Latin-American Studies

The Hispanic American population is made up of many ethnic communities. They share a number of similarities. Such include the use of Spanish as their primary language of communication and the fact that they are predominantly Roman Catholic believers. However, the various Hispanic American communities have differences in their levels of assimilation into the main stream culture as well as their reasons behind coming into the American nation. This paper gives a discussion on the linguistics, politics, social-economics, religion, and family aspects of four Hispanic American communities namely the Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans and the Central Americans. A summary of the similarities and difference among these communities is also given.

The Puerto Rican Americans 
The Puerto Rican ethnic community hails from Puerto Rico, a common wealth of the US nation thus making them to be legally recognized as citizens of America (Nostrand, 2005). This fact is also crucial in explaining why many Puerto Rican Americans are fluent in speaking English. English is also a basic lesson in elementary classes thus making most of the second and higher generations quite fluent in speaking it. However, it is to be noted that the group mainly use Spanish as their primary language of communication (Schaefer, 2006).
The members of this community are predominantly Roman Catholics though there are some protestant believers particularly of the Methodist and Baptist churches (Tate, 2008). There still exist Muslim believers as well as other religions. Due to their automatic citizenship on arrival to American, the Puerto Ricans are legally allowed to actively participate in all political involvements of the American nation except to participate in the election of the American president.

This group has a strong family bond as can be seen in their treasure for extended families. They also have low divorces rates and high levels of friendless, an element which could be attributed to their strong religious background and value for family (Nostrand, 2005). On the economic front, the Puerto Ricans are exempted of federal tax payments. They are also granted freedom of migration in and out of America. This gives them a competitive advantage over other groups both in the job market and business establishment.

The Mexican Americans 
The Mexican American are the most dominant Hispanic American community in America with an estimated over 8.9 percent of the total American population (Ramirez, 2004). Their primary language of communication is English. However, following the recent introduction of bilingual education, most of the second and further generations are quite fluent is speaking English. The group is a major determinant in the American politics by influence of their large numbers (Schaefer, 2006).

The community is well established economically. This is particularly due to the fact that its large population is marked with almost all sorts of academic and skilled professionals, a factor which gives them a competitive in all sectors of the job market economy including holding public office jobs (Tate, 2008). Nevertheless, the group is marked with less entrepreneurship involvements. Most of the Mexican Americans are Roman Catholics with a small population practicing protestant faith.

Mexican Americans treasure their family bond as their core social structure. This has been evidently demonstrated in their communal way of living (Nostrand, 2005). They do appreciate their extended families just like their nuclear family units. Another family aspect with this community is that traditionally men served both as the bread winners and the final decision makers in the family (Nostrand, 2005). It is nevertheless to be stated that due to the global economic hardships and the factors of civilization, women are nowadays actively involved in providing for their families.

El Salvadorians
This group of Hispanic Americans is mainly composed of illegal immigrants (Tate, 2008). Their main communication language is Spanish. However, due to the need to realize their dreams, most El Salvadorians have struggled hard to learn how to speak English (Tate, 2008). This Hispanic American community does not dominantly participate in American elections. This can be first attributed to the fact that most of them are illegal immigrants. The constitution also does not give them any political rights.

The El Salvadorians have been cited to live in poor economic conditions (Ramirez, 2004). They do not engage in entrepreneurship activities. This can be associated to the fact that most of them tend to invest in their motherland. It is due to this reason that this group is a major concern for aid giving organizations. Still to be established here is the fact that due to the illegal status, lack of political influence and high resistance of assimilating to the mainstream culture, most find it hard to get a well paying job as well as fight for their labor rights (Schaefer, 2006).

Religiously, the El Salvadorians community is roman Catholics a mixture of some protestant believers (Nostrand, 2005). This community believes in strong family ties. Still, they are marked with large families. It is however to be noted that the big family trend is slowly changing mainly due to the hard economic conditions that have befallen this community. Increasing levels of civilization could also be attributed to the change towards having smaller families.

The Cuban Americans
This group has been identified as having been more assimilated into the main stream culture than any other Hispanic American community (Nostrand, 2005). This has been closely attributed to their desire to gain a competitive advantage in the job and business sectors of America. However, they still use Spanish as the primary language of communication. Bilingual education has made higher generations of the Cuban American community quite fluent in speaking English (Nostrand, 2005).

The Cuban American community is allowed by the constitution of America to participate in American politics. They are even allowed to nominate and vote for their own political leaders (Pew Hispanics Center, 2006). Just to be noted here is the fact that this group predominantly supports conservative politics. In regions and matters of faith, the group is marked with a mixture of religions with other being non-believers. However, the most common religion is the Roman Catholic faith.

Cuban Americans are quite involved in business entrepreneurship activities (Pew Hispanics Center, 2006). This can be proved by witnessing how they have managed to change Miami city into a modern one, action which has been realized through the establishment of businesses. Despite it high rates of assimilation into the main stream culture, the Cuban Americans are still holding on to their strong family bond culture (Pew Hispanics Center, 2006). They treasure their Hispanic culture as it can be witnessed from the way they have made Miami a city of Hispanic favorites.

The four Hispanic American groups have major similarities in their social, language and religious lives. They all use Spanish as their primary communication language. The groups both have a strong family bond and their major religion is Roman Catholic. They all came to search for the American dream.

However, the groups are different in the levels of assimilation into the mainstream culture. The Cuban Americans have high levels of assimilation compared to the El Salvadorians. Another difference is on investment involvements. Unlike all other communities, the El Salvadorians has the least levels of entrepreneurship. The groups recognition by the constitution is also a crucial difference to note. The Cuban Americans are legal allowed to actively participate in American politics as opposed to the El Salvadorians who have no right to vote in America.