In history, it is known that the first Spanish who arrived in America many years prior to British colonization was Christopher Columbus in 1492 with his men who gradually occupied the central and southern part of America. Christopher Columbus who was a Spaniard was accidentally reached America though his intention was to arrive at Asia mainland but he went across the Atlantic Ocean. By his discovery, he traveled in many places of that vast land and was able to make use of the Native Americans for his advantage and Spain.
He became the governor-general of that newly discovered land (Wikipedia). Hispanic colonization continued to expand from the arrival of Columbus until the early nineteenth century. Historically, Spanish-speaking people were the next group of people who settled in America many years before the arrival of British and other European colonizers. Nowadays, though, they share similar culture including belief and language yet, they are diverse in many ways. Mexican Americans Mexicans are recorded as having larger of immigrants among the Latino group by 66.
9 percent excluding undocumented papers. The reason behind the continuous migration of these people is purely economic since one out of ten families is dependent of remittances from family members working in the United States (Beyond the Border). In the same report, about 300,000 Mexicans are migrating each year and half of them are not documented or passed through legal process. However, due to some events like the 9/11 and rising unemployment in United States, the number of Mexicans migrating has dropped to “less than a third” (J.
Logan as cited by Schaefer, p. 237). Mexican migration has started as early as 1900 at the influx of the country’s economic crisis and the rise of United States’ economy. This Latino group who resided the land as early as 1900 has divided identity; many of them consider themselves non-white while others would call themselves as Whites. In terms of language, in the latest survey according to Schaefer, “23 percent of Mexican Americans are English dominant, 23 percent are bilingual, and 51 percent are Spanish dominant” (p. 241). Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans like other Latino groups were immigrants to United States through passing of Jones Act of 1917 granting Puerto Ricans the American citizenship (Osorio). Among the Latino groups, Puerto Ricans are more united in culture and political and social mobilization. According to Osorio, Puerto Ricans have strengthened their cultural identity; they have also organized different civic groups to implement programs for the Puerto Ricans such as housing projects and employment opportunities (Osorio). This is the very group in the United States who uses Spanish language in their music, restaurants, flags, and conversations.
The reason for this was the discrimination and assimilation that they had experienced with the White Americans. Puerto Ricans in United States are English dominant by 39 percent, while 40 percent are bilingual and only 21 percent Spanish dominant according to Schaefer (p. 241). Cubans Cubans’ migration to United States was an exodus since they had a terrifying experience under the rule of Fidel Castro. According to the report of Jesus Hernandez Cuellar, about 600,000 including children in 1980 have migrated to America.
In 2000, the estimated number of Cubans who lived in America based on US Census Bureau is about 1. 2 million. At the onset of their exodus, Schaefer recalled that these people suffered stigma for calling them Marielitos or undesirables (Schaefer, p. 247). Although the events in the lives of these people are immense because US assistance was limited yet, they survived through the help of some civic groups. Economically, these people engaged mostly in business, some are scientists, artists, writers, scholars and blue-collar workers, many of them are political activists (Cuellar, par. 6).
In the same report made by Cuellar, Cubans among other Latino American group are having the benefit of highest level of education by 23 percent. By these precedent, many experts suppose that these Cuban-Americans will continue to succeed politically and economy as an effect of Castro’s rule in Cuba. Despite tremendous success in the United States, many of Cubans still express their desire to go back to Cuba once communism is overturned. There is also disparity in the outlook of older Cubans and younger Cubans since, for older Cubans they still love their culture and language while younger ones would love to talk about experiences in Miami.
In language, Cubans like other Spanish from Central and South America, are Spanish dominant. Columbians According to Yves Colon in his article in the Miami Herald newspaper in 1999, these people are leaving their country for United States because of turmoil and violence in their country. In an estimate, the number of Columbians who migrated to United States rose to about one million since 1996 (Columbia’s Diaspora). Even up to this point, these Columbians who migrated have experienced unemployment and “downward mobility in terms of occupational status (Schaefer, p. 254).
Economically, most of them find comfortable in putting up small business like bodegas that supply traditional foodstuff and other services to co-Columbians such as real states firms, restaurants and travel agencies. Columbians are Spanish-dominant because they are considered recent in terms of migration in the United States. Today, these people are labeled as Hispanic or Latino Americans who share almost same culture and language in which statistically, they encompass the 37. 4 million population of America much larger than the population of Black Americans (Shcaefer, p.
3). Among these Hispanic groups, Mexican-American comprises the largest population among the Latino groups in America, their population consists of about two-thirds or 66. 9 percent of the overall population of Latino Americans while Puerto Ricans has only 8. 6 percent, Cubans has 3. 7 percent, and other Spanish groups has 6. 5 percent (p. 236). This report is based on the growing number of Latinos from Central and South America who continuously migrate to United States to find refuge and better life (Schaefer, p.
235); most of them entered United States as illegal immigrants which were undocumented. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are Hispanic groups who arrived in United States as early as or before 1900; while Cubans and Columbians arrived in America to escape violence in their country. Among these groups, the Cubans are considered more successful and have greater influence politically and economically. The Puerto Ricans on the other hand, are more identified in their culture; they are also united. The Columbians are the recent migrants and are contended in putting up small business.
At present, Latinos’ influence is felt powerfully in America and around the world. Consider the music that is pure Latino such as La Bamba, the Mambo King and other songs of Ricky Martin; the La Opinion which is circulating all over America is the largest Spanish-language newspaper in America; and these people have already occupied major cities of the United States (p. 235).
Work Cited
Colombia’s Diapora. http://www. latinamericanstudies. org/colombian-immigrants. htm Colon, Yves. “Columbians Flee Violence at Home.” The Miami Herald (May 23, 1999) http://www. latinamericanstudies. org/immigration/flee. htm “Immigration Issues” Beyond the Borders. http://www. pbs. org/itvs/beyondtheborder/immigration. html Osorio, Tara Ivette. “Puerto Rican Migration and the Puerto Rican Political Experience in the United States. ” Puerto Rico. http://www. trincoll. edu/~tosorio/puerto. htm Schaefer, Richard T. (2006) Racial and Ethnic Groups (10th Edition). Prentice-Hall “Spanish Colonization of the Americas” http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas