Hispanics and Latinos
ETH/125

University of Phoenix
March 4, 2012
Mercedes Ruiz

Hispanics and Latinos
Groups
Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central/South American (Dominicans)

Linguistic

According to this week’s readings in chapter 9, 23% of Mexican Americans only speak English, 26% speak both English and Spanish, and 51% only speak Spanish (Schaefer, R.T., 2006). Puerto Ricans that reside in the United States speak more English than the Mexican Americans. 39% of the Puerto Ricans that live in the United States only speak English, 40% speak both English and Spanish, and 21% only speak Spanish. Puerto Ricans speak a Castillian Spanish, derived from ancient Latin. Chapter 9 of this week’s readings does not list Cubans or Dominican’s percentages because most of them predominantly speak Spanish, and are new immigrants to the United States (Schaefer, R.T., 2006).

Political

Hispanics and Latinos that reside in the United States tend to favor the democrats, but not too an extreme. Currently, most Hispanics and Latinos do not have the authority to vote because they are not American citizens. It was not until 1975 that Congress even passed a law acknowledging Spanish speaking or multilingual Americans on voting ballots. In 1991, there were 3,754 elected Hispanic officials reported primarily in the five southwestern states. Also in 1991, there were 4,202 elected Latino officials nationwide. The reason for the increase in Mexican American officials is because of the twenty-fourth Amendment. Most Puerto Rican Americans have yet to be active in politics and government. Their largest movement to achieve is to gain Puerto Rican independence. Cuban Americans have been actively involved in politics. In 1989-1990, 78% of Cuban Americans were registered to vote (Buffington, Sean, 2012). They tend to vote primarily with the Republican party, are