Hispanic American Diversity

Essay by barbdunhamCollege, UndergraduateA+, August 2009

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The intention of this essay is to identifying the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions or statuses of four Hispanic groups living in the United States. The four groups chosen for research are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Dominican Americans.

Mexican AmericansIt would appear that the United States policy of “English-only” has caused linguistic suppression among Mexican Americans. Because of this linguistic suppression many Mexican Americans suffer personal agony while trying to bridge the gap between Spanish and English. “I am one of those Chicanas who early in life was locked into a barrio existence where I was made to feel ashamed of speaking Spanish--shame that painfully reproduced itself as I was devalued yet again for being a non-Standard English speaker. I am one of those “culturally crucified” Chicanas who struggled to understand what it means to be a cultural orphan.” (Bartolomé, 2006)As the Mexican American population grows in the United States they are beginning to receive political recognition.

With Mexican Americans now being the nation’s fastest growing minority, major political parties are targeting these voters like never before. During the 2004 presidential campaign, both the Republicans and Democrats ran commercials on Spanish-language television networks and in states across the nation the Mexican-American vote can now mean the difference between winning and losing an election. (Magana, 2005)Economically, Mexican Americans still struggle to keep their heads just above water because of the educational gap. Because Mexico has been the source of about one-third of all immigrants to the U.S. since 1990, the level of education attained by Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans (i.e., the U.S.-born) has a great impact on their potential economic success and how they fit into the labor market. It would appear that education is the key between Mexican Americans working more manual labor positions...