Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reservedStrangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Sociohistorical Perspective The Hispanic American experience varies greatly, depending on the particular ethnic group, area of the country, and period involved Overpopulation throughout Latin America is a significant factor in the continued migration of Hispanics to the U.S.

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Cultural Differentiation

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Racial Attitudes In most Latin American countries, skin color is less important than social class as an indicator of social status An apparent correlation exists between darker skin color and lower social standing Color often serves as an unexpected basis of discrimination for Latinos coming to the United States

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved CURRENT PATTERNS Hispanics are the largest ethnic group in the United States and are steadily increasing in number all the time; at 46 million residents in 2008, they now constitute over 16 percent of the total U.S.

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved CURRENT PATTERNS Half of all Hispanics live in just two states: California and Texas, where they constitute about 36% of each state’s total population

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved About 44 percent of foreign-born Hispanic adults are high school graduates compared with 73 percent of U.S.- born Hispanic adults A higher percentage of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans live in poverty than any other group, whereas Cubans and South Americans are least likely to live in poverty All Hispanic women are more likely than non-Hispanics to work in service occupations as well as in unskilled blue-collar positions as operators, in transportation, and as laborers SOCIAL INDICATORS OF HISPANIC CULTURE

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved THE MEXICANS Most of the 31 million Mexican Americans live in the southwestern states, accounting for more than three-fourths of all Latinos in Arizona, California, Illinois, and Texas, as well more than half of all Latinos in Colorado and New Mexico In the second half of the 19 th century, Mexicans helped fill U.S. labor needs From under the bracero program, Mexican aliens entered the U.S. on temporary visas and then returned to Mexico after the harvest

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved The Mexicans Between 1954 and 1959 government officials found and expelled 3.8 million Mexicans About 92 percent live in metropolitan areas, but only 49 percent reside inside central cities Many of the central city residents are of a low socioeconomic status and live in areas where the school dropout rate of Mexican American youths is nearly 50 percent, with student alienation serving as a major cause

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved THE PUERTO RICANS Puerto Rico was annexed by the U.S. in 1898 The greatest period of Puerto Rican migration was 1946–1964, when about 615,000 moved to the mainland Of all of the major racial or ethnic groups, Puerto Ricans have the highest poverty rate

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved THE CUBANS Almost 500,000 people came to the United States from the West Indies between 1820 and 1950, although the Cubans appear to have had little impact on the U.S. scene during that period

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved THE CUBANS Approximately 62 percent of Miami–Dade County is now Hispanic, including 778,000 Cubans, 89,000 Puerto Ricans, 45,000 Mexicans, and 561,000 others from Central and South America

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved HISPANIC AMERICAN ASSIMILATION National origin and age of entry are significant variables in the effectiveness of education as an agent of assimilation Recent studies show high rates of intermarriage with non-Hispanics, yet an exception exists among Puerto Ricans and Dominicans

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES The Interactionist View Extensive poverty among Hispanics often invites outsiders to blame the victim or to engage in culture- of-poverty thinking Instead of confronting the problems of poor education, and lack of job skills and job opportunities, some find fault with the group itself, reacting with avoidance, indifference, or paternalistic behavior

Strangers to These Shores, Tenth Edition by Vincent N. Parrillo©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES The Interactionist View Too many Anglos view Hispanic communities, parallel social institutions, and limited English as detrimental to the cohesiveness of U.S. society, failing to realize that 80 percent of Hispanics are first-generation Americans repeating the resettlement pattern of earlier European immigrants