The Importance Of Mexican And American Culture

At my understanding, the term Hispanic is wrongly used when referring to a race. Being Hispanic is, of course, to belong to an ethnic group, but it is much more than that. It is not about the color of your skin or your hair, but about culture, tradition, and manners. All started with the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of South and Central America. From Europe came the adventurous men, full of ambitions and courage. These attributes blended with the strength and energy of African slaves and the Native Americans, and this mixture led to the born of this new culture that we called Hispanic.

Am I Mexican,or am I American? One day, I was thinking about how I had to work twice as hard to embrace them both to please both cultures. I then realized that if I am working to please them both,then I am both. Speaking a language is not a due to pay to be who I am. There is no checklist to qualify for,and no test to pass,you are who you are. I am a bridge that has its beams planted in both sides of the Mexican-American border. When school began and I enrolled in honor level Spanish classes, I did it, not because people thought I had to,but because it will be beneficial to my life. People would sometimes tell me the stereotypical things they believed about hispanics,such as the beliefs that we are lazy. Instead of tearing me down, that only made my work ethic head into overdrive. Confining to others expectations was not what I wanted for myself. Like the bridge between the two cultures,I would stand tall and remain unaffected by the remarks people threw at me. Growing up as a Mexican-American has proven to have its challenges,but I am grateful. These trials have helped make me into the person that I am today,and has given me a different perspective on life than the average

Culture includes religion, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and many other aspects. Food is another main part of culture and that includes how we sit at the table and our dietary needs. Hispanics and Americans are the two largest ethnic groups in America. This means both of these groups had to become accustomed to the culture of one another. One very immense difference and similarity between Hispanics and Americans is food.

A misperception of the global community is that countries are comprised of a single culture. In this compartmentalized worldview, a country has the same food, ideas, and traditions as if our national borders are the only aspect to define us. However, Mexico is far from a homogenized culture or identity; there is a myriad of differences within present day Mexico and the Mexican-American Community. In Chicago, the Westside neighborhood of Pilsen showcases the rich diversity of Mexican culture. Pilsen has changed hands as many immigrants thrived in its streets throughout the century and is now predominantly Latino/Mexican. The small neighborhood’s vibrant culture is encapsulated in the brilliantly colored painted murals featured on many building,

Have you ever question yourself how two close countries can share a lot of differences? Well Mexico and the United States it’s an example of one. Yet so close to each other, they both have their differences when it comes to their culture and the way they live. Some of the differences between the Mexican culture and the American culture are the different type of food they eat, the many different types of holidays they celebrate, and the traditions they have.

Texas in it self is a highly diverse multicultural society. It takes on many aspects of many different cultures. One very noticeable culture that has a great impact on Texas would be that of the Mexican culture. Because Mexican culture is so apparent in Texas, that it is easy to compare and contrast some cultural aspects between Mexican and American cultures. This attempt to compare and contrast these two different yet similar cultures will increase awareness and acceptance of cultural differentiation. In order to examine these two cultures closely, I will use Hofstede's

I am a third culture kid. With both my parents being Mexican, I had a very challenging infancy due to only speaking Spanish. I could not communicate in English until I was enrolled into the first grade of Holly Lane Elementary School in Westlake, Ohio, where I learned to speak, read and write in English at the age of seven. Sounding out the spelling of the words in English did not work at all as it had for Spanish. I had to completely adapt my language knowledge to English grammar rules.

Being a Latina born in America and growing up here, I was taught celebrating American culture like, Memorial, independence and Labor Day, with the explosion of bright colorful fireworks, the smell of fire when turning on the grill and the best part; no school! Also celebrating Christmas and new year’s the American way, going to church, eating, and opening presents on Christmas day. It wasn’t until 4 years ago I went to Mexico and realized there’s more to my own rooted culture and how lucky I am to have both the American and Mexican culture in my life realizing the generation of Mexican Americans are forming their own culture with both lifestyles.

In Louise A.N. Kerr’s Historical Research and Narrative, Louise discusses the cultural history of Mexican-Americans immigrating and living throughout Chicago. In the beginning of the article, Kerr discusses the large number of Mexicans who began arriving in Chicago after World War I. Originally, according to the article, before the turn of the twentieth century, the first few Mexican Americans came to Chicago primarily as entertainers. Of these people, according to Louise, only a few of them settled in Chicago. In the article Louise states that “The first large group of Latino immigrants to Chicago and the Midwest were Mexicans who arrived as contract workers to replace soldiers and European ethnic workers during World War I”. According to

Growing up I was Mexican, even then I did not consider myself Mexican-American. I was born in the United States to Mexican immigrants. My cultural identity was to a place that I had no recollection of. I had gone to Mexico many times as a young child, but after the age of four, my family stopped visiting and my memories faded.

As we all know America was built on stolen land. In a world where wars and seizing land makes one the big man on top, it’s not hard to believe that a lot of people lose their culture background or don’t have a strong sense of it.

I never realized the difficulties of being both Mexican and American until I became older and more self-aware. As a kid you oversee a lot of experiences because you don’t necessarily understand what is happening and why. Even today some people do not understand my identity or agree with it. I am Chicana and it is something that is important to me.

All cultures are extremely beautiful, but especially the American and Hispanic culture. Both of these cultures have similarities and difference and that is what makes them beautiful. They have difference in their language, family structure and traditions. The first main difference between these two cultures is the language. In the Hispanic culture, the people mostly speak Spanish, whereas in the American culture they speak English.

Mona and I had an interesting talk about how her family mixed the American and Italian cultures together while they were raising her. She told me that many of the traditions and rituals to commemorate a death in Italy are not practiced in the United States. This is mainly due to the villages in Italy being so small, allowing the people to be more familiar with each other. A funeral in Italy depends a great deal on the family and their financial position in the village. The more money, the more prestigious and elaborate the event would be. Mona said that the deceased is kept in a casket at the family home, and that people come to the house to remember the dead.

nera”, is a show that I watched on youtube. Coming of age. Traditions. Rituals. Every culture has some form of celebration to recognize the coming of an age where you are seen as a young adult. One of the most important celebrations in Mexican culture is the tradition of the quinceañera. The quinceanera is a celebration is a represents a girl’s who is turning 15. From an American perspective, the celebration would seem like the combination of a “sweet sixteen” birthday party and a father daughter dance, debutante ball.