Hispanic American Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity: Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, El Savadorians and Cubans

Introduction For identifying the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions and/or statuses of four Hispanic groups living in the United States; I have chosen the four following groups; Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, Cubans, and El Salvadorians. Each group has a magnificent cultural identity but seems to have been placed in the same category, Hispanic Americans, on the basis of language. All four of these groups share the Spanish language, however each has a different dialect and even though some words are spelled and pronounced the same they have different meanings. Puerto Ricans The primary language of Puerto Ricans is Spanish. A students’ language proficiency is the best prediction of their academic performance. For Hispanic students’ academic difficulties may lean more toward linguistic rather than academic. Academic performance for bilingual students’ is compounded by the complexity of bilingualism and the degree of proficiency in each language (Mackey, 1968; Macnamara, 1970) and for Puerto Ricans by four major patterns of communication identified in the home (Zentella, 1988). These four patterns consist of the language(s) that the parents speak to each other, the language(s) that the parents speak to the children and vice versa, and the language(s) that the children speak among themselves. According to Carrasquillo and Ferrer(1994) they argue that Puerto Ricans are the ones that use English most at the initiation of their school life because many of them are second or third generations, and have become familiar with the English language through television, their peers, siblings and their parents. Puerto Rican students’ begin to show signs of underachievement in the

classroom because they may not be familiar with the English academic language or with specific academic content. In Puerto Rican culture families ties are strong. Families gather for holidays, birthdays as well as weddings. Women are usually the ones who make the decisions for the food purchases as well as what is served and families almost always eat together. (Syracuse) Mexican Americans The language for Mexican Americans is sometimes referred to as Spanglish, which is a combination of both English and Spanish. Socially Mexican Americans seem to want what all immigrants have come to this country seeking; The American Dream. (Alba, R. 2006) According to the reading, Alba R. “Huntington presents data that appears to show very low levels of Mexican-American educational advancement beyond high school, regardless of generation.” And that; “Thus, he cites numbers reported from the National Latino Political Survey, conducted at the end of the 1980s, to show that no more than 10 percent of Mexican Americans of any generation earn a credential beyond high school and only 4 percent of the fourth generation attains the baccalaureate; 40 percent of this generation fails to obtain the high school diploma.” (2006) Because of the amount of discrimination and the poor educational systems that have been provided to the Mexican Americans, they have not really assimilated themselves into the mainstream of the American culture. In the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, Mexican Americans have been fighting to obtain fair pay. Fair pay and adequate wages are still an issue for Mexican Americans. According to Gonzalez-Clements, Mexican Americans seem to focus on the grandparents, especially the grandmothers because they are the staple of the family.

Grandmothers are the ones who have read the stories, healed them when they were ill, and cooked them their meals. Cubans A Cuban American is a United States Citizen who traces his or her “national origin” tp Cuba. Just like Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans the Cubans language is Spanish. Cato, J. “In rising to dominate the centers of power in Miami, Cuban -Americans have reversed the traditional cycles of assimilation and acculturation.” They still have strong ties to their homeland and instead of adapting to the mainstream culture they have adapted to parts of the United States to their culture. Cuban Americans began forming communities in the United States in the late nineteenth century. According to Ask.com from 1952 to 1962, more than 215,000 Cubans arrived. The 1996 Cuban Adjustment Act facilitated the transition from refugees to permanent residents by cutting red tape and allowing permanent residency regardless of how they had entered the country. (García, María Cristina. Havana USA: Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florida, 1959–1994. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.) Most Cuban Americans are Roman Catholic, but some Cubans practice the African Traditional Religions, which evolved from mixing the Catholic religion with the traditional African Religion. There are now four Cuban American members of the United States House of Representatives; Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (Albio Sires and two Senators Mel Martinez of Florida and Bob Menendez of New Jersey) in the United States Senate. El Salvadorians The primary language for El Salvadorians is Spanish. El Salvadorians migrated to the United States because they were poor and wanted to flee the wars in their country. When they work in

this country, the majority of the money that they earn is sent back home to their families. Since most of the money they earn is sent back to their families the money that they have on a daily basis is very minimum. Because most El Salvadorians are here illegally they are not able to fight for better pay, salaries, or even health insurance. Most El Salvadorians are illegal immigrants, so they are not able to participate in our elections. The primary religion for El Salvadorians is Roman Catholic however some follow the Pentecost religion, as their beliefs are very similar to their own. Just like the Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, El Salvadorians are very family oriented. The women usually do all the cooking as well as the cleaning and raising of the children. Because they have strong beliefs in their religion, everything they do revolves around that. El Salvadorians would love to have their families here living with them in the United States but because most of them are here illegally their main focus is to work and send money to their families back home. Similarities Similarities among the four Hispanic ethnic groups discussed here are family, religion, language and why they have come to the United States. Family and religion are very, very important to each of these cultures. They are all here to achieve the “American Dream.” Opportunity and a better life are prevalent in each of these cultures. Throughout my research I have found that their religions are pretty much the same. In conclusion as you can see from my research all of these cultures speak the same Spanish language, which places them in the category of Hispanic. References Alba, R., Mexican Americans and the American Dream., PS: Political Science & Politics June 2006., Retrieved July 23, 2006 from www.apsanet.org/imgtest/PerspectivesJun06Alba.pdf

Cato, J, Becoming American in Miami: Reconsidering Immigration, Race and Ethnic Relations., Center for Latin American Studies., 2004, Retrieved July 23, 2006 from socrates.berkeley.edu:7001/Events/fall2003/11-20-03-stepick/index.html González-Clements, E., Mexican American Traditions in Nebraska., Nebraska State Historical Society 1998 Retrieved July 23, 2006 from www.nebraskahistory.org/libarch/whadoin/mexampub/traditns.htm Jones Syracuse, C., Cultural Diversity: Eating in America Puerto Ricans., Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet., Retrieved July 23, 2006 from ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5257.html Mendoza, V., Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement., The Journal for Multimedia History. Vol. 3 – 2000, Retrieved July 23, 2006 from www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/chicano/chicano.html Alba, R., Mexican Americans and the American Dream., PS: Political Science & Politics June 2006., Retrieved April 11, 2009 from www.apsanet.org/imgtest/PerspectivesJun06Alba.pdf Cato, J, Becoming American in Miami: Reconsidering Immigration, Race and Ethnic Relations., Center for Latin American Studies., 2004, Retrieved April 11, 2009 from socrates.berkeley.edu:7001/Events/fall2003/11-20-03-stepick/index.html González-Clements, E., Mexican American Traditions in Nebraska., Nebraska State Historical Society 1998 Retrieved April 11, 2009 from www.nebraskahistory.org/libarch/whadoin/mexampub/traditns.htm Jones Syracuse, C., Cultural Diversity: Eating in America Puerto Ricans., Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet., Retrieved April 11, 2009 from ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5257.html

Mendoza, V., Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement., The Journal for Multimedia History. Vol. 3 - 2000, Retrieved April 11, 2009 from www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/chicano/chicano.html Tara-Ivette, O., Puerto Rican Migration and the Puerto Rican Political Experience in the United States. Puerto Ricans., 1999., Retrieved April 11, 2009 From www.trincoll.edu/~tosorio/puerto.htm