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Hispanic Groups In America

Hispanic Groups in America
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In the United States, four Hispanic groups easily stand out as being the most prominent. These groups are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Central/South Americans, and Cuban Americans. Each of these groups has cultural standards and social values unique to it. However, they also share some characteristics in common with each other. In this paper, the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial norms of each of these groups will be examined and compared.
The primary languages spoken by Mexican Americans are English and Spanish (Mexican American, 2008). Generally, this group supports Democratic values politically (Hispanic and Latino American politics, 2008). About forty-nine percent of Mexican Americans over the age of 25 have a high school diploma and six percent have a four-year college degree (Puerto Ricans in the United States, 2008). However, twenty-one percent of Mexican American families are estimated to be living in poverty, with the average individual yearly income of this group to be about $27, 877 (Hispanic and Latino Americans, 2008). This group has much religious diversity. Some popular faiths include Christianity (predominately Roman Catholic or Protestant), Islam, Judaism and Atheism (Mexican American, 2008). Typically, Mexican families are the largest out of all of the Hispanic American groups’. Around thirty five percent of Mexican American households have five or more people living in them at any given time (lasculturas.com, 2004). Recently, there has been a great deal of political controversy involving Mexican Americans. There is a trend of Mexican’s entering America illegally, looking to find work, escape Mexico, or for a variety of other reasons. Some of these people intend to become United States citizens, others do not. This has sparked debate among politicians and ordinary United States residents alike. Some people feel that Mexican immigration should be restricted much...