Hispanic American Diversity - Article Example

Hispanic American Diversity Introduction: People originating form formerly Spanish colonies are termed as Hispanic in Spanish. ‘Hispanic’ is a constellation of divergent ethnic groups with different social, political and emotional background. Some well known Hispanic groups are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, El Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, Columbians, Central and South Americans etc. All these countries carry the Spanish colonial legacy. Depending upon their present country of residence, composition of Hispanic people varies to a substantial degree. In United States of America (USA) three largest Hispanic groups are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans, together they constitutes the lion’s share of Hispanic people in USA. (Tienda and Mitchell, 2006) Multiculturalism might be considered as one of the unique characteristics of USA. From historical time people from all over the world came to USA to make their fortune and in the process they have brought diversity in American culture. One of the direct influences of the growing number of Hispanic people in USA is initiation of a bilingual educational. Several socio economic primary surveys have revealed that Hispanic groups in America are flourishing in all the fields and are on the upward slope of economic growth that has inevitably helped them to enjoy an improved socio economic status. The pie chart given below depicts the percentage wise composition of American Hispanic Population. Error: Reference source not found Source: Ramirez and de la Cruz 2003. Judging by the relative weights we have selected top four groups namely Mexican, Central/Latin American, Puerto Rican and Cuban for our present discussion. (Schaefer, 2006) Mexican-Americans: In terms of percentage of population the Mexican Americans occupies the number one spot at a percentage of 66.9% they are more than four times higher in number than any other Hispanic groups living in USA (Survey: 2003). Among the white Hispanics they are the largest in USA. If we consider the geographical concentration of Mexican Americans we will find that the majority of them residing in the Southwestern United States like California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada etc. The reasons of migration from Mexico to America are improving educational qualification, search for more economic livelihood, and enjoying better social amenities or in other words attaining a better social status in terms of social status, securities and environment. Though Mexico still considers Spanish as their official language and till now several Mexicans living in USA are monolingual (capable of reading, writing and speaking only Spanish), however the majority of Mexican Americans are fluent in both Spanish and English. However the current generation prefers nuclear family over joint one and they are also inclining towards family planning. Profoundly religious in nature, most Mexican-Americans are strong believer in Roman Catholicism. Church enjoys a substantial part of their life and the churches are the fountain of hope, faith and strength as well as the only way to attain after life enlightenment. (Gutiérrez, 1995) Puerto Ricans: As shown in the pie diagram Puerto Ricans are the second largest Hispanic subgroup living in United States. In terms of percentage they occupy 8.6% of total Hispanic population in USA. The Puerto Ricans in America has a long historical legacy. Puerto Rica became a part of USA owing to the expansion of America and on from 1917 Puerto Ricans became eligible for US citizenship. A higher wage in US soil initiated a pulled migration from Puerto Rica and many people from there came to settle in USA to join its labor force. The main destination for the Puerto Ricans in USA was industrial regions of the country. At present many cluster of Puerto Ricans can be found in New York, Connecticut, Florida, and Illinois all of them are directly related with either industrial sector or service sector. Similar to the Mexicans, the Puerto Ricans as well migrated for a better economic prosperity and quality of life. Among the Hispanic Americans they have one of the lowest levels of literacy. However they are not education averse and at present Puerto Rican parents are encouraging their next generation towards studies so that they can have a brighter future. As far as language is concerned they are almost equally comfortable in both English and Spanish. Emotional and expressive Puerto Ricans are edgeless in terms of hospitality. Like Mexicans Puerto Ricans are god fearing people and they believe in Catholicism. They believe that what ever be the situation and how tough life might get, belief in god will rescue them of all the odds at the end. (U.S. History Encyclopedia, 2006) Cuban-Americans: According to the statistics Cuban-Americans occupies the third spot in terms of population among Hispanic groups living in United States. 3.7% of total Hispanic population living in US goes to their account. Cuban immigration to the U.S. has a long historical background and often subject to the controversy. It started long back in 1831 and the political revolution of 1959 witnessed thousands of Cubans coming to America. Cuban Immigration is often considered as an evidence of malicious communist rule and strengthens America’s standpoint at international level as anti communist. Miami and Florida might be considered as Cuban hub in America and concentration of Cuban in these two places particularly in Miami has a significant cultural impact on these two places. Among Hispanic groups living in America Cuban Americans enjoys highest literacy rate, highest rate of employment, highest median household income and highest rate of privately owned home. Owing to the acceptance of Spanish as national language, Cuban-Americans often face a language bottleneck since they are not that fluent in English. However this seems to be a incident of past since at present the Cubans are making phenomenal progress regarding their fluency in English. Cuban Americans are bit suspicious about Anglo culture and that has made them very selective in accepting them. This kind of insecurity among Cubans might be an indirect result of the fact that many of them are political migrants. The family structure of Cuban-Americans is matriarch and the higher place of woman in the family significantly differs from other Hispanic groups living in America. The higher percentage of Cuban Americans in the business and entrepreneurial class of America holds the key to their social success comparing to the other Hispanic groups. Though most of them were Catholic in religion, however some of them belong to the Jewish Community as well. (Buffington, 2006) Central and South Americans: Central and South Americans comprises of 14.3% of total U.S. Hispanic population. Central and South American Hispanics might be considered as the most diversified ethnic group in USA. A constellation of immigrants from different regions such as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Belize, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela etc are called as Central and South American Hispanic. As they are from a varied region so their language differs to a great extent. Spanish, Portuguese, French etc are the different kind of languages they use as vocabulary. This Hispanic group is suffering from higher unemployment rate comparing to other groups though in terms of education they are at a better place than other Hispanic groups. Their religion is as diverse as they are. Roman Catholic, Protestants, Jews and people from other religions can be found among them; however Catholics have a higher number followed by Protestants and Jews. (Cordova and Pinal, 2008) Differences and commonalities: There are substantial differences and similarities among different Hispanic groups in terms of educational, social, economical, religious and political background. Puerto Ricans enjoy an edge on education over the Mexican-Americans and their fluency and liking for English is higher. Cuban-Americans and Central and South Americans are well educated. Spanish is still a medium of interaction in many Hispanic groups. Though, the present generation. Hispanics owing to their growing numbers are becoming a viral force in as power group and the political parties of US now consider Hispanics as a major vote bank. The Cubans are pro Republicans owing to their preference for conservative political ideologies. In sharp contrast Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Central Americans are pro Democrats. Since the later group outweighs the former in numbers, the Democratic Party has a stronger Hispanics base. Most of the Hispanic community is believer in Christianity; however, some Hispanics are from Jewish community and some of them are Protestants as well. (Nash, 2007) Considering the above discussion we may conclude that the Hispanics in America are an example of unity in diversity. They have different country of origin, yet religion, language and dream for economic livelihood ties them together. References 1. Buffington, S. (2006) “Cuban Americans”, Everyculture, available at: http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Cuban-Americans.html (accessed on May 3, 2009) 2. Cordova, C and Pinal, J.D. (2008), “Our Multicultural Heritage: A Guide To America's Principal Ethnic Groups”, available at: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~raquelrp/art3.htm (accessed on May 3, 2009) 3. Gutiérrez, D.G. (1995) Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity. Berkeley: University of California Press. 4. Nash, H.P. (2007) “Hispanic American Diversity”, Gradingrocket, available at: http://www.gradingrocket.com/essays/American+history/Hispanic+American+Diversity/ (accessed on May 3, 2009) 5. Schaefer, R.T. (2006) Racial and Ethnic Groups, Tenth Edition,. Published by Prentice-Hall, 2006, Pearson Education, Inc. 6. Tienda, M. and F. Mitchell (2006), Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies: Hispanics and the American Future, The National Academies Press 7. U.S. History Encyclopedia (2006), “Puerto Ricans in the United States”, available at: http://www.answers.com/topic/puerto-ricans-in-the-united-states-1?cat=travel (accessed on May 3, 2009) Read More