In 1999, The United states census Bureau conducted a survey, in order to estimate the overall racial distribution of United States citizens. They found that Hispanics make up 31. 6% of the overall population of California, 22. 7% of Arizona, 40. 7% of New Mexico and 30. 2% of Texas. In the remaining states they were all estimated in the low 10 percentile, except for Nevada, Florida, Colorado and New York, in which the Hispanics made up at least 13% of the population, but less than 20%. Since then this number has continued to grow.
Often clumped into one particular category, this a question of one either being black or white of Spanish descent, most Latin Americans take pride in their individual ethnic background. A large number of these U. S. citizens still hold ties to back home and they acknowledge the many differences between Spanish speaking countries separated by the seas. Citizens of the United States, but of Mexican descent, Mexican-Americans makeup 64% of the Hispanic population in America. A large majority of their settlements are recognized in the southwestern, and the upper Midwestern parts of the U. S.
Chicago is also noted for having a large Mexican-American community. Other major cities known for having large Mexican-American communities are Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Missouri Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Minnesota. According to the United States census, for 2005, about 26. 5 million Americans claim Mexican ancestry. There are also many stereotypes developed in America placed on Mexicans by the United States that has resulted in the defamation of Mexicans as an ethnic group. Poor wanderers with slim to know education, and the ideal that Mexicans are lazy have all become major labels use to identify the race.
A policy referred to as redlining in the 1950’s was used by real estate companies to carryout official segregation and certify that Mexican Americans lived in separate housing from whites. Mexican Americans have also been historically targeted by hate groups like the Klu Klux Klan. The racial violence stemming from hate for Mexican Americans is not widely publicized; this is partly due to the stereotypes towards Mexican Americans held by the liberal media. Never the less, Mexicans make up a substantial part of the American population.
The United States citizens who trace their ancestry back to Cuba hold their highest accumulated population in Miami, Florida. Cuban-Americans are also highly populated in Union City, New Jersey for its close proximity to New York. Cuban immigration from Cuba to the United States is believed to have been initialized into a common trend in 1565 when Pedro Mendez de Aviles traveled to Florida and claimed the land of St. Augustine for the Spanish. These migrations largely accumulated in New York City, Key West, Miami and Tamps, Florida.
All of the land in Florida, prior to the Louisiana Purchase and Florida accession of 1819, were all provinces of the Captaincy General of Cuba. Despite this, to this day, Cuban Americans only make up 4% of the United States Hispanic population. The majority of these Cuban are estimated to reside in Miami, Florida. Cuban-Americans are often noted for the distinct Hispanic vibe and well off political nature they have developed in Miami. It is also estimated that the median income for Cuban Americans is the highest of most Hispanics and even 2,000$ a year higher than most non-Hispanic whites.
As well as being prominent economically, there Cuban Americans also hold a very high political standing in the Unites States. American citizens, who descend from Peurto Rican relatives are often referred to as Boricuas. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. This circumstance inspires the politically correct label of Stateside Puerto Rican, which is commonly used to describe the Puerto Rican population living within the states. New York city has the larget number of Puerto Ricans in the United States.
They bagan running for elective offices in 1920. In 1937, the first Puerto Rican was elected to the New York State Assembly. In 1900, 114 Puerto Rican men and women contributed to the 5,000 workers traveling to reside in Hawaii for what was known as the labor migration to diversify the population of Pacific islands. Aspira is a leading educational non-profit organization, which has been Puerto Rican run and Puerto Rican initiated since 1961. There are practically as many Puerto Rican’s in the United States as there are residing in Puerto Rico.
In 2003, it was estimated that the stateside Puerto Rican equates to 99. 4 % of the population of Peurto Rico. This is a major conflict within the Puerto Rican community stateside and overseas. The Puerto Rican government has acknowledged this demographic pertaining to the diasporas of their people, and they have started initiatives to motivate many Puerto Ricans living within the Unites States to embrace and nurture the wellbeing of their homeland. The idea here is the future of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Ricans residing in the U. S. are intertwined.
In a 5-city telephone survey conducted in 2002 by Bendixen & Associates (2002) for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, they measured the strength of what they call Puerto Rican dual identity between the states and the island. • 68% say that most of their children’s friends are Hispanic or Puerto Rican; • 63% attend Puerto Rican celebrations like the Puerto Rican Day parade; • 54% are very connected to their family back in Puerto Rico. (Wikipedia, 2005) American citizens with family descended from South America are connected to the most diverse group of Spanish speaking ethnicities on this planet.
South America is a continent in the southern western hemisphere. Like America, South America is named after Amerigo Vespucci. The Spanish colonies of South America won independence between 1804 and 1824 in the South American Wars of Independence. The most common religion among these people is Roman Catholicism, then Christianity, Hinduism and Islamic faith. The primary languages are Portuguese and Spanish. In fact, 51% of South Americans speak Portuguese. Despite this most South American countries are Spanish-speaking.
South America encompasses more than 30 individual ethnic groups, some of whom are indigenous and endangered. This is partly the reason why many different Spanish groups, depending on what genealogical background they descend from, may encounter a prejudice interaction in the states with another person of Spanish speaking descent. The differing characteristics between many different Spanish speaking nations, including those not in South America, has led to ethnic turmoil. This is partly why in 2004, the South American summit was held.
The purpose of this meeting was to unify the Presidents of the separate nations within South America. The participating nations within this unification were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In sum, in my experience with interactions between members of different Spanish speaking races, I have noticed that prejudice is largely based on a pride in one’s culture. Many people, in fear of denouncing who they are as individuals, declare their pride by outwardly degrading the ethnicity of another.
The rich diverse array of culture that comes from all of these Spanish speaking factions and that has coalesced here in the United States, should not be encouraged to designate one another by genealogy, but to embrace individuality and sameness alike. This melting pot mentality is the most inspiring characteristic of the Spanish speaking people.
References
Acosta-Belen, Edna, et al. (2000). “Adios, Borinquen Querida”: The Puerto Rican Diaspora, Its History, and Contributions (Albany, NY: Center for Latino, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, State University of New York at Albany).”Cuban American. ” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 13 Jan 2007, 21:50 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Jan 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Cuban_American&oldid=100520500>. “Mexican American. ” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Jan 2007, 19:37 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Jan 2007 <http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Mexican_American&oldid=99821436>. “South America”. The Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online. 2005. New York: Columbia University Press.