“The Hispanic Challenge,” by Samuel Huntington argues that the heavy and persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants is creating a division in United States. He states that this is not only a division of two peoples, but of two cultures and two languages. Huntington compares the Hispanic immigrant community in the United States to all the other immigrant groups in the country, and states how this group has not assimilated like the others. According to Huntington, some of the contributing factors to the gradual Hispanization of the United States include the proximity of the countries, income inequalities, increased availability of transportation, pride in Spanish language and ethnic culture, Mexican entitlement, high fertility rates among Hispanic …show more content…
communities, and many others. Huntington explains that, as a result of these factors, Hispanic people have increasingly become involved in influencing America’s political, social, economic, linguistic and cultural life. Huntington wrote this article to break down how Hispanic immigration has influenced the United States, and how this is changing many aspects of our country.
I found Huntington’s piece to be very interesting, informative and slightly alarming. As he expounded upon the notion that the current persistent flow of Hispanic/Latino immigration is leading to loss of American identity, he broke his reasoning down into 6 categories- contiguity, scale, illegality, regional concentration, persistence, and historical presence. To briefly explain, contiguity relates to the fact that the Mexican border’s proximity is much closer, making the journey from Mexico to America easier. Scale signifies the appeal of the US- demographically, economically, politically, and socially- in the eyes of an immigrant. Illegality references the millions of undocumented immigrants entering the US. Most of the Mexican immigrants choose to live in southwestern states, predominantly Texas and Southern California, which is the idea of regional concentration. The persistence category states that previously, waves of immigration would subside after a period of time, but the wave of hispanics has only increased. Finally the historical presence piece, which is the most prominent, in Huntington’s eyes, is that Mexicans and Mexican Americans have been able to claim spaces in America due to the changes in historical boundaries. Historical presence also relates to the use of mother tongue amongst Mexican immigrants. …show more content…
Huntington linked use of Spanish to lack of assimilation. In this new era, the most immediate challenge to America's traditional identity comes from the continuing immigration from Mexico, and the increased fertility rates of these immigrants.
Americans tend to generalize immigrants, focusing on the economic costs and benefits of their presence in the country, ignoring its social and cultural consequences. As a result, they have overlooked the unique problems posed by contemporary Hispanic immigration. Huntington discusses the lack of assimilation in a way that suggests that Mexicans and other Latinos have not really tried to assimilate into mainstream U.S. culture, but instead choose to form their own political,linguistic, and cultural enclaves. Educationally it is reported that Mexican origin children are falling behind due to lack of assimilation. Intermarriage rates have declined over the past 40 years. This reality poses a fundamental question: Will the United States remain a country with a single national language and a core Anglo-Protestant
culture? The impact of Mexican immigration on the United States becomes evident when one imagines what would happen if Mexican immigration abruptly stopped. Illegal entries would diminish dramatically. The wages of low-income U.S. citizens would improve. Debates over the use of Spanish and whether English should be made the official language of state and national governments would subside. Bilingual education and the controversies it spawns would virtually disappear, as would controversies over welfare and other benefits for immigrants. The debate over whether immigrants pose an economic burden to state and federal governments would be decisively resolved in the negative. The average education and skills of immigrants would reach their highest levels in U.S. history. The inflow of immigrants would again become highly diverse, creating increased incentives for all immigrants to learn English and absorb U.S. culture. And most important of all, the possibility of a split between a predominantly Spanish-speaking United States and an English-speaking United States would disappear, and with it, a major potential threat to the country's cultural and political integrity. Huntington showed his personal view on immigration through this article. He is scared that loss of “American identity” will lead to a decline in the institutionalized supremacy of White Anglo-Protestant culture. This isn’t about the economic piece, or even the well being of the country as a whole; he is concerned about the loss of white power. As minorities become the majority, this will alter American politics and American power. Instead of encouraging assimilation he spoke about stopping immigration completely. While factually and statistically he was able to back up his argument about the dangers of immigration, he failed to mention the positive outcomes of the immigration flows. Also, I believe that the United States has an identity that is subjective and ever changing. You can’t preserve an identity that not everyone in the country claims.
Harvest of the Empire is a valuable tool to gaining a better understanding of Latinos. This book helps people understand how varied Latino’s in the United States are. The author also helped give insight as to how Americans reacts to differences within itself. It does this by giving a description of the struggles that every Latino immigrant faced entering the United States. These points of emphasis of the book were explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
The Latino Threat is a concept of an imposing threat of the Latino, whether they be from Mexico or any other Latin country, and how they affect the U.S. and its citizens. This concept is described heavily Leo R. Chavez’ book aptly titled The Latino Threat. In the book, he describes how the Latino threat as a concept has been used routinely to underline the aspect of United States citizenship in a tit for tat manner; that being dehumanizing the Latino to raise the standing of U.S. citizenship. The U.S. as a nation believes it should feel better about itself because it is the one that turns people away rather than being the place where people run from. Over the history of America this isolationist views on illegal immigrants has waned and contrast
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000.
Mexican American struggles in the United States date back to the Spanish discovery of the New World in 1492. For over five hundred years, Mexicans have endured social injustices and inequalities at the hands of their superiors. The mistreatment of the native people of this land is constantly overlooked for "…the main goals shaping Spanish colonial policy were to maintain and expand political control and to convert Indians to Christianity." (Vargas p.30) With this mindset, the basic nature of relations between the dominant Anglos and the inferior Mexicans was that of suppression, rejection, ignorance and separation as opposed to establishment of ideals that would foster cultural relations and produce the true definition of a "melting pot" society.
A question that every high school student is faced with is: “What extracurricular activities so you participate in?” Some can answer confidently while others are slapped with a moment of sudden realization. These people are just floating along with the crowd, with no driving force or motivation. What I believe differentiates me from my peers and gives me a sense of uniqueness, is what I do outside of my academia. Out of the deluge of activities that are available, Latinos In Action is the one that I feel the most passionate about and shapes my persona the most.
To say that immigrants in America have experienced discrimination would be an understatement. Ever since the country formed, they have been seen as inferior, such as African-Americans that were unwillingly brought to the 13 colonies in the 17th century with the intention to be used as slaves. However, post-1965, immigrants, mainly from Central and South America, came here by choice. Many came with their families, fleeing from their native land’s poverty; these immigrants were in search of new opportunities, and more importantly, a new life. They faced abuse and Cesar Chavez fought to help bring equality to minorities.
When someone say’s “hispanic,” what definition comes to mind? Hispanics are not one nationality, nor one culture. Instead, Hispanics are greatly diverse people. Our language and cultural origins are Spanish and Latin American, regardless of race and color. Hispanics can be European, Indian, or of African descent, or any combination of the three. The culture could be linked to Mexico, the Caribbean countries, Central America, South America and Spain. Hispanics were once considered a rarity in the United States, now we are found throughout the country.
It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today brings awareness of how Latino/as are affected.
As the Latino population in the United States continues to grow, U.S. Census Bureau, 2001, increasing attention is being turned toward understanding the risk and protective factors of immigrant Latino and U.S.-born Latino children and families. The demographic data relating to Latinos in the United States estimate that one of every two people added to the U.S population was Latino, in July 2009 Latino population was the fastest growing minority group U.S Census Bureau, 2010. Despite the increased risk of growing the immigrant families are in lower risk of Social Economic Status, having parents with less education and limited with language and knowledge about education. Immigrating to one place to another is often the most stressful event
The Hispanic diversity of the United States has been well documented in immigration. and population numbers for many years. In 1994, there were 26.4 million Hispanics. Americans living in the Continental United States. In 2005 that number had ballooned to over 35 million.
Immigration has always been an issue in the United States, which is often portrayed as harmful and as major threat to American culture. As a result, various anti immigration policies have been aimed against immigrants in order to prevent and preserve the miscegenation of American culture, such as English only policies. Among the largest minority groups in the U.S, are Latinos who currently compose of 15% of the U.S population (Delgado and Stefancic 3). Unfortunately, Latinos have been accused of taking American benefits, jobs, and have wrongfully been depicted as a result of not assimilating to American culture. Latinos are often accused of resisting assimilation, but what has failed to be acknowledged is that there are obstacles set in place that are preventing Latinos from completely assimilating. Among those greatest obstacles there is discrimination. Institutional as well as individual discrimination have prevented many Latinos from feeling a sense of belonging. As a result Latinos have been reluctant to assimilate. Another major component is proximity. Many Latinos are native to nearby countries which allows for easy communication with family members as well as their culture. Moreover, it also allows for a constant influx of immigrants that replenish and preserve Latino cultures and traditions in the U.S. Lastly, Latino movements are working diligently to promote unity among communities for the purpose of creating a sense of identity and pride amongst Latinos, such as the Chicano movement.
Following the 1890’s, the world began to undergo the first stages of globalization. Countries and peoples, who, until now, were barely connected, now found themselves neighbors in a planet vastly resembling a global village. Despite the idealized image of camaraderie and brotherhood this may seem to suggest, the reality was only discrimination and distrust. Immigration to new lands became a far more difficult affair, as emigrants from different nations came to be viewed as increasingly foreign. In the white-dominated society of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the only way to truly count oneself as American was to become “white”. For this reason, the idea of race, a socially constructed issue with no real physical basis, has become one of the most defining factors which shape immigration and assimilation in the United States.
The United States has often been referred to as a global “melting pot” due to its assimilation of diverse cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities. In today’s society, this metaphor may be an understatement. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of foreign born United States residents nearly doubled from 20 million to 40 million, increasing the U.S. population from almost 250 million to 350 million people. With U.S. born children and grandchildren of immigrants, immigration contributed to half of this population growth. These immigrants, consisting of mostly Asian and Hispanic backgrounds, have drastically changed the composition of the U.S. population. In 2010, Asians and Hispanics made up 20 percent of the U.S. population, in contrast to a 6 percent share of Asians and Hispanics in 1970. It is predicted that by 2050, the share of immigrants in the United States will increase to one half of the entire population. With this rapid increase in diversity, many citizens have opposing views on its impact on the United States. In my opinion, an increase in immigration does contain both positive and negatives effects, but in general it provides an overriding positive influence on America’s society (“Population”).
Latinos have struggled to discover their place inside of a white America for too many years. Past stereotypes and across racism they have fought to belong. Still America is unwilling to open her arms to them. Instead she demands assimilation. With her pot full of stew she asks, "What flavor will you add to this brew?" Some question, some rebel, and others climb in. I argue that it is not the Latino who willingly agreed to partake in this stew. It is America who forced her ideals upon them through mass media and stale history. However her effort has failed, for they have refused to melt.
As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the crucial problem facing America happens to be the discrimination and oppression of Mexican immigrants. “Mexican Americans constitute the oldest Hispanic-origin population in the United States.”(57 Falcon) Today the population of Mexican’s in the United States is said to be about 10.9%, that’s about 34 million people according to the US Census Bureau in 2012. With this many people in the United States being of Mexican descent or origin, one would think that discrimination wouldn’t be a problem, however though the issue of Mexican immigrant oppression and discrimination has never been a more prevalent problem in the United States before now. As the need for resolve grows stronger with each movement and march, the examination of why these people are being discriminated against and oppressed becomes more crucial and important. Oppression and Anti-discrimination organizations such as the Freedom Socialist Organization believe that the problem of discrimination began when America conquered Mexican l...