Hispanic American Diversity

Essay by MATHDUDE1College, UndergraduateB+, February 2009

download word file, 5 pages 4.2

Hispanic and Latino are names used to describe people who come from a various countries and cultural settings. The four groups Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominican Americans have been chosen for identifying the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious and familial conventions and statuses of Hispanic groups living in the United States. All these groups are from different regions but have been placed in one category due to the similarity of their language. The base language is Spanish but the accent and dialect change the meaning of certain words.

The Mexican American population is the largest minority group in America. The Census Bureau data provides proof that over 35 million as of March 2006 inhabit the United States of America (legal and illegal). Mexican Americans are from all over Mexico resulting in a wide variety of linguistic varieties amongst them. Mexico's language is derived from Spanish but varies from different regions in Mexico.

A majority of Mexican Americans do not speak Spanish at all, most are native born. The Mexican American population greatly participates in political civil rights in America. Mexican Americans are active in many civil rights movements, from workers rights to voting rights.

The social status of the Mexican Americans is poor due to the vast majority not having an education. A very low level of educational advancement is beyond high school.

Hispanic Diversity 3Due to the poor education, economically Mexican Americans are behind White Americans. A writer for the Public Policy Institute of California writes, "Substantial education and wage deficits persist between people of Mexican descent and other Americans. Third generation Mexican Americans in California average a year and a half less schooling and about 25 percent lower wages than non-Hispanic whites." (Grogger, 2002, p.132)Puerto Rican Americans primarily speak Spanish and English and tend to support Democratic...