Hispanic American Diversity, Essay Example

Introduction

It is important to identify the ethnic groups that live in the United States of America. In this case, this paper is going to focus on Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and the Central Americans. There familial, political, linguistic, religious, social, and economic statuses are examined. These groups are known as the Hispanic Americans. Each group has different cultural basis but they are classified as Hispanic groups because of the Spanish language they speak. This is despite the fact that they have distinct dialect while words are spelled and pronounced differently.

Mexican American

Mexican Americans are those Americans that have a Mexican descend. There language is a mixture of English and Spanish. This group has lived in America since 1850s; the sole reason for their movement in American was due to unstable political and economic situations that prevailed in Mexico during the reign of President Diaz that made majority of them to move to the north. Also, the demand for labor in the United States pushed this group in wider United States. During world war two, movement of Mexican Americans increased as some families were settled in southwestern Idaho. This migration from Mexico increased the number of communities in the United States. By 1900, the Mexican American had settled at Texas, New Mexico and California (Jones, 1999).

The Mexican Americans were actively involved in politics but it was limited by discrimination from the Anglo Americans. They could hold public office and taken political responsibility of running state politics. Because of discrimination, the Mexican Americans were handpicked by the Anglo Americans to hold public offices. More so, they controlled politics of the land since they are the ones who owned the mining firms that employed them. The Second World War period changed the political wave of the Mexican Americans. For the first time, the armies were socialized and recognized as equal. In addition, many Mexican Americans moved to urban centres in search of employment thus giving them a great chance to socialize with wider society. The Mexican American became vibrant in civil rights movements to advocate for their rights and protest against discriminatory policies imposed on them (Mendoza, 2000).

The movement advocated for various issues including the improvement of educational programs, reinstatement of land grants, civic education to voters, rights to voting and free participation in politics. The emergence of political groups meant that Mexican Americans were at a right place to challenge segregation. For example, the community service organization fought for the rights of Mexican American tirelessly. Political activism is evidence to show that Mexican Americans were politically active. There was the Formation of political association of Spanish speaking organization that came up to protest against refusal of setting up cemeteries for people to bury their dead. More so, majority of Mexican Americans regard themselves as democrats therefore they participate in voting process wholly since they believe in democracy (Mendoza, 2000).

Socially, the Mexican American has strived hard to attain what they called the American dream. They participated in movements such as united farm workers association therefore managing to bring their families together. This move helped them to advance in terms of uniting with small ethnic groups with an aim of shaping America. The Mexican Americans were part and parcel of improving the economy of the united states of American. This was facilitated by the fact that, they were moving to America in large numbers and most of the tasks were done by them as others like the Anglo Americans did not want to do. For instance, in field of agriculture, they provided the much needed labor. In addition, education has been the key focus of Mexican Americans as most of them do not go past high school. This is because little efforts have been made to enable the Mexican Americans to move from immigration status to normal social status due to discriminatory and poor educational programs that were given to them. The Mexican Americans have not fully assimilated themselves into the mainstream American way of life.

On the economical front, Mexican Americans have strived hard get fair pay. This has been manifested vividly in the Mexican American civil rights movement that fought against the discrimination and unfair treatment of the Mexican Americans by the mainstream Americans. Mexican Americans are still grabbling with the issue of adequate wages, fair pay and benefits because of their immigration status (Jones, 1999).

For the Mexican Americans, family mainly focuses on the grandparents especially the grandmothers. Grandmothers are regarded as special women who had the responsibility of nurturing and healing them. They knew and understood the results of an action, stories, food and most important language that may have been forgotten. The Mexican Americans have adopted their traditional Christmas such as Gonzalez elements that demonstrated a traditional house to house celebration accompanied with songs and dances as well as food. The Mexican Americans have a tendency of helping one another in times of difficulties or need arises.

On the religious issue, the Mexican Americans are Catholic. They believe in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. This is evident in the feasts and festivals which they perform to recall the important events in the birth and death of Jesus Christ. For instance, they carry a cross to signify the pain and suffering that Jesus went through. Despite Mexican Americans being Catholics, emergence of new protestant sects is affecting them as some of them have already started converting to Protestantism. For example, a good number of them are Pentecostals.

Puerto Ricans

The Puerto Rican Americans is that group which migrated to United States from Europe. The language of this people is Spanish although they mix it with some English they learned in United States. There movement to United States was as a result of the Spanish American war. In United States, the Puerto Rican have the problem of linguistic just like the Mexican Americans.

The Puerto Ricans have participated in politics in United States for many years despite the challenges they face from Anglo Americans. There political participation began on what is known as class politics. This is in the sense that, in spite of prevailing state of ethnicity, people in the working arena were unified together. The move led to the establishment of socialism movement. Most of this people were influenced by radical foreigners who migrated to United States with the ideas of nationalism and socialism. In spite of this political spirit, most of Puerto Ricans did not want to participate in politics therefore they did not vote although they had strong desire to change their lives in United States (Alba, 2006).

They were minority group in United States thus they sought to improve their socio economic and political conventions through vibrant participation in politics. Unity forms the basis of Puerto Ricans socio economic and family backgrounds. The Puerto Ricans value their families because it plays a big role in socialization and organization of daily activities. Therefore respect for family is paramount for the Puerto Ricans. Mother’s are respected since they hold a special responsibility in the family. The family kinship ties are strong. They meet during festival, birthdays and holidays to share their love with one another. Women are responsible in making decisions regarding foods they want to purchase or serve. More important, food was served when all members of the family were present.

On economic arena, Puerto Ricans are poor. Poverty among them is the order of the day because of their statuses in United States of American. The Puerto Ricans belonged to Roman Catholic Church as their faith. Besides, they believed in existence of spirits (Gonzalez, 1998).

Cuban Americans

The Cuban Americans speak Spanish language. The Cuban Americans mostly are found in Florida. Their political experience with United States of America is little because of the discrimination by the mainstream Americans who have locked them out from political participation.

Socially, the Cuban Americans have tried to manage themselves in the United States. They have a say in the entire community therefore they influence other communities that lives in United States. They have accumulated more wealth than the Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and other Hispanic groups. This was facilitated by the fact that they were highly educated as compared to other groups (Alba, 2006).

Economically, the Cuban Americans were not that way poor. They were organized in production of foodstuffs. More so, agriculture was main economic activity that this group practiced most. The economic status was not in bad state because of the socialism policy imposed by Fidel Castro.

The Cuban Americans hold catholic faith. They belief in Jesus Christ and does not recognize any other religion because of the socialist idea that they adapted in their lives. Family among the Cuban Americans is very important since it has helped them to hold onto traditions and cultural heritage of their people (Jones, 1999).

The south and Central America

In the United States, distinct ethnic groups focus on improving their living standards. The Central Americans migrated to western part of United States with their neighbors Mexican Americans while their counterparts South Americans moved to the east to live close with Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans. The south and Central Americans are of African descents that were brought to American to work in the sugar cane plantations in Brazil and North America. Their language is English although they had much different linguistics because they came from different countries (Mendoza, 2000).

This group was brought to America to provide labor as slaves. Social status was poor since they were not given education, had poor diets and the social amenities were in a sorry state. They provided labor with little pay because of their status in America. In most cases, they were discriminated upon.

Economically, they participated in activities to improve their status in society. Agriculture was mainly practiced but they were only mere servants who did not benefit from the profits they harnessed after farming (Gonzalez, 1998).

The south and Central Americans were religious in nature. Since they came from Africa where many people believed in spirits, they did not abandon their religion. With influence from the new land, they started to convert to Catholicism and Protestantism.

Family was the only place where one could get solace and comfort therefore it was highly respected. Mothers were seen as a link to continuation of life because of their ability to give birth. More so, the elders and mothers influenced the decisions of the society. Their culture was manifested in the kind of food they ate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Hispanic Americans have shaped the image of American as they continue to grow at a higher rate. There rich and varied culture has made life interesting since it is good to learn from traditions and cultures of other people. For example, learning new language and how different groups worship.

References

Alba, R. Mexican Americans and the American Dream. PS: Political Science & Politics  June 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2010, 2010 from      www.apsanet.org/imgtest/PerspectivesJun06Alba.pdf

Gonzalez, C. E. Mexican American Traditions in Nebraska., Nebraska State Historical
Society 1998. Retrieved May 20, 2010 from www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-

Jones, S. C. Cultural Diversity: Eating in America Puerto Ricans. Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet 1999. Retrieved May 20, 2010 from ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5257.html.

Mendoza, V.C. History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. The  Journal for Multimedia History. Vol. 3 – 2000. Retried May 20, 2010 from  www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/chicano/chicano.htmlrch/whadoin/mexampub/traditns.htm.