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Hispanic American Diversity

Hispanics living in the United States have a variety of cultures and practices that they have engrained into their populations. While the word “Hispanic” tends to group many different cultures together, there are many different sub-cultures that make up the Hispanic Americans. This paper will focus on four of those Hispanic groups: the Mexican Americans, the Puerto Ricans, the Cuban Americans, and the Dominican Americans.
Mexican Americans comprise the largest population of Hispanics in the United States. As of 2005, Mexican American residents of the United States numbered 26.8 million which accounted for nine percent of the total American population (United States Census Bureau, 2007). Of these 26.8 million, 16.9 million reside in the states of California or Texas (U.S.C.B., 2007).
The economic status of Mexican Americans is growing stronger. The 2005 average median income for Mexican Americans totaled over 35,000 dollars a year with almost 70 percent of Mexican Americans over the age of 16 participating in the workforce and 14 percent of those holding managerial or professional occupations (U.S.C.B., 2007).
The majority of Mexican Americans speak Spanish as their primary language with 51 percent using it exclusively (Schaefer, 2006). As a contrast to that, 23 percent of Mexican Americans are bilingual and an even smaller percentage, 21 percent, speak English primarily (Schaefer, 2006).
In the area of politics, Mexican Americans, like the majority of Hispanic groups, are sparsely represented. As a whole, Mexican Americans tend to lean to the Democratic side of the political spectrum. Mexican Americans have held various offices throughout the years, but most have been relegated to local city council positions. Current New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is presently in the running for the upcoming Presidential elections and would be the first Mexican American citizen to hold that office (Pimental, J., 2007).
Puerto Ricans have an...