Hispanics in Americans

The Hispanic American groups connect a varied people that share a common language heritage but also carry many differences. The language barrier in the United States has caused major complications for Hispanics. "For generations, schools made it difficult for Spanish-speaking children to succeed." The United States has finally allowed this bilingual and bicultural heritage which allows those whose native language is not English to use it as an advantage. Latinos include several groups: Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Salvadorans.

As of 2002, about 23 percent of Mexican Americans are English dominant, 26 percent are bilingual, and 51 percent are Spanish dominant. However, the Puerto Rican population in the United States tend to be more English-language oriented, with 39 percent English-dominant. At the other extreme; Central and South Americans tend to be more Spanish speaking though it should be taken into consideration that these Americans are also more likely to be recent immigrants. Nationally, the majority of schoolchildren of Latino heritage are reported to speak Spanish at home.

The potential for a greater Latino political presence in the nation is strong. Normally, Democrats have been more successful in earning the Hispanic vote. One example is the 2000 election; Al Gore received 62 percent of the Hispanic vote. However, most will agree that this voting was more a stand against the Republicans, who favor reducing legal immigration, limiting welfare benefits to legal immigrants, and eliminating bilingual education.

The criterion, which has been set by "Anglo Americans," in order for a person to gain economic and social achievement usually, includes proficiency in English. By accepting these standards those Spanish-speaking pupils are judged less able to be offered any well paid job until they fully learn English. This type of judgment will come as a most harmful one to Central and South Americans who use Spanish as their dominate language. Many Anglos also believe that Spanish is not an asset occupationally. As has been observed in education, voting, and language practices, many Americans are concerned and suspicious about the public use of any language other than English.

Due to Spanish influence, most of these Latino Americans belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Some of the Mexican Catholics syncretize Catholicism with various elements of Aztec or Mayan religions. Judaism has also been practiced

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