Hispanic Culture

Since 1970, United States of America has seen a considerable amount of immigration because of economic chaos and civil wars in Latin American countries. The fight between the government of El Salvador and leftist guerrillas in 1980 brought about 500,000 immigrants to United States. They settled primarily in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Washington, D. C. The civil war in Nicaragua in the year 1980 drove an estimated 800,000 Nicaraguan immigrants to the United States Mexican Americans are the most prevalent Hipic group within the United States.

Their history can be dated to four centuries within America, contrasting in different regions. In States like California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada have great amounts of Mexican Americans. (Mexican Americans, 2007). Most of Mexican Americans residing in the United states converse in their own native language. Spanish is usually the solitary language that they use . But english is the universally unrestricted language in the general community. As many generations have passed, a new verbal communication has emerged, called Spanglish, which is a blend of both Spanish and American.

America has always been harsh on Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans had a hard time elevating their financial and social status in this country, as they were judged by the color of their skin. The Chicano Movement changed the lives of Mexican Americans’ in the United States. This movement secured these people in the economy with civil rights and economic opportunity. Significant number of Mexican Americans are Roman Catholic. Their religious beliefs influence their perceptions on various aspects of their life, including view on sex, education, and politics.

Puerto Ricans are the second largest groups of Hipics . they reside in large numbers in New Jersey and New York. Puerto Ricans are not considered foreign immigrants, since they are technically American citizens (Puerto Rican, 2008). Puerto Ricans do not have a “proper language”. They use Castilian Spanish. They differ from other Spanish-speaking groups in the way the pronounce. These people are generally racially and ethnically diverse, and recognize racial variance amongst themselves. They generally call themselves as “Negro”.

Most Puerto Ricans are eligible for benefits in America, since Puerto Rico is a United States commonwealth. But many feel that as they are eligible for benefits in welfare programs, it keeps them within a cycle of poverty. The general population that is not benefited tend to work in the industries around New York and New Jersey. Puerto Ricans are generally Roman Catholic. However, in recent years, it is reported that only 70% of the people consider themselves Catholic, while the majority of the remaining group consider themselves as Protestant. Traditionally, fathers and husbands are seen as the head of the households.

Sons take the responsibility of taking care of the “womenfolk”, specially their younger sisters. They generally have extended families. Cuban Americans are the third largest group of Hipics within the United States. Most of the Cuban Americans were originally born in Cuba, but moved to United states as a result of Fidel Castro’s communist dictatorship (Cuban Americans, 2008). The older generations of the society continue to carry on their prominent language of Cuban, but it is the younger generations who have started to choose a different path.

The new generation prefers to communicate in English than Cuban. Large communities of Cuban Americans can be found in New York City, northern New Jersey, Los Angeles and southern Florida. Most Cuban Americans are successful in these communities, because they back others who share their cultural backgrounds. The new generation are redefining themselves as the older generations are passing away; some seeking identify from their culture, while many others distance themselves from their ethnicity backgrounds.

It has been found that out of every 14 Cuban Americans in Southern Florida having entrepreneurial business these people have the highest entrepreneurial rate among all other Hipic groups. Many Cuban Americans live in little communities of Cuban descent. So they don’t feel the necessity to go out of their community. Thus, a higher rate of business ownership exists. Cuban Americans had a vigorous role in redefining the American Political scene. Most of the Cubans are against Fidel Castro’s Communist government.

So any movements or policies that are against his government are supported highly amongst the Cuban American communities. Also any Cuban-related policies within the legislation of the United States are significantly influenced by Cuban Americans (Roots of, 2008). Most of the Cubans are generally Roman Catholics; however this trend has been greatly modified to “syncretism” by a huge amount of support since Catholicism’s early introduction into Cuban’s history. Most of the Cuban Americans often have extended families, including parents and children, and older relatives (those who are widowed or dependent on others).

The chances of intermarriage with individuals out of their ethnicity and culture are very low, as this is against their family value. Dominican Americans form a newer national community in America. They are still in the process of creating a unique atmosphere and place for themselves amongst both the American culture and Hipic groups (Dominican American, 2008). The official language of Dominican Americans is Spanish. But English is also popularly spoken, and even a French dialect is sometimes heard amongst the Dominican American culture.

Most of the Dominicans that come to America face language barriers, alongside with poverty as a major concern. Now a days many Dominican Americans have moved up from a previous immigrant status to a conventional status amongst a common American society. Within the last past few years, the economic status of Dominican Americans has begun to diversify itself, as racial acceptance has become more acceptable. This diversification is amongst different groups of Africans, Hipics, and American Indians within the Dominican culture. There are no Dominican member in The U. S. House of Representatives although they do exist within the political scene as council members. Dominican Americans have been elected as officials in some other states as well (Buffington, 2008). Most of the Dominican American are Roman Catholics ( a leading statistical amount of 90%). Nonetheless, a small group of Protestants also exist within their communities and culture. But even smaller than this, a small percentage of African religious beliefs too exist within the society. Cuban Americans in the New York area constitute as much as seven percent of the total population (Schaefer, 2006).

Dominican Americans have been making serious steps to the development of their community, and at the same time are increasing their knowledge base so as to be recognized as an important cultural group. The new generations of Dominican Americans are as Dominicans as they are Americans, speaking both languages, English and Spanish. Dominicans have succeeded and have made rapid achievements in all fields of life. (Dr1. com. Dominican Americans). The terms Hipic or Latino are used to describe people who come from a variety of different countries and cultural settings.

These names are given to different ethnic groups when they come to the United States. The four major Hipic groups – Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican Americans have their own separate identity. There are also many similarities that connects them in linguistic, cultural, political, economic, and familial categories. The Spanish language helps to combine them together, though there are some differences in dialect. Roman Catholicism is the major religion followed, but each group also practices Protestantism and other Christian denominations. Puerto Ricans are considered legal citizens of the United States of America.

The Mexican Americans and others are still working on to get a legal status. Hipics in the United States have contributed significantly to its society’s customs and culture for many centuries. These contributions range from politics, public service, military, business, science, organized sports to even the entertainment industry. Their impact on the society can be understood only if we take a closer look. It is quite surprising as many historians have not acknowledged Hipics’ impact on history, as they are just as intricate within America’s history as any other race or nationality (Contributions of,2008)

References

Cuban Americans (2008). Wiki. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_American
Mexican Americans (2008). Wiki. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican-Americans
Puerto Ricans (2008). Wiki. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican
Americans of Hipic Heritage Web site: http://www.neta.com/~1stbooks/dod2.htm (2008) Cuban Americans. Retrieved June 23, 2008, from MSN Encarta Web site: Buffington, S. (2008) Dominican Americans. Retrieved June 23, 2008, from Every Culture Web site: http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Dominican-Americans.html