HISPANIC AMERICANS

1
HISPANIC AMERICANS

• CHAPTER 9

2
Hispanic Population

• More than one in eight people in US are of
  Spanish of Latin American origin
• By 2005
• 41.9 million Latinos, outnumbering 39 million
  African Americans
• Generally urban dwellers
• 91 live in metropolitan areas compared to 78 of
  Whites

3
Latino Identity

• Panethnicity
• The development of solidarity between ethnic
  subgroups
• Hispanic or Latino
• Collective term is subject to debate
• Latino more common in the West
• Hispanic more common to the East and the term
  used by federal government
• Actions of the dominant group have an impact in
  defining cultural identity to some degree

4

• 24 prefer to use panethnic names
• Among US born Latinos
• Move away from using native country as means of
  identity
• 46 first use or only use American
• 29 use parents country of origin
• Contrasts with foreign-born Latinos
• 21 use American
• 54 use national terms of reference
• Name issues or language battles distract
  groups attention from working together

5

• Income and education does not appear to influence
  Hispanics perceptions
• Younger generation think more in pantethnic terms
• Ethclass
• Merging of ethnicity and class in a persons
  status
• Identity is complicated as they move economically
  and socially further from their roots

6
The Economic Picture

• Median income increased over past 25 years
• Gap remains between Latinos and Whites
• Latino household earns 70 cents for every dollar
  earned by Whites
• Low wealth is characteristic of Hispanic
  households
• Likely to earn less annually and have fewer
  financial resources to fall back on

7

• Poverty rate reflects pattern in income
• Beginning of 2006
• 21.8 below poverty level compared to 8.3 of
  Whites
• Typical Latino income in 2005 was over 10,000
  behind typical 1972 White household
• Situation difficult to predict
• As a group, poor Latinos are more mobile
  geographically
• Half send money abroad to help relatives
• Puts a strain on supporting themselves in the US

8
The Growing Political Presence

• Federal law requires bilingual or multilingual
  ballots in voting districts where 5 of
  voting-age population does not speak English
• Voting turnout was poor
• Many were ineligible non-citizens
• 2004 election
• 53 Democrat v. 44 Republican
• Stand against Republican support favoring
  reducing legal immigration, limiting welfare
  benefits to legal immigrants, and eliminating
  bilingual education

9

• Evidence indicates younger Hispanics becoming
  more conservative and likely to consider
  Republican candidates
• Factors that elicit support from politicians
• Rapidly growing population
• Higher proportions of voter registration
• Higher participation in elections
• Less commitment to a single political party
• Resent the fact that existence is rediscovered
  during election years
• Little interest in between except by Latino
  officials

10
The Borderlands

• Borderlands
• Refers to the area of a common culture along the
  border between Mexico and US
• Notion of separate Mexican and US cultures
  obsolete because of
• Legal and illegal immigration
• Day laborers crossing the border to go to jobs in
  the US
• Implementation of (NAFTA) North American Free
  Trade Agreement
• Exchange of media across the border

11

• Maquiladoras
• Foreign-owned companies that establish operations
  in Mexico yet are exempt from Mexican taxes and
  are not required to provide insurance or benefits
  for workers
• Multinational companies found even lower wages in
  China
• Over 40 of the 700,000 new maquiladora jobs
  created in 1990s were eliminated by 2003
• Immigrant workers have significant economic
  impact on home countries
• Remittances or migradollars estimated at 20
  billion in 2005

12

• Homeland Clubs
• Typically are non-profit organizations that
  maintain close ties to immigrants hometowns in
  Mexico and other Latin nations
• Collect money for improvements in hospitals and
  schools
• Some states in Mexico began matching-funds
  programs
• Work of over 1,500 hometown clubs in US or
  Mexican communities reflects blurring of border
  distinctions

13
Cuban Americans

• Cuban settlements in Florida date back to the
  early nineteenth century
• Where small communities organized around single
  family enterprises
• 1960 census 79,000 Cuban born in US
• 2005 more than 1.4 million Cuban born in US
• Increase followed Fidel Castros assumption of
  power after 1959 Cuban revolution

14

• Three significant influxes of immigrants through
  the 1980s
• 1st - About 200,000 came during the first three
  years after Castro came into power
• 2nd Freedom Flights 340,000 refugees between
  1965 and 1973
• 3rd 1980 Mariel boatlift is most controversial
  Freedom Flotilla
• Castro used President Carters invitation to send
  prison inmates, patients from mental hospitals,
  and addicts
• Marielitos
• Implies that refugees were undesirable and
  remains a stigma in the media and in Florida

15

• Wet Foot, Dry Foot Policy
• Refers to government policy which generally
  allows Cuban nationals who manage to reach the US
  (dry foot) to remain while those picked up at
  sea (wet foot) are sent back to Cuba
• Cuban refugees have special advantage over other
  refugees in terms of public opinion
• 2000 Elian Gonzalez
• Issue of communism still overshadows attitudes
  about US relationship with Cuba

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The Present Picture Cuban Americans

• The influence of Cuban Americans
• Miami area
• In Urban centers
• Generational relations among Cubans
• Generational clash between cultures (parent and
  child)
• Inter-ethnic relations between Cubans and other
  Hispanics at times have been strained

17

• Long-range perspective of Cubans in the U.S.
  depends on several factors
• Most important events in Cuba
• Refugees proclaim desire to return if communist
  regime is overturned
• Cuban Americans have selectively accepted Anglo
  culture
• Split between original exiles and their children
• Children more concerned with Miami Dolphins than
  they are with Havana

18
Central and South Americans

• Central and South Americans came from
• historically different experiences and times
• culturally diverse backgrounds
• Unlike racial groupings in US, use Color Gradient
• Describing skin color along a continuum from
  light to dark
• Another indicator of the social construction of
  race

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• Little in common other than hemisphere of origin
  and Spanish language
• Other languages are Portuguese, French, and Dutch
• Other distinctions
• Social class distinctions
• Religious differences
• Urban versus rural backgrounds
• Differences in dialects among those speaking same
  language

20

• Central and South Americans do not form a
  cohesive group
• Do not naturally form coalitions with
• Cuban Americans
• Mexican Americans
• Puerto Ricans
• Immigration has been sporadic and influenced by
• US immigration laws
• Social forces in the home country
• War and persecution
• Economic deprivation

21
Central and South AmericansPresent View

• Two issues clouding recent settlement
• Many are illegal immigrants
• Citizens from El Salvador, Guatemala, and
  Colombia are outnumbered only by Mexican
  nationals
• Brain Drain
• Immigration to US of skilled workers,
  professionals, and technicians
• Experience high unemployment compared to Whites
• Better educated than most Hispanics

22

• Colombians
• Close to half million in US
• Rural unrest in 1980s triggered large-scale
  movement to US
• Success found in catering to other Colombians
• Many obliged to take menial jobs and combine
  income of several families to meet high cost of
  urban life
• Colombians of mixed African descent face racial
  as well as ethnic and language barriers

23

• Future of Central and South Americans in the US?
• Could assimilate over generations
• Alternative is being trapped with Mexican
  Americans as a segment of the dual labor market
• Encouraging possibility is that they retain an
  independent identity while establishing an
  economic base

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QUESTIONS
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• What different factors seem to unite and to
  divide the Latino community in the United States?

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• How do Hispanics view themselves as a group? How
  are they viewed by others?

27

• Identify the factors that serve to contribute and
  to limit the political power of Latinos as a
  group in the United States.

28

• To what extent has the Cuban migration been
  positive, and to what degree do significant
  challenges remain?

29

• How have Central and South Americans contributed
  to the diversity of Hispanic people in the United
  States?

30

• What factors would prevent the successful
  assimilation of some Central and South Americans
  into American society?