 million people had been in the country five years or less. This leads to the fact that they end up without legal documents which poses numerous problems. Therefore, they end up lively miserably. Their earnings are about $700 per month, have no access to health care and many of them have gone unpaid for their work. Since they live in the fear of being detected and deported they do not avail the welfare programs or contact a public official, which leads to their exploitation. According to a study, carried out by researchers at three major U.S. universities, 49per cent of the Latino laborers who were interviewed said that they were regularly hired – not by contractors, companies of any kind, and certainly not “big corporations” – but by American homeowners. Latinos, make up for the largest minority in school-age population as well, about 20 per cent, but are lagging behind their white and Asian peers on tests scores and college completion. Low paying jobs are attracting thousands of Latinos each year. The children of the immigrants speak little or no English and often arrive with little or no details, about their progress, from their former schools in Mexico. Several programs have been undertaken to promote education amongst the Latinos, but the schools just don’t have any idea how and often don’t have the money. Schools often don’t offer a bilingual curriculum and standard tests that are compulsory to be taken by the students are in English. The shortage of qualified teachers for Latino students further aggravates problems. There are so many students, that it is hard for a single teacher to give them the appropriate attention. According to an exchange program ESL -- English as a Second Language, in North Carolina, there are 900 ESL teachers for some 53,000 children -- one teacher for every 58 students. Though state legislators are funding the money to train and hire more teachers, it’s not enough for most schools. Often these children are being taught by unqualified teachers, because of which students are lagging behind, failing their tests and not getting promoted to the next grade. When this happens, the school is labeled as a failure and the funds taken back A new Harvard study has determined that in California only 29 per cent of Latinos have graduated, mostly dropping out in 9th or 10th grade. The dropout rate is worse in other states where the immigrant’s population is continuously growing- nearly 63 percent in Alabama, 58 per cent in North Carolina and 55 per cent in Georgia. Even immigrants who get good grades and have the credentials for college know their options for higher education are limited. Most states, prohibits illegal immigrants, even those who attended high school in the state, from paying affordable in-state tuition rates at public colleges. In spite of the growing population, Latinos are still seen as parasites of the society by whites. Americans have stereotyped the immigrants as unskilled and unfit for higher paid jobs. The biggest cause of the racism against Latinos is because of their language. They are merely categorized as fruit pickers, maids and welfare recipients. Due to the lack of education, they tend to earn less, thus unable to afford expensive goods, high quality products or pay insurance. They are seen as low-quality producers and bad consumers. The Hate crimes are constantly on the rise. The FBI has reported more than 2,500 hate crimes against Latinos in the United States since 2000, as contrasting to 600 incidents reported in 1997. Private Citizens and law enforcers feel that they can harass the Latino Americans at free will. These simply go ignored by the media and the policy makers to the extent of being completely invisible. Although, they have risen into the middle class, they hardly have homeownership. Many Latinos have been refused proper houses because of their origin. Relaying on the data from the American Housing survey 2004, it can be seen that 32per cent of the Latinos were renters as compared to the rest of the population of the country. As for those who were able to afford the house ownership, they paid 12 per cent more interest on the housing as compared to the other population. They paid $852 in monthly housing expensive while the rest of the population paid $712. Not only do they pay higher for their ownership but their living conditions are worse. They tend to live in small overcrowded deteriorating housing units such as a sagging roof or cracks in the walls. One in every five Latina teen has attempted suicide in the recent years. This is a very high as compared to their non-Hispanic peers. The reason lies in the fact, that in the Latino culture, a girl is expected to be poised and controlled even when in anger and show obligation to their parents, while experiencing the same developmental issues as every American teen such as dating, sexuality, peer pressure, etc. Traditional gender roles, ethnic identity and adolescent-parental conflict seem to lead in a Latina teen's suicide attempt. It is almost impossible to imagine America without the Latino influence. Mexican Americans have played a great role in the development of USA. However, they are forgotten as they are not included in books whether it may be history, political science, sociology, or social studies. Language has been known as the most distinguishing feature of every culture. It has been known to give the community its separate identity. People within a group maintain a close connection with each other through this medium. Sometimes two distinct cultures tend to intermix, thus enriching both. Such has been the case with Spanish and English. Many words that originally belonged to Spanish have been used in English. “The work of Mexican American artist Luis Jiménez crosses many cultural and geographic boundaries, combining the American with the Mexican. For the past three decades he has worked at and become celebrated for the integration of "low-brow" materials, such as spray paint and fiber-glass, with popular myths about the continually changing American West in boldly expressive, sometimes controversial public sculpture projects. Carlos Santana, born in Aultan de Navarro in Mexico, while growing up he would watch the conga players and soon developed a style of his own. In 1966, the Santana Blues Band hit the streets. The wave of popularity continued to grow over the next two years like a hurricane over warm Atlantic waters. “Carlos Santana spiced up the show with his Latin flavored rock and gave all he had to offer. Over the years Carlos Santana would continue to put out more than twenty-seven different records and singles, over 30 years in the music business. Federico Pena was the first Hispanic-American to head the Department of Transportation”. (http://library.thinkquest.org/C008371/finearts.html) “In his nomination of Pena to now become secretary of energy, President Bill Clinton said that he has proven himself a talented leader of a large and complex government agency. In 1993, Pena became the mayor of Denver, Colorado, where he served two terms - the first Hispanic-American to hold that post. While mayor, he pushed for the construction of the $2.7 million Denver International Airport, the first major international airport constructed in the United States since 1974. Pena also sponsored a clean-air campaign in the Denver metropolitan area that significantly reduced carbon monoxide pollution.” (http://library.thinkquest.org/C008371/politics.html) Mexicans have long been exploited in the hands of Americans. Although their community is the largest minority, due to their lack of education and communication skills, they are still lagging behind their non-Hispanic counterparts. Their children being unable to cope with the curricula and school system keeps the dropout rate high, therefore, not providing much chance to improve the quality of their lives. They lack good housing and are often met with prejudices and crimes. The cultural clash between the teenagers and the adults is a growing threat to the community’s girls, who are torn between their origins and the need to fit in with their peers. However, Mexican have contributed in more than one way to America whether it is science, arts or politics. But whatever the case, Mexicans are a major part of America whether for the better or worse. Works Cited Hispanic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic Accessed May 8, 2006 Mexican American - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American Accessed May 8, 2006 Hispanic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic Accessed May 8, 2006 Census Bureau News http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-81.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Pew Hispanic Center Report Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U_S http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=61 Accessed May 8, 2006 Pew Hispanic Center Report Unauthorized Migrants http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=46 Accessed May 8, 2006 Barbara's Blog Are Illegal Immigrants the Problem http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2006/01/are_illegal_imm.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Mexican American - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American Accessed May 8, 2006 The State of Housing for Hispanics in the United States http://www.centropr.org/downloads/HousingPolicyBrief.pdf Accessed May 8, 2006 Housing Discrimination Is Still Worth Worrying About http://www.knowledgeplex.org/kp/text_document_summary/scholarly_article/relfiles/hpd_0904_yinger.pdf Accessed May 8, 2006 LMU Study Says L_A_ Latinos Lack Access to Homeownership http://www.lmu.edu/Page19934.aspx Accessed May 8, 2006 NPR Educating Latinos http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/educating_latinos Accessed May 8, 2006 NPR Part 1, An Education Crisis, Educating Latinos http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/educating_latinos/part1.html Accessed May 8, 2006 NPR Part 3, An Education Crisis, Educating Latinos http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/educating_latinos/part3.html Accessed May 8, 2006 NPR Part 4, A Texas Program Helps Latinas Reach Their Potential, Educating Latino http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/educating_latinos/part4.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Pressure to earn money keeps Hispanic dropout rates high NSHP http://www.nshp.org/?q=node/1020 Accessed May 8, 2006 Latino Drop Out Rates and No Child Left Behind Latinos for America http://www.latinosforamerica.com/node/view/180 Accessed May 8, 2006 Hate Watch http://www.blackjournalism.com/hate.htm Accessed May 8, 2006 Civilrights.org -- Reports and Curricula http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/c2k_report/cr_fairhousing.html Accessed May 8, 2006 May Day a la Mexicana http://www.mexidata.info/id874.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Racism against latinos causes… http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:yAsuTvDrAWAJ:https://portfolio.du.edu/portfolio/getportfoliofile%3Fuid%3D8408+racism+against+latinos&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11 Accessed May 8, 2006 The Daytona Beach News-Journal Special Report: Deltona Diversidad http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/diversidad/03AreaEAST01WF071204.htm Accessed May 8,2006 Latino Pundit High Latina Suicide Rate http://www.latinopundit.com/latino/archives/002843.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Mental health expert creates first research model to study high rate of U_S_-born Latina teen suicide attempts http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/6681.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Did you know… http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/MIO/Fact_Sheets1/Latino_MH_Disparities_2003.pdf Accessed May 8, 2006 Impact of Mexican Culture on U.S http://library.thinkquest.org/C008371 Accessed May 8, 2006 Chapter One http://www.jsri.msu.edu/museum/pubs/MexAmHist/chapter1.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Impact of Mexican Culture on U.S http://library.thinkquest.org/C008371/politics.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Impact of Mexican Culture on U.S http://library.thinkquest.org/C008371/finearts.html Accessed May 8, 2006 Read More