1 Hispanic American Diversity The cultural richness in America is greatly comprised of the Hispanic American population, which continues

to increase up to this time. In fact, among all the minority groups in America, they are the ones with a significant increase in population. Based on the data of United States Census Bureau (2010) there are about 48.4 million Hispanic Americans in the country as of year 2009. Some of the major Hispanic groups settling in America today are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Venezuelans. All of them are easily identified for the common language they speak, which is Spanish. As mentioned earlier, one of the things that Hispanics share in common is their Spanish language. All of them have Spanish as their native language. It was basically just their exposure to the American society and people that made them fluent in the English language, as well. Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are among those who are very fluent in Spanish but can also speak English well. It is specifically the younger generations who are more adept to the English language. Moreover, there is relatively a huge number from the Puerto Rican population that can already speak English. In fact, 40% of the Puerto Rican population is fluent in both English and Spanish, while 39% even speak English alone (Schaefer, 2006). Because of their populations fluency in English language, they are arbitrarily considered to be in the higher status of the society. In the case of Cubans, their native and major language is also Spanish, and it was just during those times when their population was already growing that more people were becoming fluent in English also. With that, English became one of their major languages, as well. Given this information, it can be said that most of the Hispanic Americans are bilingual. On the other side, Venezuelans are actually multi lingual. Aside from Spanish

2 as their native language, and English as part of their major language, most of the Venezuelans can also speak Italian and Portuguese. Various statistical data can already attest the significant population of the Hispanic Americans in America, and with that, it is only proper and predictable for them to truly have a role or participation in the countrys national politics. True enough, various Hispanic American political organizations have been emerging decades ago. Generally, Mexicans are staunch Republicans considering the benefits that they enjoy such as citizenship, government assistance, and educational assistance. Moreover, Puerto Ricans are also enjoying almost all things that American citizens enjoy. However, despite all the many rights they already have, they still cannot vote during national elections, but they are exempted from paying federal taxes (Puerto Rico Herald, 2008). Cubans also have better political freedom compared to Venezuelans. They are allowed to vote and are also mostly Republicans. Among all the Hispanic American groups, the Mexican Americans are considered to have the lowest social status just because of the low educational attainment of their populace. It should however be noted that the younger generations of Mexican Americans are already more educated. It is just that the rest of the population has been already identified for their poor educational background. Aside from this, Mexican Americans are known to be employed in low-paying jobs, or those jobs that are either dangerous or filthy. This is why it is a good start that the younger batch of Mexican Americans are already getting good education because this is the best way for them to elevate the social status of their group. On the other hand, the Puerto Ricans have better education background, which also results to better social status and living conditions.

3 And since they also have higher rate of English fluency, this also becomes one of the contributor in their high social status. Basically, from that the level of Americanization of a minority group tends to be the basis of their social status. Cubans can be considered as the most Americanized, and with the highest social status because of their educational attainment and their ability to adapt to the American ways (Buffington, n.d.). Most Cubans are settling in Florida. For the Venezuelans, their social status based on the American standards is also improving because more and more of their younger generations are earning bachelors degree which only means that they have higher chances of landing on good jobs. Technically, the economic status of a group is still dependent on their social status, and vice versa. It is already established that these two have an interrelationship. So, based on the discussion on their social status, it can be said that Mexican Americans are still the ones with the lowest economic state. Again, this is a result of the low educational attainment, specifically of the elder Mexican Americans. Most of them barely finished their high school degree, which truly gave them a hard time looking for a decent job. Thus parents can barely have good economic status because of the limited income they are earning. Even Puerto Ricans are also struggling to uplift their economic status (Puerto Rico Herald, 2008). Many Puerto Rican actually tried to build business in their island, hoping to make it a booming one and eventually be recognized as one of the American states. Cubans on the other hand had an easier time when it comes to having a stable economic status as they are already Americanized, and most of their ways of survival are apt to how true American citizens do it. Cubans also have a good record of having impressive work ethics, which further boosted their economic status. The good family

4 relations are also seen as a contributor to their status (Buffington, n.d.). While it is very easy to categorize the Hispanic Americans according to their language, it was hard enough to group them according to their religion because they really do have a long list of beliefs and religions. Most of the Hispanic Americans are followers of Catholicism but there are also a huge number of them who are adepts of Judaism and Protestantism. Although Mexican Americans are known to be Catholics, there is still a difference between their beliefs from that of the Catholic Americans. Mexican Americans still pray to different saints and even to Mother Mary. It is the same thing with the Puerto Ricans. They worship various saints and believe in miracles. The Cubans are least religious among the Hispanic Americans. Moreover, the Cubans also have varied religions like Protestants, Methodists, and Roman Catholics. Puerto Ricans who are in the higher classes are usually Methodists, while those in the lower class are known to be Protestants. The Venezuelans are the least churchgoers among all of them. However, they are still generally identified as believes of Roman Catholic who still worships different saints. Generally, Hispanic Americans have tight family relations. Up until now, Mexican Americans still follow the conventions of a family such as the father should be the main provided of the family, and the wife or the mother will stay home as the housewife. Moreover, the father is also tasked to discipline the children, while the mother is known to be the more caring one. Puerto Ricans is also one of the groups with the largest family clan. A family is rarely composed of just the immediate family. Usually, it still involves the grandparents, the aunts, and uncles, and other extensions of the family. Puerto Rican women also follow very strict probations, as they need to be kept inside their houses

5 before they are ready to get marry. The only time that Puerto Rican woman can enjoy their freedom and live their lives the way they want to be when they are already married. On the contrary, the Cubans have a strong sense of gender equity, while still maintaining a good family tie. But it is still inevitable for some families to stick to the conventions, such as the man is still responsible for earning a living for the family, and the mother remains as the housewife. But in general family set-ups both men and women have equal roles. In Venezuela, women are raised to be submissive, thus they also become submissive wives. However, for those women who have been exposed to the American ways, they have learned to be more aggressive. Their family values remain alive in their younger generations, too. The best way to identify the Hispanic American is through the common language they share, which is Spanish. Although it should also be recognized that each group of Hispanics have acquired various languages through further exposure in America, they still have Spanish as their common denominator. Also, despite the many religions that the Hispanic Americans specifically believe in, they are still recognized to be believers of Roman Catholicism because most of them are followers of the religion. The main difference between them is their level of adaptation in the American society and how it has affected their social and economic status. As indicated earlier, the Cubans are technically the ones who are most adapted to the American society, while the Mexican Americans are the least Americanized.

References

6 Buffington, S. (n.d.). Everyculture.com.Cuban Americans. Education. Retrieved August 8, 2010, from http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Cuban-Americans.html Schaefer, R, T. (2006). Racial and ethnic groups (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Puerto Rico Herald. (2008). Exclusive Public Opinion Survey. Its the Economy, estupido? Retrieved August 8, 2010 from http://www.puertoricoherald.org/issues2/2008/vol12n01/PRR1101-Puerto-Rico-Report-en.html U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). American Fact Finder. 2009 Population Estimates. Retrieved August 8, 2010, from http://factfinder.census.gov