Essay on The Concept and Formation of the Term 'Hispanic'

How are Hispanics getting help with English and what obstacles or barriers are they facing? That is an extremely good question. Everyday, more and more Hispanics are making a move to the United States in hopes of a better life. The only problem is that many of them can not speak any English at all. Since the United States is basically an English speaking nation, it is important that Hispanics learn English to be able to adjust to life within the United States. But, that is easier said than done because it is not easy to get Hispanics the help that they need in learning English. There have to be people who are willing to tutor and fund programs. Of course, there are always obstacles or barriers that stands in the way of progress.

In America today, we are faced with several different minority groups arriving to the United States. The most common of all minority groups are the Hispanics. America is known for their language being English, but as the year's approach, that language has faded and a new face in English language has taken over, it's called Spanish. We as the people of America have become controversial over this major change, and due to that major bilingualism and political movements that have occurred from the government to the education departments. In this paper, I am going to talk about the four most common Hispanic groups in our country today and the political, social, linguistic, economic, religious, and familial conventions and/or statuses that they

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.

Today, the Hispanic population has grown tremendously over the years. We have watched the Hispanics community growth rate grow faster than any other racial and ethnic group in the nation. The Hispanic culture and community has populated all around the United States, introducing new traditions and customs. I was traveling to different to city in the States, I notice the wide spread growth of Hispanic communities, For Instance in Miami the Cuban and El Salvadoran culture is heavy populate in the area. In New York the Puerto Rican culture is dominating through out the several boroughs. I have come around town and Hispanics are known for their good food, which tends to have more diverse people try new cultural customs. Hispanic or Latino

Juan Gonzalez uses Chapter 12: “Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracán over Language and Culture” of his novel Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America to introduce a truly polarizing argument that has plagued the Latino community in the United States of America. Gonzalez is quick to point out that English is the common language in this country, though he is quicker to note that it should not necessarily be so. This author is so incredibly biased in this chapter that it is nearly impossible to disagree with his opinion without feeling like one is completely shutting out the entire Latino community. However, speaking as a member of this community, perhaps it is this unique insight that allows for not only a contending opinion, but also the framework to make the opinion relevant. Gonzalez makes brash claims with little supporting evidence and relies heavily on argumenta ad passiones to manipulate the reader’s emotions instead of focusing on rationalism and sound judgment. Quite possibly, it was the abundance of this logical fallacy that made it difficult to sympathize with his argument; though, it lays the basis for this chapter analysis.

“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?

In chapter seven of Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century, the author Tomás Almaguer discusses how the Hispanic and Latino populations in the United States are identified in terms of race and ethnicity. Almaguer mentions how Latinos were initially identified as “white” in government documents mainly due to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. However, soon enough due to the increase of the Latino population in the United States from various Latin American or Hispanic countries, they began to be placed under an ethnicity.

One of the primary aspects of colonial Spanish life that is depicted in many Casta paintings, and represents signifiant racial tensions at the time, is the depiction of mixed race, or mixed nationality people, who are present, or the subjects of many Casta paintings. Although the Casta system, and the Casta paintings that depict this system encompass a wide and deeply complex racial hierarchy, there are some significant racial distinctions that are prominent in many Casta paintings. Some of the main racial and national distinctions seen in many Casta paintings are, Criollos (Mainly Spanish, or other Europeans who were born in America), Mestizos (A person with one Native American parents and one European parent), Mulatos (A person with one African parent and one European parent), and Negros (African). Although these terms would often be considered to be highly offensive in modern day America, they are culturally relevant, as they were commonly used at the time of the Casta system. This essay will explore the depictions of these four groups of people in Casta paintings, and how these paintings help to illuminate the racial tensions, hierarchies, and cultural changes occurring in Hispanic America during the 17th century.

From Reséndez’s foundation of European enslavement and its far-reaching impact on Native American populations, Reséndez examined racial components in the southwest. It is impossible to separate racial tension from the study of Indian slavery. Christopher Columbus’s journals as contemporary letters show the Spanish perception of

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

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

The interchangeable nature of the term “race” must be understood in order to accurately explore the process of race thinking in Colonial Latin America. The use of the concept “race” over the course of the sixteenth and seventeen centuries in Spanish America was restrictive and unreflective of the prevalent perspective of the twenty-first century. The underlying issues associated with race thinking were centralized around the belief that Spaniards were actively expressing racism towards Indians, Africans, and other groups of people. However, the individuals living during this time were unfamiliar with the diversity that existed within their world which is suggestive of mere attempts to make sense of the people they were encountering. The Spaniards

In the film “When Worlds Collide”, the answer to the question “How did the American Indigenous populations impact Spain (and vice versa)?” was focused on the changes in wealth, class systems, and the Spanish conquistadors’ intentions. The first topic covered in the film is how today’s America and today’s world are heavily influenced by the culture, heritage, and history of the Mestizo race and their Spanish counterparts. The video then explains that the Mestizo race came into existence after the Spaniards had children with the Natives of the “New World”.

Africans were brought to New Spain as slave labour on ranches, at the mines, and for service in the military—furthering Spain’s presence and takeover of the civilizations in the ‘New World’. The Indigenous population provided labour, mostly in the agricultural and commercial sectors. As the colonies of New Spain developed, the Indigenous and African peoples were introduced through circumstance, “allow[ing] individuals to gain increased fluency in the cultural norms of those with whom they worked and interacted” (895). Schwallar points out, “Africans and native peoples would form relationships…which would produce Afro-indigenous mulatos” (895). Hence the mulatto population expanded greatly as the result of African and Indigenous unions.

Por otra parte, las consecuencias duraderas dejadas por la introducción de los conquistadores al Nuevo Mundo, todavía se pueden ver hoy en día. Los conquistadores crearon una mezcla racial entre la totalidad de los españoles nativos, los habitantes indígenas y los nativos africanos que se introdujeron a la esclavitud por los colonos portugueses (Fox, 2010). Cuando los conquistadores llegaron por primera vez al Nuevo Mundo, fueron introducidos a lo que algunos denominan "mujeres exóticas" que era un término comúnmente utilizado para describir a las mujeres indígenas. Debido a esta introducción, las dos carreras creado lo que hoy se conoce como ' criollos ' mestizos ',' mulatos ', etc.