Latin Americans in the United States 1/8 of the US population is Latino 34.7 million people Largest Minority population And continuing to grow

Three Major Groups East Coast –Puerto Ricans Florida –Cubans West Coast/ Southern –Mexicans

Mexican-Americans 2/3 of Latinos in the US are Mexican –Accounts for 25 percent of all immigrants (Roberts, 122)

Latino American Influence LanguageEconomicsPoliticsCulture

History War with Mexico

Language Names of cities, rivers and states No national language Debate on bilingual education –In many countries children are taught English – percent Latino dropout rate Major study “pointed to the ‘lack of bilingual and English as a second language programs...’” (Davis, 113). –Quality of education correlates with job quality

Economic Many Latin American Countries –Living in poverty, come to US to work United States –Railroad workers (1880s-1930s) –Agricultural laborers Myth: Latino immigrants take job opportunities and take advantage of government services –Illegal immigrants are paid less –Illegal immigrants do not benefit from government services except education Many come to work, do not attend school Children, cost of education may reap future benefits for U.S. –Legal immigrants pay taxes

Political Latino Voter –164 percent increase between 1976 and 1996 Elected Officials –Members of Congress since 1822 Joseph Marion Hernandez from Flordia –Over 6,000 nationwide Latino issues –Presidents are concerned –Last Election 9 million voted

Media Newspaper, radio, television English sitcoms –41 percent portrayed negatively –“A.K.A. Pablo” (1984) “George Lopez” (2002) Hollywood –Enforces negative stereotypes

Mexican-Americans “Mexican Labor. The Mexican market. Mexican music and food. Mexican television and radio. Mexican names of cities, states, rivers, and mountains. Anglo America continues to deny how much the social, cultural, political and economic reality of the West and Southwest has been shaped by Mexicans. They have been part of its creation and they will form an even bigger part of its future. That undenied Mexican heritage will haunt the rest of us until we accept it as our own” (Gonzalez, 107).

Bibliography Burciaga, Jose Antonio. Drink Cultura: Chicanism. Santa Barbara: Joshua Odell Editions, Carnes, Mark C., John A. Garraty, and Patrick Williams. Mapping America’s Past: A historical atlas. New York: Henry Holt, Davis, Mike. Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US City. New York: Verso, DeFranco, Laurence J., William M. Diefenderfer III, and William Lilley III. The State Atlas of Political and Cultural Diversity. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America. New York: Viking, Rafael Cova, Antonio. Latin American Studies. Map. Indiana University. 15 Dec Rafael Cova, Antonio. Latin American Studies. Map. Indiana University. 15 Dec Roberts, Sam. Who We Are Now. New York: Time Books, US Census Bureau, Population Division, Ethnic & Hispanic Statistics Branch. Chart. Online. 27 Aug US Census Bureau, Population Division, Population Distribution Branch. Map. Online. 9 Aug