Essay on Comparing American Culture and Latino Culture

Culture is the overall moral belief, customs, language, and attitudes a person is brought and raised into. Daily, we are exposed to diverse and different cultures everyday which allow us to learn the different values and traditions each culture possess. The importance of observing and learning different customs is beneficial because it can help us better adapt and prevent misunderstandings when we communicate and interact with others. Hispanics and Americans are two huge cultures that have been sharing the same living space for years but are an example of two different civilizations. While both, Hispanics and Americans, share many similarities they both differ in recognition of religion, language,

The Hispanic culture has different values, beliefs, and traditions. Family is highly value. Family is a close-knit group and the most important social group to gather in any events or special days. The Hispanic “family unit” includes not only parents and children but also grandparents and extended family. Individuals within the family have moral responsibilities to help other members of the family experiencing financial problems, unemployment, health conditions and any other life issues. They show the importance placed upon relationship within their family extending a hand in good times and bad. Respeto y dignidad (respect and dignity) are other important values of the Hispanic culture. Children’s are taught to avoid confrontations with parents and older persons, and to be obedient and respectful. The Hispanics believe that the father is head of the family and the mother is to take care of home. Naming children after grandparents and parents is fairly common. A well-known tradition is the celebration of a fifteen year old girl called Quincenera. Hispanics culture and traditions are based around celebrating and spending time with love ones.

In this day and age we as a community are learning the appropriate terms to use to describe a person. For example, the difference of a person who identifies as pansexual versus someone who is asexual. Sadly, we continue to be uneducated between two terms, unaware that they are in fact different from one another. Even though the terms Latino and Hispanic have similar culture, they are opposite from one another by their mother tongue to geographical location.Firstly, it is understandable why the titles of Latino and Hispanic is spoken interchangeably due to their similar cultures. An example of the Latino and Hispanic community shared culture is religion. Reports done by Nabil Yafai from Inter Exchange states, “...majority of Hispanic and

The experience of racialization by the Latino/a population is similar to that of blacks and Asians. Some Latino/as are racially ambiguous, leading some people to place Latino/as in different racial categories. For example, Mexicans in Chicago have been denied jobs because they were perceived as a group who did not have any intellect, alluding to the notion that Mexicans are blacks.

What is the difference? Hispanic denotes “the culture and people of countries formerly ruled by the Spanish Empire (Gause, 2011, pp. 22).” On the contrary, Latino means “an individual of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Central, South American descent or other Spanish origin or culture, regardless of race (Gause, pp.22).” However, the terminology is not very important to most in the United States, as members of either group typically refer to themselves by their country of origin: Mexican, Dominican, Cuban, etc (Taylor, Lopez, Martinez, Velasco,

Hispanics in the United States have a history rooted for centuries. Many different cultures make up this group dubbed ‘Hispanics’, each with their own identity, culture, and struggles. However, they do group together in a common fight to gain a more stable and positive foot hold in the U.S.

Latinos are an American community of considerable diversity of culture, race, ethnic, and national origin. It is a community on the forefront of significant demographic change and sociopolitical growth (Appleby, G.A., Colon, E., & Hamilton, J., 2011). Latinos in the United States are diverse, and collectively the second largest ethnic minority population in the country (Vigil, 1996). In the Latino population, culture represents a way of life that binds Latinos together through their language, values, beliefs, and practices that are considered appropriate and desirable. The population is an aggregation of several subgroups; Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American and Dominicans. Some demographers suggest that

Being Hispanic means I am more than just a stereotype, I am not a linear character that ends where the stereotype begins. It also means that I have to be better, I cannot accept mediocrity because I am already at a disadvantage. I will rise to the occasion as the Hispanic community has done regardless of the seemingly impossible circumstances. Being Hispanic means that I will lead by example and remain open-minded as I have the advantage of having two perspectives that empower me to think beyond myself. Being Hispanic is as much of a gift as it is a burden, it makes me has made realized the social injustices that groups of peoples endure and legitimization of racism plagued in America.

Being Latino has many different definitions depending on who you ask. If you ask a Cuban, you

Latinos are considered an American community of considerable diversity of culture, race, ethnic, and national origin. It is a community on the forefront of significant demographic change and sociopolitical growth (Appleby, G.A., Colon, E., & Hamilton, J., 2011). Latinos in the United States are diverse, and collectively the second largest ethnic minority population in the country (Vigil, 1996). Culture represents a way of life that binds Latinos together through their language, values, beliefs, and practices that are considered appropriate and desirable within the Latino population. Their population is an aggregation of several subgroups such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American and Dominicans. It has

A latino is an individual who is born in Latin America. By the word latino, I make reference to the geography of the country and the language spoken being derived from latin and romance. Latinos

In my single story narrative I’m going to tell you about Latino Americans. As of 2012, Hispanics and Latinos make up about 17% of the total U.S. population. The state with the largest percentage of Hispanics and Latinos is New Mexico at 47%. The state with the largest Hispanic and Latino population overall is California with over 14 million Hispanics and Latinos. Latinos in general are accused of different things in America.

The interpretation of the words Hispanic, Latino, and Spanish have different meanings. Those who identify as Latino are from the Latin American heritage. The word Latino is a geographical sense. Latinos can be from the Caribbean such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic or from South America. The word Hispanic may offend Latinos because it was created by the US Government to define all people who speak Spanish. The term Hispanic was originally meant to classify the people of the Iberian Peninsula or Hispania and Spanish refers to anything related to the country of Spain. Even if certain groups were not from the same place or origin, they were put in the same category. Brazilians were even put in this category although they speak Portuguese

For those that identify as Latino, the racial category of “Latino” is not an option on the U.S. census. Latinos are given a separate question that assumes all Latinos share a collective identity under the ethnic category of “hispanic origin”. Latin Americans are constructing a fluid definition of race and ethnicity against the United State’s rigid definitions of race. Much of the Latin American community would prefer to

First and foremost it should be stated that in today’s society the Latino/a culture is both highly esteemed yet also suppressed. In a contradictory state it is hard to acknowledge that many fail to realize what is brought upon an individual with the sole fact of being a Latino/a in Anglo America. The definition of what is a Latino/a can very on a personal level; however it can be established that to be a Latino/a is typically to be a native or inhabitant of Latin America, or a person of Latin American origin living amongst us in the United States.