Latin-American Studies

The American nation has various Hispanic groups. Each of these groups boasts of its own culture and social aspects. The Hispanic groups differ mainly in their ease of assimilation into the mainstream culture (Tate, 2008). Another common difference is their level of entrepreneurial investment as well as their numbers in the U.S. However, all these Hispanic American ethnic groups have a number of similarities. They use Spanish as their primary communication language. Still, these ethnic groups are predominantly Roman Catholics (Tate, 2008).

This essay is a discussion of four Hispanic American groups namely Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and the Central Americans citing their cultural diversity. The paper identifies the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions andor statuses of these four Hispanic American groups. A summary of the similarities and differences among these groups is also given.

The Mexican Americans form the largest Hispanic group in living in United States forming an estimated over 59 percent of the Hispanic American population (Ramirez, 2004). This is approximated to be 9 percent of the overall American population. This group has Spanish as its common communication language (Nostrand, 2005). Nevertheless, the introduction of bilingual education in the community has seen their second and further generation quite fluent in English speaking. This has been further triggered by the desire to realizing a competitive position in the American nation. Being the largest Hispanic American group living in the United States, the Mexican Americans are quite influential in the American politics (Ramirez, 2004).

Economically, Mexican Americans enjoy a large pool of skills and qualified professionals in almost every job field (Schaefer, 2006). This is particularly attributed to its large population. Indeed, this makes its members to competitively secure jobs in any employment sector including federal government offices. According to available statistics however, the Mexican American have not been quite active in business investments (Tate, 2008). This can be seen as the reason why most members of this group are living in poverty. In terms of religious involvements, the group is predominantly Roman Catholic believers (Tate, 2008). Nevertheless,
some of its population practice protestant faith.

Mexican Americans still hold onto their family unity culture. The group believes in respect for family as their main social structure (Schaefer, 2006). Due to their value for family unit, the Mexican Americans demonstrate a communal form of family by valuing their extended family members as their immediate family members. However, this is currently changing following economic hardships and evident assimilation by some of its members into the mainstream culture. Still on family relations, Mexican American men were traditionally seen as the breadwinners and final decision makers in the family (Schaefer, 2006).

Another group is the Puerto Ricans which is the second largest comprising an approximated 10 percent of the Hispanic Americans population (Ramirez, 2004). This group is legally recognized as citizens of America by virtue of hailing from Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of America (Ramirez, 2004). Due to this reason, this Hispanic group is enjoys freedom of movement into America. Being a commonwealth, most of its members are quite fluent in speaking English thus giving them a competitive advantage compared to other groups. This is further promoted by the fact that English is usually taught in elementary classes. Nevertheless, Spanish is their primary communication language.

Politically, Puerto Ricans are legally not allowed to participate in presidential elections (Nostrand, 2005). They are however free to actively participate in all other politics of the U.S. The Puerto Ricans group is mainly made up of Roman Catholic believers. However, other religions such as Methodist and Baptist church believers and Muslims among others are still common. The Puerto Ricans Hispanic American group is economically well off (Schaefer, 2006). This is closely attributed to the fact that they are legally exempted of remitting taxes to the federal government. Another reason is their automatic entitlement to American citizenship as well as their high degree of fluency in speaking English which gives them a competitive advantage in the American job market.

The group has a strong family bond. This is best evident from their communal way of life (Tate, 2008). The group has indeed been identified as the friendliest of all Hispanic American groups. Such could be attributed to their strong value for family values. Another unique family feature common with the Puerto Ricans is that they have the lowest divorce and abortion rates (Schaefer, 2006). This has been associated with not only their strong family values but also the strong religious background.

The third Hispanic American group to be discussed is the Cuban Americans. This group is estimated to make about 4 percent of the Hispanic American population (Pew Hispanic Center, 2006). However, this group has been marked with high levels of assimilation into the mainstream culture. Such high rates have been closely attributed to their desire to gain a competitive advantage in the American economic market. Nevertheless, such assimilation has never broken the strong family bonding marked with Cuban American people as can be evident from their treasure in extended families and community unity (Pew Hispanic Center, 2006).

The Cuban Americans have Spanish as their major communication language (Tate, 2008). However, due to their desire to gain a competitive advantage in the job and business sector, coupled with the advantage brought by the introduction of bilingual education, many of them particularly second and further generations are very fluent in English speaking (Tate, 2008). In the political arena, this group is allowed under the American constitutional to enjoy all political rights. The group is indeed allowed to nominate and vote for their own political leaders. As evident from their current political representative in the congress, Cuban Americans mainly practice conservative politics.

Cuban Americans have invested much of their efforts in establishing businesses in a bid to realizing their forefathers dreams of coming for the American dream (Pew Hispanic Center, 2006). This is best portrayed by accessing how the group has converted Miami, their main homeland, into a modern city. Still, by making Miami a city of Hispanic favorite, the Cuban American portrays how strongly they treasure their Hispanic culture. On religion, the group is dominated by Roman Catholics (Nostrand, 2005). However, there are some members who belief in other religions such as protestants, Muslims and Hindus. Worse still is the fact that some Cuban Americans are evidently non-believers particularly second and further generations.

The fourth is the Central Americans which has been estimated to form about 5.1 percent of the Hispanic American population (Ramirez, 2004). This group is has been marked with many illegal immigrants especially the Salvadorians. The groups primary communication language is Spanish. Nevertheless, due to their illegal status, the group members have struggled much to speak English in the quest of realizing their dreams. In the political front, the bigger population of the Central American group is not involved in active politics of the U.S. This is due to lack of recognition by the American constitution as well as the illegal immigration status (Tate, 2008).

Central Americans are one of the poorest Hispanic American groups. Existing statistics clearly show that the group has not been actively involved in entrepreneurial activities (Ramirez, 2004). Such could be attributed first to the fact that most of them are illegally living in the U.S. Due to this they do not have any political power influence to protect them. The group has also been found to be quite conservative, a factor which compromises their acceptance in job market. Marked with low levels of education, its members can rarely of highly paying jobs.

Religiously, central Americans are predominantly Roman Catholics (Tate, 2008). There however exist some protestant believers in this community. Just like other Hispanic American groups, Central Americans have a strong family bond which is evidently marked with big families (Pew Hispanic Center, 2006). Nevertheless, the harsh economic conditions facing the community are continuously witnessing the emergence of smaller family units among this group. A clear evidence of the groups treasure on family unity is the investment attitude Central Americans have. They make investments back home despite their poor living standards in the US.

In conclusion, it is quite evident that Hispanic groups share many in common. First, they all use Spanish as their primary communication language (Ramirez, 2004). They share a common religious belief as they are predominantly Roman Catholic as well as having a strong treasure in communal living.

All in all, the groups have differences in their levels of assimilation into the mainstream with Cuban Americans leading the list. On investment, the Central American have rarely engaged in entrepreneurial activities unlike other groups. The last difference is the fact that all these groups do not share equal legal recognition in American. Cuban Americans enjoy all constitutional rights just like other Americans contrary to Central Americans.