Hispanic American Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity

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Hispanic Americans have a vast and rich history in the United States that reaches back hundreds of years. Their close familial and religious ties make them similar but they are very different in their ethnic cultures. For example, Mexican American, Puerto Rican American, Cuban American, and Dominican American are all Hispanic Americans but are defined in different ethnic groups. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican Americans all have very much in common. Many come to the United States for political asylum, but many immigrate to the United States in search of the American Dream. By 2100, the US Census Bureau estimates that one third of the US population will be made up of Hispanics or Latinos. (Schaeffer, 2006)

Mexican Americans are a diverse people who have attained socioeconomic, language adaptation, and legal status. Most are in pursuit of the American Dream and working hard to escape the debilitating status of the earlier generations, who are excluded from this attempt due to not having attained legal status in the United States. Alba states that Hispanics who are born in the United States or have lived in the United States for 10 years speak English well; English is the dominant language by the second generation; and by the third generation monolingualism is common. The apparent predominance of Spanish use by Hispanics is due to recent immigration. Mexican Americans do not have many entrepreneurships or a wide-spread ethnic economy like the Cuban Americans established in Miami. Throughout the history of immigration to America, Mexicans seem to have made little progress in moving up from immigrant status to mainstream social status, partly due to the amount of discrimination and the poor educational systems provided to them. (Alba, 2006)

Puerto Ricans are the third largest Hispanic subgroup living in the continental United States. A large population of Puerto Ricans is settled in the states of Connecticut,...