Hispanic American Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity

There are four Hispanic American groups that I would like to present in this paper and identify some basic differences and commonalities in their linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions. The groups are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Columbian.

Mexicans

The Mexican people living in this country are mostly concentrated in California and Texas with over half of them located in these two states. (City University of New York [CUNY], 2000) This is due in part to the large border we share with Mexico along these states. Even though there are other states that share a border, these two provide the easiest access to this country. As fantastic as it may sound, roughly ten percent of Mexico’s population is now living in the United States. (Lochhead, 2006)

The linguistic makeup of the Mexican American communities according to chapter 9 of our reading material is about 23% English dominant, 26% bilingual and 51% are Spanish dominant. (Schaefer, 2006) This will relate directly to their economic standards in this country since those who do not speak the native language of this country will be more hard pressed to find more than menial employment with minimum wages.

Puerto Ricans

The Puerto Rican people living in this country are a bit different from the other Hispanic people in that Puerto Ricans are not immigrants due to the commonwealth status of that nation. New York, New Jersey, and Florida are the three most heavily populated states with over one-half of the Puerto Rican population between them according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (City University of New York [CUNY], 2000)

The Puerto Rican community is a close-knit family with tremendous pride in their nationality. They have an annual Puerto Rican day parade in which many participate and the Puerto Rican flag can be seen flying on many cars driven by them for the weeks immediately following the parade and indeed many day s prior to it as well.

Cubans

“Third in numbers only to Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans are a significant ethnic Hispanic minority in the United States.” (Schaefer, 2006) The Cuban population of this country is mostly concentrated in Florida. This is because most of the Cuban immigrants arrived by boat and landed on our costal areas throughout this state. There are also some concentrations of Cuban population in New York and New Jersey, but the majority of the Cubans are in Florida.

One of the major periods of immigration from Cuba was one that was also marked with the most controversy. In 1980, there was a tremendous influx of Cubans to Florida by way of Mariel, a fishing port in Cuba. Due to the open invitation from then President Carter, Castro opened his jails and asylums to rid his country of undesirables and send them to our shores. Because of this, the influx of immigrants in that year was known as Marielitos and this term caries with it a stigma even to this day. (Schaefer, 2006)

Columbians

The people of Columbia living in this country as with many other immigrants have tended to settle in the states that have high population density. Half of all the Columbians in this country reside in New York, New Jersey, or Florida. (City University of New York [CUNY], 2000) Their main language is Spanish but just as with any other culture, there are differences in dialect between the Spanish spoken by them and other nationalities.

Columbians as with other Hispanic cultures are a very warm and family oriented people. They use their native language as a means of retaining their identity apart from other Hispanic cultures, as they believe themselves to the stewards of the most elegant Spanish spoken in South America. (Sturner, 2008)

Differences and Similarities

These four distinct yet similar groups of people share many things in common. In addition to the obvious language similarity, all four groups tend to be highly religious. The majority of them are Catholic of one variety or another. They also have very strong familial bonds and tend to form their own communities that reflect their country of origin in dialect, customs, and variety of ethnic foods.

Where these groups tend to differ is just as telling as their similarities. They have not come together as a single unifying Hispanic group, but rather remained apart to the point of hostility. If you were to say a person from one group were of another nationality, they would be highly offended and respond in a hostile manner as if you had just insulted