Hispanic Culture Research Paper

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." was said by Marcus Garvey. Some observers may criticize the fact that Mexican American History is taught at the greater academic level, however a more diverse curriculum is fundamental in developing an awareness for racism; the recognition of potential self-subjugation through lack of education; and the basic obligation to keep students cognizant of a world beyond themselves. Mexican American History as well as the histories of other cultures/countries should be taught in the classroom for the sake of cultivating a broader

All over the world there are many features that make up a culture. Culture can be defined as the characteristics, attitudes, knowledge and beliefs of a group of people, relating to language, cuisine, religion, interaction, lifestyle, and more which is learned through socialization. These aspects of cultures are what distinguishes it from others. It is interesting to explore and learn about new cultures. I will be focusing on the Mexican culture, their religion, death, family life, weddings and ….

It is well known that the United States is made up of several different cultures and the health care system delivers care to a very diverse population. However, depending on ones culture-receiving care may be a challenge at times. In this paper we are going to take a closer look at the culture of Hispanic Americans. The Hispanic population has grown to over 55 million residents with in the United States in 2015, with an estimated growth rate of 2.1% per year (Krogstad & Lopez, 2015). Making this minority group on of the fastest growing populations within the United States (DeNisco & Barker, 2016).

My person I have researched for Hispanic Heritage Month is Pam Munoz Ryan. Pam Munoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California’s San Joaquin valley on December 25, 1951. Pam Munoz Ryan was a famous book writer. She has won many awards such as, the Pura Belpre Medal, the Jane Addams Peace Award, and an ALA Top Ten Books for young adults, The Willla Carther Award, and the California Young Readers Award. The majority of these awards were earned by her most popular book Esperanza Rising.

Hispanics or Latinos are defined as a people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking culture. This term “Hispanics” was created by the U.S. federal government in the early 1970’s to refer to Americans born in a Spanish speaking nation or with ancestry to Spanish territories. Hispanics people are vibrant, socializing, and fun loving people. Among various facts associated to this culture is that they have a deep sense of involvement in their family traditions and cultures.

As I begin this essay comparing two separate cultures I feel it is necessary to first describe what exactly culture is. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." It includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief.

National Hispanic Heritage Month is through September 15 to October 15 in the United States, it represents the Hispanic and Latino Americans heritage and culture. September 15 was chosen for the starting point for the celebration of Hispanic Heritage month because that was the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries. The five Latin American countries where Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. But Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence day on September 16 and September 18. America is 60% hispanic compared to 45% of Caucasians and 50% of African Americans, so the hispanic and latino population is growing more and more in America. Also besides english, spanish is the #2 language in America.

Latinos rather than Hispanic-Americans will be used in this entry since the former term is considered as more inclusive. Latinos refer to people living in the United States, who originally were from Spanish- and Portuguese speaking countries in Latin America as well as Spain and Portugal. The term Hispanics refers to people from Spanish speaking countries, which would encompass Latin America (except for Brazil where Portuguese is the predominant language) and Spain. “Hispanic” is a term used in the United States, which originated in 1980 with the U.S. Census Bureau. This term is not used in Latin America and Spain.

“Wow...there is no way you’re Latino. You’re way too white!” was the ignorant remark made by a one of my peers during my school’s annual Latin-American Fest. Initially, hearing this claim made me look into the mirror. I began to stroke my face and examine my physical features. Was this true? Was I not Latino enough? Did the amount of melanin or lack thereof deem me as Latino?

People fighting against injustices are something that happens every day it is inevitable unless the injustices cease to exist. As stated before social movements happen because of a certain injustice. This can be from people feeling oppressed from their race, sex, or sexuality. They have had many contributions to society mainly helping those and they get rid of oppression. While inspiring others who are oppressed as well to set up and speak up again their oppressors. Mainly helping other groups use the same successful tactic that other social group has done in the past or present. Some of these groups that are looked back upon on how successful their tactics were are the early Women's movement, Africa American movement, Chicano Movement, and

Language is a very important part of culture. It’s the method of communication between people, it’s a comforting feeling to hear your own language, and it defines who you are as a person. In the Hispanic culture the language spoken is Spanish. Spanish is such a popular language in the united states that many people become bilingual to be able to speak English and Spanish. "Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in U.S. homes, even among non-Hispanics. A record 37.6 million persons ages 5 year and older speak Spanish at home, according to an analysis of the 2011 American Community Survey by the Pew Research Center” When visiting a different culture, the language barriers are scary, I recently visited Mexico and not knowing what people were saying was frightening, Luckily Spanish is common so it wasn’t hard to find someone to translate. I remember feeling so warm inside hearing someone who speaks English talking, it was comforting to

An immigrant that is coming to the United States has the emotion and perception that draws to a country of opportunities; that will live in a country that will be friendly. However, most of the time, immigrant do not know that they are coming to live in a different culture, and because of that, they need to experience and adjustment in many ways, and an adjustment that will help them to do many things with confidence.

throughout all of the United States. We have many different people that migrated here from all types of countries and from all of the continents. The main culture I will be talking about today in my interviews is the Mexican culture. The Latino culture contains many sub cultures including many South American countries and Central America. This will be an in depth interview of Mexican culture, but it is only a small fraction compared to the amount of different cultures we have in our country today.

Approximately 1 in 6 individuals are Hispanic in the United States, and the population is expected to grow to 1 in 4 by 2035 (CDC, 2015). Given that, Hispanics are the biggest minority group in the US (CDC, 2015). The leading cause of death among the Hispanic population is heart disease and cancer responsible for around 2 out of 5 deaths (CDC, 2015). Hispanics have a 50% greater chance of death resulting from diabetes or liver disease than whites (CDC, 2015). Additionally, there are 3 times as more uninsured Hispanics than whites (CDC, 2015). According to the US average, whites are 15 years older than the Latino population, so prevention will greatly benefit the health of the Latino population (CDC, 2015).

The Hispanic League is a cultural, educational and community-driven non-profit organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for the Hispanic/Latinos through promoting community inclusion, education, health and multicultural understanding. On April 29th, I had the privilege to interview the organization's executive director, Mari Jo Turner. Mari Jo Turner has been part of the Hispanic League for about five years now. Before joining the HL, in 1990, Mrs. Turner was a member of another non-profit organization called, Association for the Benefit of Child Development (ABCD). This organization's main concern targeted the Latino families as well, they found several almost to be mothers did not have prenatal care for their babies due