1. Latino Americans By Ciera Carr Click here to proceed

2. It is very easy to make your way through this project. There are three simple buttons to click to maneuver your way through each slide. You will find each of these buttons at the bottom of the screen. Here is what they look like and their actions. Home Button: Clicking this button will take you back to the title page. Forward Button: Clicking this button will take you to the next page. Back Button: Clicking this button will take you back to the previous slide.

3. Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the countries of Latin America and Spain. There are approximately 1:7 people in the United States that are of Hispanic Origin. Hispanic Americans are the largest and fastest growing minority in the United States and the second largest ethnic group after Caucasians/Whites. One of the things about this group of Americans is that they have an interesting ability to mix in with cultures around them. This comes in handy when you have to fit in with a group of people that might take your cultural background as being less than another. Another interesting fact about this culture of people is that even though they are the second largest ethnic group, they are not one of the six officially recognized races. The United States Census does classify Americans as “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino” Here is a video that I have found that gives a look at what a Latino American really looks like. Check it out. http://youtu.be/Jrowk04bqZM

4. Latino Americans are a very close-knit group. They feel as though family is the most important social unit. The most common term that you may here is “familia,” and this is just the Spanish term for family. When I think of my close family, I usually think of my immediate family of parents and siblings. In the Latino American family, the family unit consists of parents, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Unlike my family, where the mother is usually the head of the household and family, mainly because she is the single parent, in the tight nit Latino family, the father is the head of the family and the mother is responsible for the home. Like my own family, moral responsibility is very important, but since my family knows no other language, preserving our native language is not so important to us. The family proves to be a very strong part of the Latino American culture.

5. There are so many different gatherings and events that Latino American families get to experience as a part of their culture. Families often gather together to celebrate holidays, birthdays, baptisms, first communions, graduations, and weddings. Although my family celebrates holidays and birthdays and other life events, it may or may not include a large family gathering like if would in a Latino family. Also, children are instilled the importance of honor, good manners, and respect for authority and the elderly. Although I have learned these things as a child, many non-Hispanic people do not learn or understand. The world could be such a better place if we all could.

6. It is important to understand etiquette of people from other cultures as to not offend someone. Spanish speakers tend toward formality in their treatment of one another. They like a firm handshake, and a hug and light kiss on the cheek between women, and men and women who are close friends or family. Also, physical distance between Hispanics is much closer than other cultures. With my own culture, we tend to not want to have people we do not know really well invade our personal space. Like my own culture, the use of titles is a form of respect, but in non-formal settings, conversations are usually loud, fast, and adorned with animated gestures and body language. Hispanic culture also tends to take great importance and value on looks and appearance as a sense of honor, dignity, and pride.

7. Dating is treated about the same in both of our cultures. Females are monitored more closely than males even though traditional dating and marriage routines have changed as Latinos have become more Americanized. It was interesting to read that interracial dating is very prevalent in the Latin American community and their ability to mix and adopt new cultural life styles and values has a lot to do with that. Even though traditions have been relaxed a little, ceremonies still tend to be more on the traditional side, large, and very much family oriented, just like my own culture.

8. Like my own culture, religion plays a significant role in daily activity. Approximately 65% are Catholic, 15% Protestant, 10% other Christian, 3% other non-Christian, and 7% no religious preference. For my own culture, the majority would be listed as “other Christian” for the purpose of this survey. Many come as Catholics but see other options as attractive, i.e Protestant. Many other denominations have experienced growth in the Hispanic community. Like my culture, the church gives spiritual meaning to the Hispanic culture and each local community celebrates it’s patron saint’s day with greater importance than personal birthdays. This fact is definitely less common in my culture since we don’t celebrate saints as much as the Catholic religion does. Traces of the religions of the Indians and African Americans of Latin America can be found in the Catholicism and Catholic affiliation tends to be higher among 1 st generation Hispanics.

9. In addition to Easter, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years, and Thanksgiving, Latin American people also celebrate El Dia del Padre, National Puerto Rican Day, Semana Santa (Holy Week), Cinco De Mayo, El Dia de los Muertos, Dia de Accion de Gracias, and El Dia de los Ninos. These are all holidays that I am very unfamiliar with and just show how connected this culture is to their past. There are a lot of traditions as well that I do not know about or celebrate that Latino Americans do. These are Quinceaneras, First communion, Carta al Ninos Dios, La Pinatas, Nativity scene, Christmas Eve dinner, Midnight Mass, Festive lanterns or lights, Los Reyas Magos (Three Kings), and Decorate with Poinsettias.

10. Unlike my own culture, Latinos have five different Hispanic Cultures. These include: Mexican American, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans, Dominican Americans, and Spanish American.

11. Here is a little history about Latinos. The term Hispanic was first coined by Grace Flores Hughes and adopted in the early 1970’s in the U.S. The interchangeable term Latino wasn’t adopted until 1997. The majority of Hispanics are not from Spain-to-U.S. Spanish decent, but have Spanish ancestry and some are not of Spanish decent at all. Hispanics can come from many places. Some other ancestries are: Italian, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Middle Eastern (Lebanese), African, Native American, and East or South Asian. English is the main language in my culture, but may be the second or third for an early generation Latino person. Most, not all, can usually speak Spanish, but often, by third generation, Spanish is not spoken. As part of that assimilation they are good at, not all Latin people have Spanish surnames. Bill Richardson and Jim Plunkett are two famous people to name. Most, not all, that do are Hispanic or Latino.

12. Thank you for taking the time to read and learn about the Latin American Culture and how it relates and does not relate to my own culture.