Hispanics Groups in the United States While

Hispanics Groups in the United States

While many people speak of the Hispanic population, there really is not a single Hispanic population in the United States. The term Hispanic generically refers to Spanish-speakers. Therefore, there is a wide variety in the Hispanic people one may find in the United States. Therefore, this paper will examine four different Hispanic groups, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and South Americans. It will do so by looking at the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions of these different cultures.

When many people think of Hispanics in the United States, they think of Mexican-Americans. This is because Mexican-Americans are the largest U.S. Hispanic group; in fact, the U.S. has the second-largest population of Mexicans, second only to Mexico. Mexican-Americans tend to be Spanish speakers, though they may actually speak a variety of Native American languages, depending on where in Mexico the person originated. Most Mexican-Americans are Catholics, though one can find a wide variety of religions in the Mexican-American population. With such a large population, it should come as no surprise that Mexican-Americans exist in every economic class, though many Mexican-Americans are stuck in the lower-socio-economic group. Mexican-Americans tend to view the family as their primary social group, but it is difficult to stereotype them because of the tremendous diversity in Mexican-American groups. This diversity comes from assimilation to American society, but is also due to a broad diversity within Mexico. Mexican-Americans tend to place an emphasis on traditional family values. Marriage, child-rearing, and male-dominance are emphasized in Mexican-American families, but that reality actually helps contribute to female-headed households. Mexican-Americans have traditionally been linked to the Democratic Party in the United States, because of the Democratic Party's interest in immigration and economic issues. However, because many Mexican-Americans are Catholic, many of them align themselves with the Republican Party because of social positions (Pinon, Unk.).

Puerto Ricans are another Hispanic group that one can expect to find in the United States. Of course, Puerto Rico is part of the United States. However, in addition to that, there is a huge population of Puerto Ricans in the rest of the United States. Puerto Ricans, like other Hispanics, are generally Spanish speakers, though Puerto Ricans are very likely to be taught some English during their educations. Puerto Rican Spanish is largely influenced by the fact that Puerto Rico historically had slave and indigenous populations, and some of those words have been incorporated into modern Puerto Rican Spanish. As a result, some Puerto Ricans will switch to English when confronted with a non-Puerto-Rican who is speaking Spanish (Romey, 2011). Puerto Ricans are almost overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, though Puerto Ricans may be one of any of the major world religions as well as some localized religions that originated in Native American or African practices. Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico are in the lower-socioeconomic class. However, Puerto Ricans living in the rest of the United States can be in any of the financial classes. The family is the heart of the Puerto Rican social structure. However, family is identified different for Puerto Ricans than for mainstream American society; extended family is important and can include people separated by several degrees or generations. Furthermore family is male dominated; women are expected to marry young and bear a large number of children. However, like in other patriarchal societies, this tends to lead to a large number of female-headed households. Puerto Rico has played an increasing role in American politics, with the two major parties actively battling for Puerto Rico's support, at least on the Presidential scale. However, both parties seem to find tremendous support, at least on the island.

Cuban Americans differ from many other Hispanic groups in the United States, because their status as political refugees seems to give them a higher status than other political groups. While Cubans tend to be Spanish speakers, many Cuban Americans tend to be more comfortable with English than other Hispanic groups. The thriving Cuban communities are also known for their use of Spanglish, which is a hybrid of English and Spanish, which can make it difficult for English-only or Spanish-only speakers to understand them (Buffington, 2011). Because Cuba has a repressive religious regime, many Cubans are not religious. Those that are religious tend to be Roman Catholic, as with other Hispanic groups. Cuban Americans have the highest socioeconomic status of any Hispanic group in the United States, though they still make less money than non-Hispanic whites. There are other differences between Cubans and other Hispanic groups. The Cuban social structure is more based on community than other Hispanic groups, with less emphasis on family than other Hispanic groups. In addition, Cubans have matriarchal family structures. In contrast to other Hispanic groups, the Cuban American family structure tends to be matriarchal, rather than patriarchal. Another significant difference is that many Cuban Americans are very politically conservative, which seems to be a reaction to the communist regime from which they fled. However, younger Cuban Americans are more likely to be left-wing. Cuban Americans are very actively involved in American politics, with a political lobby that is considered the most powerful of any minority group, except for the Jewish lobby.