Latino History and Culture

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.

Many Latinos in the U.S. are descendants of Mexican people who lived in the Southwest when it was taken as plunders of war or acquired in a series of land sales. In many cases, their ancestors became Americans not by their own choice. Almost all other American Latinos or their ancestors migrated here from Latin America in search of a better life and opportunities. As a group, Latinos represent a combination of several ethnic backgrounds, including European,

This paper will be addressing the differences between American and Latino culture. American culture is an individualistic culture in which everyone tries to be unique from one another and more successful. Success in the American culture typically means being wealthy. Americans make decisions based off of their own personal needs unlike Latino culture. Latino culture is based off of collectivism where the family is the most important aspect in their lives. Latinos are more likely to make decisions based off of the best interest of their families not necessarily themselves. The primary language Americans speak is English whereas Latino Americans typically speak Spanish. One thing that both cultures share is the importance of a good education.

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.

In this day and age we as a community are learning the appropriate terms to use to describe a person. For example, the difference of a person who identifies as pansexual versus someone who is asexual. Sadly, we continue to be uneducated between two terms, unaware that they are in fact different from one another. Even though the terms Latino and Hispanic have similar culture, they are opposite from one another by their mother tongue to geographical location.Firstly, it is understandable why the titles of Latino and Hispanic is spoken interchangeably due to their similar cultures. An example of the Latino and Hispanic community shared culture is religion. Reports done by Nabil Yafai from Inter Exchange states, “...majority of Hispanic and

One popular paining is of Vicente Guerrero, one of Mexico’s generals, whom lead the fight of Mexico’s independence.

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.

Latinos have had a big impact in population numbers in the United States. Constant immigration from Latinos and Hispanics from all over the world have resulted in a large population of them living in America. As of July 1, 2015, there were a total of 56.6 million Hispanics in the U.S., which makes it the largest racial minority in the country (Bureau, 2016). Having a large population of Hispanics, impacts a lot of aspects in the daily lives and influences communities around

Hispanics tend to have very close family ties. In times of trouble they turn to family members for support. They more often than not make decisions as a family and not as an individual. Family

| The attitudes and customs of Hispanics have a major presence on music, food, holidays, dance, and arts here in the United States. The Hispanic families in the United States are traditionally close-knit groups, and Spanish speakers are quite formal toward each other when speaking.

Mexican culture celebrates their independence with a holiday and fireworks on Cinco de Mayo. The American ritual for independence is celebrated on July 4th also with a holiday and fireworks. Another ritual that is participated in annually by both Mexican and American cultures is the celebration of Christmas. Gift giving is a common ritual during the Christmas season. There are also some very unique rituals specific to each culture. For starters, one the most distinctive rituals in all of the World takes place in the Mexican culture, Dia de Los Muertos. Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration with masks like skulls and dancing honoring late ancestors. Another ritual specific to the Mexican culture is the holiday recognizing the Lady of the Guadalupe. The ritual feast remembers the sightings of her near present day Mexico City. American culture also contains some unique rituals. A very patriotic ritual takes place in the grade school class everyday; it is called the Pledge of Allegiance. This ritual instills patriotic values as well as teaching loyalty to thy nation. Thanksgiving is another example of a ritual not in Mexican culture that is in American culture.

Latino/Hispanic Americans cover a much wider demographic then believed. Latino/Hispanic Americans consist of; Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan American to name a few. Latino/Hispanic Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. The Latino/Hispanic culture is very different than ours. Their culture differs in economics, politics, family traditions, family structure, religion, education, language, fashion, art, music, dancing, and food. As natural born Americans in the United States it is important for us to learn about the different cultures migrating into the United States. Many United States citizens have a hard time understanding other cultures; being culturally insensitive is a common theme in the United

Therefore, she did not require the purification process of baptism. This holiday is usually celebrated by Holy Mass, parades, fireworks, processions, ethnic foods, and Spanish cultural festivities. This day is also generally considered a “family day” to be spent at home with your loved ones.

Religion and politics in Hispanic culture is tied in with the strong family social unit. Over 90% of Hispanics in California are Roman Catholic. They especially respect Patron Saint’s day; to many, it is more important than one’s birthday. The Virgin of Guadalupe (the Virgin Mary) and

The Latinos in my class differed in the way that they were proud to say they were Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Dominican. Thus, I pursued a relationship with these classmates and I began to feel differently about Latinos. I realized that I was taking part in the prejudice thoughts my previous classmates had toward Latinos by concealing my identity. I also recognized that Latinos were struggling to pursue a better life and that we are looked down upon. As a result of discrimination, it is difficult for us to accomplish our goals in life. Presently, every opportunity I get, I talk about my culture. I discuss the hardships Latinos face and I describe my experience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I don't know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset.