Paper Topic:

Racial and Ethnic Groups

Hispanics

Mexican Americans

Mexican Americans are a group of people who are living in the United States with a Mexican ancestry . Being the largest Hispanic group in the country , they are mostly concentrated in areas in the Southwest Northwest and Midwest

Language is a big issue among this group of Hispanics . Most of the younger generations are bilingual that is , they can speak both Spanish and English . However , the older generation has experienced being punished in school for speaking their native tongue , while getting criticized by other groups if they

only speak English

In politics , Mexican Americans have do not favor one party over another Some prefer Republican candidates while others vote for Democrats Some oppose the Iraq war , while others advocates the open b proposal . Notably , they can vote and be elected for public office in San Antonio , Texas . But in other states , there are existing prejudices that prevent Mexican Americans from exercising their rights to vote .Over the years , Mexican Americans have been socially categorized as whites . Technically , they can marry without prejudice into non-Hispanic white families . They have also suffered discrimination in the hands of racists groups . Children of this group also experienced segregation in some public schools . In the early years of their settlement , they were only allowed to live in specified places and should not mingle with white neighborhoods

The early Mexican Americans who came to the United States were poorly educated and many could not speak English . As a result , they had to be content with menial and very manual jobs . But over the years , as more and more Mexican Americans obtain education , their

economic status have improved and their earnings have gone up as well (Barrows and Rouse

2005

For Mexican Americans , family is very important . It comes before everything else . Male dominance is still apparent in this group . The father is still the head of the family , while the mother does the usual chores and food preparation . In terms of religion , most Mexican Americans are Roman Catholic but there is a growing number of those who are attending the Evangelical Protestant church (Warrix , 1995

Puerto Ricans

Puerto Ricans in America are those who migrated from the Caribbean island to the United States . They mostly settled in New York but many can also be found elsewhere in the country

This group of people speaks both Spanish and English to indicate their strong ties with their native country and their adoptive one . These people are considered American citizens since Puerto Rico is a territory of the U .S

Socially , Puerto Ricans have no angst about their identities . They are proud of their culture and heritage and have made significant contributions to mainstream America . They are represented in public offices and they have no difficulty with having dual identities . But like other Hispanics , they also had their share of racial discrimination , which became less and less over time

In the twenty-first century , Puerto Ricans in the United States have experienced an upward trend in their...

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