Hispanic American Diversity

There are many different groups that make up the Hispanic culture in the United States. Groups that will be discussed include the Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans. Each group has differences and commonalities among other groups.

Mexican American’s like a lot of Hispanic groups migrated for better job opportunities and economy. In 1990 it was estimated that approximately 12 million people who claimed Mexican ancestry lived in the United States, (Englekirk, Marin, 2006). Acceptance has increased since they first migrated to the United States and has brought a better life to a minority of Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans have continued to maintain their cultural ways with each new generation and encourage the use of the Spanish language with each new family member. Some Mexican Americans have a difficult time speaking English and are more traditional oriented. Not all Mexican Americans speak Spanish, but may be familiar with the language. Even though many speak English they will often speak Spanish in the home. Mexican Americans have been found to be either Catholic or Protestant and are very religious.

Mexican Americans will tend to live in communities that the majority of the population is of the same ethnic identity. Since they live so close to their homeland it allows immigrants the ability to maintain close ties with the “old country,” (Englekirk, Marin, 2006). Mexican Americans have the opportunity to visit Mexico and keep their cultural ties more than Hispanics that have migrated a further distance. There is a strong importance of family as a unit and new immigrants will seek out their relatives already living in the United States. A contemporary Mexican American family will exhibit a wide range of decision making patters, including that of male authoritarianism, (Englekirk, Marin, 2006). In families where both parents may share in the daily management of the family and any critical decisions, the mother is generally the one who has to meet the domestic needs of the husband and children. This made the mother also the disciplinarian and can be a conflict with the mother’s traditional role as the nurturer, (Englekirk, Marin, 2006). The Man in the family has a very low participation level when it comes to the household chores.

In the early 1940’s Puerto Rican’s began moving to the United States mainland in search of better economic conditions and job opportunities. Recently they have significantly progressed socioeconomically; in 2002 an estimated 24,450 Puerto Ricans in the U.S. had individual incomes of $100,000 or more, compared to 4,059 ten years ago, (National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc., 2004). Poverty levels for Puerto Ricans have not changed little within the last 20 years. Puerto Rican children represent the poorest population group in the U.S. Socio-economic status is affected by a high school drop out rate that is above the national average.

Many Puerto Ricans are not native English speakers and have to overcome the language barriers, (National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc., 2004). One advantage that Puerto Ricans that moved to the mainland versus those that stayed on the Island is that they are American citizens; they have the right to vote in national and local elections. There have been a number of Puerto Ricans that have been elected as part of municipal and state legislative bodies, local school boards, and as mayors of cities and towns. The Puerto Rican community in the United States represents the second largest national origin group among Hispanics, (National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc., 2004).

Puerto Ricans are very religious and are mainly Roman Catholic. Many of their customs revolve around a ceremony significance of food and drink. They believe that if they do not offer food to any guests who enter their household, whether invited or not, will bring hunger upon their own children. Eating in the presence of a pregnant woman with offering her food is the fear that she might miscarry, (Green, 2006).

There is not a Puerto Rican language, they speak proper Castillion Spanish from ancient Latin, (Green, 2006). Older generations of Puerto Ricans are less fluent in English but later generations are fluently bilingual, speaking English outside the home and Spanish within. The long experience with the Puerto Ricans to American society, culture, and language has created a slang known to many Puerto Ricans as “Spanglish,” (Green, 2006).

Dominicans migrated in search of better employment and opportunities. From 2000 to 2004 alone the population of Dominicans soared, there was an increase from 692,000 to more than one million registered Dominicans living in the United States, (dr1, 2008). Many Dominicans in the United States live in poverty; arriving in the U.S. they do not have any formal education or work skills that can help them