Hispanic American Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity

Hispanic American Diversity

Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Columbian Americans are just four of the groups that form Hispanic America. Religion, language, and family ties are similarities that group these people together. However, other underlying conditions cause differences among them.

In Mexico, Roman Catholic is the principal religion. Hence it is no surprise that Catholicism is overwhelmingly the major religion of Mexican Americans and predominately so in southwestern United States (Englekirk, 2010).

Unquestionably, the use of Spanish is common among this group (Englekirk, 2010). However, with each new generation of Mexican American, Spanish becomes less used and English becomes predominant. “Census figures for 1990 calculate that though 65 percent of Mexican Americans "speak a language other than English," 97.8 percent of those persons five years of age and over professed to an "ability to speak English” (“Persons of Hispanic Origin in the United States - US Census Bureau,” 1991, p. 86). Consequently, bilingualism has become a major issue in America today (Cummins, 1999-2003). According to the Civil rights Act of 1964 schools are to provide the English instruction to migrant children (Englekirk, 2010). Most of these Hispanic groups agree the English is necessary to personal success in America (Schaefer, 2006).

Indeed, close family ties native to the Mexican heritage. These ties are still strong in families among the Mexican Americans. While males are primarily the authority figure and major bread earners, females tend to the household (Englekirk, 2010). The expectation of this family relationship and tradition will diminish with urbanization and assimilation (Schaefer, 2006).

Another important aspect of the assimilation of the Mexican American is participation in politics. Bias has constrained this contribution through political avenues of (Englekirk, 2010),”restrictive...