Hispanic Culture Research Paper

This brings me to the certain unfairness, stereotypes, and myths about Hispanic/Latino culture. While growing up we experience some of these types of situations. When we think about a Hispanic/Latino person we think about tamales, tacos, rice and beans which is a stereotype. However, Susie Jans-Thomas wrote Beyond Tamales, Tacos, and Our Southern Neighbors: Exploring Latino Culture in Child and Young Adult Literature to show that there is more to them then just those expressions. I believe we have all experienced or witnessed racism, power abuse, and felt lost in one point of our lives. This just shows that we need to try to work harder and together more.

In Hispanic cultures, women have to meet expectations. Little girls are taught that they need to find a husband to take care of them. From a young age, they are taught by their mothers to cook, clean and care for their

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.

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.

Currently within the United States one of the fastest growing minority population (Schwartz & Scott, 2012) is the Latinos. In 2010 Census Bureau Brief ( Ennis, Rois-Vargas, & Albert, 2011) it stated how an estimated 15 million Latino individuals were living within the United States, which is approximately about 16% of the entire U.S. population. There is one big problem with addressing the Latino population, and that is the family patterns are either misrepresented or not properly understood, due to the label of Hispanic and Latinos being placed together. These two groups may share the same spoken language of Spanish and have similar cultural ancestry but the diversity among Hispanic and Latinos (Schwartz & Scott, 2012) make generalizations about their lifestyles difficult. The term Hispanic came to be used in the 1970’s by government officials (cdc.gov, 2011) in trying to provide a diverse label on this population that had connections to speaking Spanish and the Spanish culture. Latino became more of a termed to be used when distinguishing between Mexican (Hispanics) and Latinos who descendants from Latin America such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Thank you for the post, it was informative and educational. Adding some highlights on the health disparities between the Latinos and the Caucasian, there is greater socioeconomic difference between the Caucasian. According to the 2000 census, the number of Latinos in the United States has increased by approximately 60 percent, from 23 million in 1990 to 35.3 million in 2000 (Leo, Marielena, Raynard, Robert, & Jose, 2002). Statistics illustrates that the Latinos population is one of the fastest-growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States today.

At some point in time in your life you have heard the terms Latino or Hispanic. What was the first thing that came to your mind? There are many different types of Latinos and/or Hispanics in the United States today. In 2003, 37.4 million Latinos reside in the U.S., outnumbering 34.7 million African Americans (Ramirez and de la Cruz 2003 Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9). Each of these types has similar cultures and customs, but is uniquely different. No one person can be so sure of which of these ethnicities one belongs to, unless you already know the person.

Insight into Hispanic Culture In fifty-seven million people in the United States, one in six are of Hispanic in origin. This number is being predicted to be one in 4 by 2035 (2015). The minority

It was very interesting to read an essay that talks about the illegal hispanic population in the United States. I believe it was interesting because we do not see this often. I have seen how many people are afraid to talk about illegal immigrants because they think it will create many arguments and disagreements. I found some of the numbers surprising. I did not know that the Hispanic population has grown this much in the country. Chavez says “But among the illegal population, 47% of households consist of a mother, a father and their children” (455). The quote indicates that in the Hispanic culture, the two-parent household is still something important that remains alive and well. I believe that in the Hispanic culture family is a priority,

The Hispanic population has grown significantly over years. This ethnicity has been a culture that has dominated the U.S. Nearly, 16 percent of Mexican Americans make up the U.S. population. The Hispanic culture has had an influence in life itself. This varies from expanding its religion, foods and customs. However, Mexican American has influenced other cultures but still remains at the bottom of the social pyramid. They continue to stay at the bottom of the social pyramid due to their lack of education, resources and beliefs of stereotypes. The Hispanic community continues to receive the lowest income by farther than any other culture. The Hispanic community shows a clear example of the gap between the richest and the poor. The Mexican culture cannot advance due to some problems.

“It is important to have an understanding about some of the myths and stereotypes of Latino/Hispanic Americans that contribute to the prejudice, discrimination, and bias this population encounters” (Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, and Harris 191).

Just as Burns and McNamara (2008) mention “Hispanic’s and Latinos have fewer opportunities to obtain a well-paying job, have poor educational experiences, and have fewer overall chances to succeed than whites” (2008). Having fewer opportunities to succeed and working in low paying jobs, makes it obvious that people would start getting themselves into trouble for money.

Hispanic’s in America, much like many other groups of immigrants, are not always welcomed when they arrive in the United States. They are often seen as inferior or as illegal. Many Americans believe that Hispanics should be deported and that they come to America to take their jobs away from them. Additionally, many Americans consider all Hispanics to be Mexican and fail to recognize the differences between different Latin American countries. In spontaneous situations, people may be quick to negatively judge another based on their appearance and their perceived stereotypes of a certain group of people.

Over the course of history, the term ‘Hispanic’ has been used to categorize a certain portion of the world’s population without knowing the true meaning behind the term. By definition, the term ‘Hispanic’ refers to “of or relating to the people, speech, or culture of Spain or of Spain and Portugal” (Webster, 2014). Another definition of this term is “of, relating to, or being a person of Latin American descent living in the United States; especially one of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin” (Webster, 2014). Before one can assume that they fully understand this controversial term, they must remember how the term came to be. The formation of this term began in the early years of the XV century when Spain and Portugal began the

Latinos in the U.S. are typically treated as one large, homogeneous group; however the typical Latino remains as elusive as the typical American. Latinos have come into the U.S. from various countries, each with their unique historical and cultural traditions. Also, even when Latinos are from the same country, different waves of immigration have pulled them from different economic or regional sectors, resulting in different demographic and adaptive profiles. Another contradiction, as the readings mention, is that often, therapists assume that a person of Mexican descent prefers to speak Spanish only and that they are catholic and are of lower socioeconomic status (Sue & Sue, 2012). I feel like this is an untrue stereotype that is perhaps viewed often.