Mexican American Dream

This paper introduces social justice issues such as unequal employment opportunities that Hispanics are faced with daily in the United States, including recommendations for changes and/ or enhancing the Hispanic employment opportunities and communities. The social system affected by unequal employment opportunities for Hispanics and any ethical implication will be addressed. Inclusive are the various theoretical perspective

He mentions that Hispanics have higher median earnings than Blacks, but their educational levels fall far below what African Americans have achieved. Parrillo argues that the Hispanics fall behind other groups in educational attainment due to the limited formal education of parents. Mexicans are the least educated while Cubans are the most highly educated. Parrillo also mentions Hispanic Americans’ median income fall below Asians and Whites, but their median income is above African Americans. I don’t disagree with the fact that Hispanic Americans fall in terms of education and Parrillo’s point of having a low education due to their parent’s level of education is definitely a fact. Overall, Hispanic Americans greatly contribute to the American economy and help make small businesses become successful. My one question to Parrillo’s analysis would be what would happen to the economy once the newer generations of Hispanics become educated. My prediction would be that the small businesses would collapse due to no one making up for labor-intensive job positions. The future shall tell the outcome of Hispanic Americans since President Trump’s proposed plan is to deport Mexicans since he believes they “bring drugs, and bring crime, and their

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.

Throughout our history as a nation, we have earned a reputation of undermining the relationships we have had with minorities and of largely neglecting their needs. Our almost hostile nature towards minorities in the United States can largely be seen in the treatment of Mexicans and Mexican American citizens in the times surrounding World War Two. Such hostilities are reflected in our treatment of Mexican Americans in the late 19th after the Civil War and early 20th centuries, the Sleepy Lagoon murder responses, and the Zoot Suit riots. My primary source reveals a feeling of inferiority in the United States by the Mexican American youth due discrimination that they faced, which can be better understood by analyzing the cultural contexts.

Thesis Statement: The achievement of the American Dream, represented by social classes and opportunities available for social advancement, is unrealistic. The American Dream is propaganda for capitalism, rooted into the minds of believers that are used for labor. Capitalism’s fixed social classes leave no room for immigrants or for the hopeful to move up towards material success and wealth.

The following discussion and statements are done so such that they incorporate the ideas and struggles of the Latino races regarding certain subjects down upon chapter 3 “Latinos in the united states” and chapter 4 “borders, immigration and citizenship”. This discussion is about the oppression that people Latinos and Native Americans and other ethnic groups have gone through. Some points in the discussion are oppression towards Mexican American and Native Americans, how they were treated and the impact they had.

Despite their better standing, the research has surprisingly found that they are “only slightly more likely than those whose parents were first-generation immigrants to have had some education beyond high school or to report household or personal incomes above $25,000” (28). These differences in educational and occupational attainment may be attributed to the overcrowded, underfunded inner-city schools second and third generation Latinos attend or to the fact that young Latinos feel economic pressure to drop out of school to get a job and financially assist their families; thus, keeping them in lower occupational ranks since the well-paid professional positions require a higher educational standard. These results are a bit disheartening, but nonetheless, the educational attainment of Latinos is still in a positive trend since we are seeing a slow, yet gradual increase of educational attainment.

America is most known for its diversity, with immigrants from almost everywhere on Earth. The American Dream has lured many minorities to the land of the free and home of the brave, in search of opportunity. Though the U.S. is known for its “American Dream,” America does not have equal opportunity for all of its people. Women and Latinos, specifically, have been denied social and legal equality, with both movements starting in the 1960`s. Latinos had the Chicano movement while women had the second wave of a feminist movement, with similarities and differences in their goals, means, and results. Although Latinos focused on reforming education and work conditions and women wanted to reform their image in society, both educated the public through organizations and used protests to gain limited success of better job opportunity though are still viewed as inferior to white men.

Thesis: Although Mexican-Americans are legally considered white, the inequalities and discrimination they face show how they fail to receive the social benefits that come along with this label.

Richwine compares the Hispanics with Irish, Italian, or Poles immigrants. He points out how the Hispanics are different from these other immigrant groups, by not being able to better themselves in society. He compares them by saying “people used to say the Irish or the Poles would always be poor, but look at them today! For Hispanics, we are led to believe, the same thing will happen. But that claim isn’t true.” Compared to other groups, the Hispanic immigrants do not rise out of the lower class.

When one thinks about Hispanics, all too often the image of a field full of migrant workers picking fruit or vegetables in the hot sun comes to mind. This has become the stereotypical picture of a people whose determination and character are as strong or stronger than that of the Polish, Jewish, Greek, or Italian who arrived in the United States in the early 1900's. Then, the center of the new beginning for each immigrant family was an education. An education was the "ladder by which the children of immigrants climbed out of poverty into the mainstream." (Calderon & Slavin, 2001, p. iv) That ideal has not changed, as the Hispanic population has grown in the United States to large numbers very quickly and with little fanfare. Now, the

In Linda Chavez’s, “Hispanics and the American Dream” she starts by showing the growth of Hispanics in America and how they are depicted. She sees them as a valuable part of society that is steadily climbing to new heights on the socioeconomic ladder, yet the population perceives them to be the lower end and will likely remain that way. She goes on to prove this assumption by the way Hispanics are shown in the media, which states that poor and Hispanic goes hand in hand when thought of. What is failed to be seen is that most Hispanics are steadily in the middle class, but this varies within the group just as it does with all races. The analysts take into consideration the immigrants who have just entered America, legal or illegal, which in turn causes the balance to shift towards the poor side of the spectrum. Our overall perception of Hispanics plays a role in their place in society.

When people think of the American Dream, most think of the good that arises with it. They don’t consider the hardships and obstacles one must overcome. Many immigrants come to America in hopes of accomplishing their dreams and aspirations, and if they can’t, maybe their children can. Haspel debates how “The U.S. has changed drastically in the last several decades. The middle class, which was the heart of the American Dream, is dwindling, and the disparity of wealth among social classes continues to grow.” (41) This defends the popular phrase “The rich get richer while the poorer get poorer.” In essence, the American Dream can be viewed as the aim to climb the economic ladder. As the economic gap between the different social classes grow, it becomes harder for certain groups to see the American Dream as an attainable goal. The American Dream entails a variety of opportunities, and it is hard for minorities to grasp such opportunities with limited resources. Haspel also debates that “Another issue contributing to the decay of the American Dream is the country’s changing family

From the early stages of American literature the dream of success has always been around, even at the very beginning. It has gone on the journey of merely surviving in small amounts of the literature from the native people to thriving in a growing society and being in everything. The dream to myself is becoming wealthy and being successful in everything I do. Today I believe that the dream has become different for everyone, every person has a different dream, a different way they want their life to go.

Throughout life everybody has heard the line “Follow your dreams!” This simple sentence has inspired many. This idea of creating a dream and chasing it has inspired the American Dream. The American Dream is different for everybody. It could be getting married, creating a business, or being a hero. It turns out the American Dream is not for everybody. There is always something standing in the way of the American Dream. Race, social status, and the individual are standing in the way between the person and the American Dream.