Home > Who am I > Bio Poem > The Community of the Garden >American Culture > Research Paper

The point of this assignment was to make a research about one of the topics that we discussed throughout the quarter and then write a paper about it. We needed to find a topic that was not too wide so we could be specific and precise in our analysis, but not so narrow so we could find enough information. I wrote about Hispanic Identity in the United States. It’s based on the topic that we talked about along the course: Equality and Diversity in the United States society. I think that this project helped me to improve my writing and research skills. I also learned more about the way of writing according to the MLA style.

Hispanic Identity in the United States

People living in countries in which the economic and political situations have become unbearable, have moved to the United States led by the only purpose of improving their life conditions. Because of the instability of most Latin-American countries, Hispanics have become one of the largest minority groups in the United States. Consequently, they influence sociopolitical, economic and cultural aspects of this country. As a result, understanding them is an important issue for North American’s governmental and social policies. Most governmental policies take in account the opinion of the rest of the citizens. This opinion is highly influenced by the group identity, defined as “the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known” (www.HyperDictionary.com). Situation of immigrants in the United States and the homogenization of all these people under one name have contributed to the lack of identity that the Hispanic minority faces today. The importance of understanding the issues that hinder the identity of this group relies on its consequences in the structure of the United States’ society and in its citizens’ opinion.

Situation of Immigrants in the United States.

History of immigration in the United States is essential in order to understand the relations between the so-called Hispanics and the Anglo-Americans since their first encounters. Some Hispanics lived in what today is United States’ territory before the borderlines changed. However, the increase of immigration began to represent a problem for this country. One of the main negative effects of the conflicts of immigrants in the United States has been discrimination because it has played an important role in the weakening of Hispanic identity.

The rapid increase of the amount of people entering to the United States seeking for better conditions of life started to be a problem for the North American society. Politics regarding to immigration policies were needed in order to control this problem. However, those policies changed depending on the economic and political situation of the United States. The article “Cultural identity of Hispanics in the U.S.” written by Sheila Sheshans, supports this point. Until 1929, there were no immigration controls in the United States; people could cross the frontiers freely. After that, strict controls on immigration were established because it began to increase at an accelerated rate. However, during World War II the demand for cheap labor by U.S. farmers increased. In order to supply that demand, the Bracero Program was created. This program gave incentive to Mexicans to work in the United States for determinate periods by putting down immigration barriers (Sheshans). After the war, the demand for Mexican workers went down because they were occupying jobs desired by unemployed North American citizens (Pickus 58). These cases expose clearly the attempts of the United States to solve the problem of the rise of immigrants in the country by means of immigration laws and policies. However, these policies were not effective in solving the problem because they changed them when it was convenient for them. As Sheshans says, immigration controls affected the quantity of legal immigrants in the United States but it didn’t solve the real problem: the amount of people entering didn’t decrease (Sheshans). It is true that the number of Hispanic immigrants has increased significantly, but there is also a lot who lived in territories that became part of the United States after they had been living there for generations.

The way Hispanics have been treated in the United States has been determined by their condition of immigrants, even though some of them lived there before those territories were part of the United States. About two centuries ago Mexican frontiers included the coast of California, and some settlements in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Those lands became part of the United States by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 in the Mexican-American war. These people argue their condition by saying that they didn’t cross the borderline but the borderline crossed them. At first, Hispanics had political and economic power over those lands. However, this situation changed as Anglo-Americans became interested in that territory (Gann and Duignan 8-17). This shows how Hispanics have been generalized as immigrants even though some of them lived in the United States before the treaty of 1848. Social and political interests have influenced this generalization in order to impede them from claiming for and their rights and their possessions.

Gann and Diegnan describe how Hispanics were displaced from the lands in which they had been living for hundreds of years. When gold mines were discovered in California, people from all over the country moved there. Spanish-speakers became a minority, but they still represented competition in the gold market. For that reason, Anglo-Americans displaced them as if they were foreigners. People from other parts of Latin America began to arrive. These people worked for low salaries and under inhuman conditions. They inspired hate because they represented colonial times, in which the dominant system oppressed the weak (Gann and Diegnan 21). The fact that Hispanics were displaced from their lands and were relegated as low class workers, affected their socioeconomic condition and their identity in a negative way. The lost of identity and of political power, lead some dominant elites to generalize them under the condition of immigrants. This generalization brought discrimination.

The consequences of discrimination towards Hispanic minority can be seen in the fact that they are a low worker class. The lack of success of Hispanic minorities is closely related with two important facts. The first reason is that they were part of the semi-skilled or unskilled worker class. The discrimination from Anglo-Americans that they faced is the second reason.
An obvious explanation centers on rational and ethnic prejudice, which prevented mestizo workers from finding a foothold in the trade unions, which confined Spanish speakers into segregated barrios, and which excluded them from an equitable share in political power. (Gann and Diegnan 23)
These working conditions relegated them to be cheap labor force. As a result of their low economic status, social problems like violence and other conflicts came into sight. Because of that, prejudices against Hispanic minorities rose inside the United States’ society. Discrimination endangers identity because nobody would feel identified with something that is relegated by the society.

It is important to analyze the situation of immigrants in the United States in order to understand their life conditions and the way they are treated in this country. It has been seen that all Hispanics, immigrants or not, have been generalized as Hispanic immigrants. This has serious connotations on the way they are treated and seen by North American society. Discrimination is the main problem they have had to face. It is a problem because it hinders Hispanic identity because nobody would feel identified with something that is rejected by society.

Homogenization and Names.

Human beings tend to categorize things in order to facilitate its identification. Another important issue that obstructs the development of the group identity among Hispanics is that tendency of classifying individuals into bigger groups and assigning arbitrary names to them. The dangerous part of categorization are the names assigned, because “Names identify; they tell us both about what they name and about what we know concerning what they name” (Gracia 1). A label can have positive or negative repercussions on the welfare of the group that is being named. Developing a strong identity will prevent this labeling from attempting against their welfare.

People that have been categorized under the term Hispanics or Latinos are immigrants from many different countries of Central and South America living in the United States. As a result, it’s complicated to find at least one characteristic that can be shared by all of them. Panethnicity refers to the situation in which two cultural or ethnic groups are combined under the same category. “One advantage is that it can create a larger sense of community panethnicity the major disadvantage and danger is that it can led to overgeneralizations and stereotyping” (Sheshans). There is controversy related with if there should or shouldn’t be names in order to identify this minority group.

The reason that there is no biological or cultural common feature among all the people that has been grouped under the term Hispanic or Latino is the main point that opposes the use of ethnical names for denominating this group. Another important reason is that this homogenization has been made by dominant elites in order to facilitate exploitation and assure their dominant position; “Homogeny leads to hegemony” (Gracia 21). For example, if all Hispanics are generalized as immigrants, their political, social and economic benefits will be constraint by their conditions of immigrants. Another problem of categorizing is generalization. This generalization can have negative implications by leading to stereotyping and deficient public and social policies (Garcia 26). If the stereotype is negative, it will lead to discrimination. As it was mentioned before, discrimination has serious consequences on identity. The effect on deficient public policies must be also considered because it is related with the welfare of the entire Hispanic minority. This minority is heterogeneous, so it is expected to find different life conditions and necessities among all the people that belong to it. If this is not taken in consideration, studies will not be precise in defining individual needs. However, though there isn’t a particular characteristic that is shared among all Hispanics and there are several problems caused by labeling them, the positive side of having a name is that it gives them a sense of community.

The positive side of categorization is that if the group is identified with the name, this simple classification can become a community. In order to feel a sense of belonging, identified and supported, Hispanics living in the United States tend to create communities among themselves. “For Latinos, community is essential to survival, not only in terms of neighborhood or geographic locale, but also in terms of collective identity” (Flores & Benmayor 16). Even though it can’t be said that there is a Hispanic or Latino culture, the way they feel identified with each other by the formation of communities demonstrates that there is in fact a search for an identity. The conflicts that arise in labeling people can be overcome if the term used doesn’t homogenize and doesn’t impose common characteristics to its integrants.

It is impossible to find one characteristic that all immigrants from Central and South America have in common. However, it is necessary to find a term with which all these people can feel identified with “consistency and purity. To have an identity requires properties which constitute a coherent whole and are themselves unmixed” (Gracia 48). Something that they all share but still allow their individuality are historical connections. Since a definition in which everyone finds identified is essential, for it has been discussed the importance for this group of developing an identity. Therefore, the name Hispanics is going to be used as:
The group of people comprised by the inhabitants of the countries of the Iberian peninsula after 1492 and . . . the colonies of those countries after the encounter between Iberia and America and by the descendants of these people who live in other countries but preserve some link to those people. (Gracia, 48)
To have an adequate definition is important because it gives the group the possibility of feeling identified with a name that doesn’t involve negative connotations. The positive aspect of adopting a name, with which they feel identified, is that it can help them become a community and therefore find an identity. Having an identity or not has repercussions in the way they are seen by others.

As it has been said before, the way in which a group is labeled has important consequences on the way it is judged by others. Jorge Gracia, in his book Hispanic/Latino Identity, discusses the repercussions that labeling could have over a labeled group. He says that they might be harmful or beneficial depending on if the group has an identity or not. Negative connotations of a name arise if the group or person doesn’t have a clear and strong self-identity. If they don’t know who they are, they could be more vulnerable of being labeled by others. It is normal that people categorize things into groups and then assign random names to them. However, the problem is that if the group doesn’t have an identity, other people have the power to give the connotation they want to the name of the group. In this case, there is a big risk of being stereotyped and discriminated (Gracia x). Hispanics, because of their condition as immigrants and other sociological and psychological motives, have a lack of identity. The term Hispanic or Latino has is associated with problems because they have let others to give the term the connotation they wanted. However, if the group has an identity, having a name will have positive implications.

On the other hand, if the group has an identity or a name with which the subject labeled feels identified, it has the power of using that name in its favor. “To adopt a name and define one’s identity is, moreover, an act of empowerment because it limits the power of others to name and identify us” (Gracia 46). Therefore, the main reason of having an identity is that it gives the power to the group to decide the way it wants to be viewed and treated by others.

In conclusion, there are negative and positive consequences of homogenizing people with different origins and cultures under one name. However, among human beings it is a normal to label things in order to facilitate their identification. The good or bad implications of the name assigned on the group depend on whether it has an identity or not.

U.S. Public Opinion.

Most United States’ governmental policies take in consideration the opinion of its citizens. “Consider affirmative action for Hispanic/Latinos in the United States . . . any meaningful implementation of this policy requires clear notion of Hispanic/Latino identity” (Gracia x). As a result, the way Hispanics are viewed by North American citizens is an important determinant of Hispanics’ living conditions in the United States. Unfortunately, in general the term Hispanic doesn’t have a positive nuance among public opinion. United States citizens are concerned about the danger that immigration represents to American society.

People that are opposed to Hispanic immigration argue that Hispanics are a threat to North American’s society. “Immigration from Mexico and Latin America posed a threat to the economic, political, and cultural character of this country” (Flores & Benmayor 3). Flores and Benmayor, in their book Latino Cultural Citizenship, cite Brimelow in order to sustain this point. He says that the main concern of the effects of immigration in the U.S. society is “that Latinos have emerged as ‘a strange anti-nation in the U.S.’ and embody the ‘American anti-ideal’ by refusing to ‘Americanize’ and be absorbed as ‘Americans’” (Flores & Benmayor 4). Linda Chavez, author of the article “Are Mexicans Melting into America or not?” exposes two points that support this idea. The first indicator is the rate of naturalization. “Even after nearly 20 years of U.S. residence, fewer that one in five choose to acquire American citizenship” (Chavez 24). The second indicator is the small amount of immigrants that speak English. Language is an important part of any culture; by not learning it they are saying implicitly that they don’t want to be part of American society. These two points show that “many Mexicans straddle two worlds” (Chavez 24). All these points agree on the fact that the identity conflict faced by most Hispanics immigrants could endanger the structure of the United States’ society. To find a Hispanic identity is necessary for this minority as well as for the United States society because it has been shown that the lack of identity not only affects Hispanics but also the whole society.

Conclusion.

The situation of Hispanics living in the United States and their categorization under one term, have important effects on the identity of Hispanics. Identity has serious consequences on the image portrayed by a group. Because of that, the understanding of these issues and public opinion in the United States is essential for Hispanics as well as for the whole country. History shows that even though many Spanish-speakers lived in what today is the United States before its conformation, they are still treated as foreigners. This certainly obstructed the development of Hispanic identity. Also, the way they have been grouped and labeled has hindered against their identity. Because the name Hispanic today has negative connotations, immigrants don’t want to be identified with this term. According to public opinion in the United States, immigrants can represent a threat to American society. This might happen if they face an identity conflict. For that reason, it’s important for them to find an identity because that’s the only way in which they can feel accepted, change the negative connotation of their name, and at the same time contribute to the North American society.

Works Cited

Chavez, Linda. “Are Mexicans Melting into America or Not?” The American Enterprise Dec. 2000: 24.

Flores, William, and Benmayor, Rina. Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity Space and Rights. Boston:

Beacon Press, 1997.

Gann, Lewis, and Duignan, Peter. The Hispanics in the United States: A History. Boulder: Westview Press, 1986.

Gracia, Jorge. Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2000.

Pickus, Noah. Immigration & Citizenship in the 21st Century. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 1998.

Sheshans, Sheila. “Images of Latino Immigrants in the Media.” AABSS. (Fall 2001). 10 Nov. 2003 <http://www.aabss.org/journal2001>

“Identity.” HyperDictionary.com. 21 Nov. 2003