Hispanics in the United States

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The Hispanics in the United States or Hispanic Americans are an ethnic group in the United States with Hispanic heritage.

[edit] Demographics

Hispanics as a percentage of the U.S population (2000)

Hispanics constitute the largest minority group, by place of origin, in the United States. Hispanic person may be of any race (Amerindian, mixed, white, black, Asian). As of July 1, 2004, Hispanics accounted for 14.1% of the population, around 41.3 million people. The Hispanic growth rate over the July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2004 period was 3.6% - higher than any other ethnic group in the United States, and in fact more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0%). The projected Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050, is of 102.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 24% of the nation’s total population on that date.^[1] These projections, however, are based on the problematic assumption that the children of the people who identify today as Latino or Hispanic will necessarily identify as Latino or Hispanic fifty years from now. Given that Hispanic is an ethnic identifier in the US Census, there is reason to believe that it will decrease in popularity as some Hispanics assimilate and become unhyphenated Americans.

Of the nation's total Hispanic population, 49% lives in California or Texas. Not counting Puerto Rico — which is a territorial possession of the United States — New Mexico is the state with the highest proportion of Hispanics, where 43% is of Hispanic origin. The proportion of Hispanics in the states of California and Texas exceeds 35% each.

The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, California - numbering over 4.6 million - is the largest of any county in the nation. ^[2] Meanwhile, for the 2000 to 2004 period, Lee County, Florida had the fastest growth rate in Hispanic population of any other county in the United States. ^[3]

Some 64% of the nation's Hispanic population are of Mexican or Mexican-American ancestry. Another approximately 10% are of Puerto Rican background, with about 3% each of Cuban, Salvadoran and Dominican origins. The remainder are of other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origins.^[4]

The overwhelming majority of Hispanics of Mexican/Mexican-American origin are concentrated in the Southwestern United States, primarily California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. The majority of the Hispanic population in the Southeastern United States, concentrated in Florida, are of Cuban origin. The Hispanic population in the Northeastern United States, concentrated in New York and New Jersey, is composed mostly of Puerto Ricans, however, the Dominican population has risen considerably in the last decade, especially in proportion to that region's Hispanic population. The remainder of other Hispanics, composed of various Central American and South American origins, may be found throughout the country, though South Americans tend to concentrate on the East Coast of the United States (joining Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans) and Central Americans on the West Coast of the United States (joining Mexicans/Mexican Americans).

There are few recent immigrants directly from Spain. In the 2000 Census, 112,999 Americans specifically reported their ancestry as Spaniard^[5], which was a significant decrease from the 1990 Census, where those who reported "Spaniard" numbered 519,136.^[6] The Census Bureau attributes the decrease to the trend among increasing numbers of Hispanics of all national groups, including Spaniards, of identifying themselves with general labels such as "Hispanic" rather than a specific national origin.

Several long-established Hispanic communities within the present-day territory of the United States do clearly fall within a traditional national origin category. One example is the Hispano population of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. These peoples trace their ancestry to Spanish settlers who arrived in the region during the late 15th century through the [[17th century). People from this background often self-identify as "Hispano," "Spanish," or "Hispanic;" but generally not as "Mexican," "Mexican-American," or "Chicano." Likewise, southern Louisiana is home to communities of people of Canary Islands descent, known as Isleños, in addition to other people of Spanish creole ancestry.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Hispanic people in the United States

A continuous Hispanic presence in the territory of the United States has existed since the 16th century, earlier than any other group after the Native Americans. Spaniards pioneered the present-day United States. The first confirmed European landing in the continental US was by Juan Ponce de León, who landed in 1513 at a lush shore he christened La Florida. Within three decades of Ponce de León's landing, the Spanish became the first Europeans to reach the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon and the Great Plains. Spanish ships sailed along the East Coast, penetrating to present-day Bangor, Maine, and up the Pacific Coast as far as Oregon. From 1528 to 1536, four castaways from a Spanish expedition, including a "black Moor", journeyed all the way from Florida to the Gulf of California, 267 years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

An anachronous map showing areas of the United States and other territories pertaining to the Hispanic world over a period exceeding 400 years. For detailed key click on map.       The Spanish colonial empire at its territorial height in 1790.       Regions of influence (explored/claimed but never controlled or vice versa) or short-lived / disputed colonies.       Portuguese possessions ruled jointly under the Spanish sovereign, 1580–1640.       Territories lost at, or prior to, the 1714 Peace of Utrecht.       Spanish Morocco and Spanish West Africa, 1884–1975.

In 1540 Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive exploration of the present US, and in the same year Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Mexican Indians across today's Arizona-Mexico border and traveled as far as central Kansas, close to the exact geographic center of what is now the continental United States. Other Spanish explorers of the US make up a long list that includes, among others: Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón, Pánfilo de Narváez, Sebastián Vizcaíno, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Gaspar de Portolà, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Tristán de Luna y Arellano and Juan de Oñate. In all, Spaniards probed half of today's lower 48 states before the first English colonization attempt at Roanoke Island in 1585.

The Spanish created the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. Santa Fe, New Mexico also predates Jamestown, Virginia (founded in 1607) and Plymouth Colony (of Mayflower and Pilgrims fame, founded in 1620). Later came Spanish settlements in San Antonio, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, to name just a few. The Spanish even established a Jesuit mission in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay 37 years before the founding of Jamestown.

Two iconic American stories have Spanish antecedents, too. Almost 80 years before John Smith's alleged rescue by Pocahontas, a man by the name of Juan Ortiz told of his remarkably similar rescue from execution by an Indian girl. Spaniards also held a thanksgiving — 56 years before the famous Pilgrims festival — when they feasted near St. Augustine with Florida Indians, probably on stewed pork and garbanzo beans. As late as 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War, Spain held claim to roughly half of today's continental United States; in 1775, Spanish ships even reached Alaska. From 1819 to 1848, the United States and its army increased the nation's area by roughly a third at Spanish and Mexican expense, including three of today's four most populous states: California, Texas and Florida. Hispanics became the first American citizens in the newly acquired Southwest territory and remained a majority in several states until the 20th century. (See also New Spain.)

Hispanic soldiers have fought in all the wars of the United States, and have earned the highest distinction of any US ethnic group.([1], [2], [3], List of Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients)

[edit] Political trends

Main article: Hispanic and Latino politics in the United States

President Clinton's Latino Appointees in 1998

Hispanics differ on their political views. For example, many Cubans and Colombians tend to favor conservative political ideologies and support the Republicans, while Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans lean more towards the Democrats; however, because the latter groups are far more numerous (Mexicans alone are nearly 60% of Hispanics), the Democratic Party is considered to be in a far stronger position among Hispanics overall.

In the past two national election cycles the Presidency of George W. Bush has had a significant impact on the political leanings of Hispanic Americans. As a former Governor of Texas, President Bush has regarded the growing Hispanic community as a potential source of growth for the conservative and/or Republican movement--particularly because of the Catholic and more conservative social values that many Hispanic Americans share with the conservative element of the American political system. The U.S. Census indicates that the Hispanic population of the United States is the fastest growing minority in the country, and will hold considerable political clout within the next 50 years.^{[citation needed]}

Bush has made some gains for the Republican Party among Hispanics. For example, in the 1996 presidential election, 72% of Hispanics backed President Clinton, but in 2000, that Democratic total fell to 62%, and down further to 58% in 2004, with Democrat John Kerry winning Hispanics 58-40 over Bush.

It also breaks down by state. Hispanics in the West, especially in California, were much stronger for the Democratic Party than in Texas and Florida. California Latinos voted 63-32 for John Kerry in 2004, and both Arizona and New Mexico Latinos by a smaller 56-43 margin, but Texas Latinos were split nearly evenly, and Florida Latinos (mostly being Cuban American) actually backed President Bush by a 54-45 margin.

In the 2006 midterm election, however, due to the heated debate of illegal immigration and the general misfortune of the Republican Party, Latinos went as strongly Democratic as they have since the Clinton years. Exit poll showed Latinos voting for Democrats by a lopsided 69-30 margin, with Florida Latinos for the first time split evenly. The runoff election in Texas' 23rd congressional district was seen as a bellwether of Latino politics, and Democrat Ciro Rodriguez's unexpected (and unexpectedly decisive) defeat of Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla was seen as proof of a left lurch among Latino voters, as heavily Latino counties overwhelmingly backed Rodriguez, and heavily Anglo counties overwhelmingly backed Bonilla.

Some political organizations associated with Hispanic Americans are LULAC, the United Farm Workers, the Cuban American National Foundation, and the National Institute for Latino Policy.

[edit] Cultural trends

Main article: Hispanic culture

Popular culture varies widely from one Hispanic community to another, but despite this several features tend to unite Hispanics from diverse backgrounds. Many Hispanics, including U.S.-born second and third generation Mexican-Americans, use the English language frequently and Spanish language to varying degrees. The most usual pattern is monolingual Spanish usage among new migrants or older foreign born Hispanics (65% are Mexican), complete bilingualism among long settled immigrants and their children, and the use of English and/or Spanglish and colloquial Spanish within long established Hispanic communities by the third generation and beyond. In some families the children and grandchildren of immigrants speak mostly English with some Spanish words and phrases thrown in. More than half of U.S. Hispanics are bilingual in English and Spanish. Another one quarter, approximately, speak Spanish only, and the rest (perhaps one in seven Hispanics) speak English only. Overall, about three-fourths of the Hispanic population speaks English, most of them very well.^[7] This is especially due to the fact that 60% of Hispanics are US-born.[4]

[edit] Media

Univision, the United States' largest Spanish-language television network

The United States is home to thousands of Spanish language media outlets ranging in size from giant commercial broadcasting networks and major Hispanic-oriented periodicals with circulations numbering in the millions, to low-power AM radio stations with listeners numbering in the hundreds. There are hundreds of online media outlets targeting US Hispanic audiences, some of which are online versions of their printed counterparts and others online exclusively.

In the aspect of public television, otherwise known as non-commercial television, there are organizations that advocate a greater degree of programming from a Hispanic-American perspective in public television. The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) has been a leader since its founding in 1986 in advocating for Latino inclusion in television, radio and film.^{[citation needed]} In 1999, along with a board coalition of national Latino organizations, the NHMC led a "brownout" of the national television networks after discovering that there were no Latinos in any of their new shows that year.^{[citation needed]} This resulted in the signing of historic diversity agreements with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC that have increased the hiring of Latino talent and other staff in all of the networks since then. Also prominent in this area is Latino Public Broadcasting which funds programs of educational and cultural significance to Hispanic-Americans. These LPB-funded projects are distributed to various public television stations throughout the United States.

Noteworthy Spanish-language media outlets include:

• Univision and Telemundo, respectively the first and second largest Spanish-language television networks in the United States, each with affiliates in nearly every major U.S. market, including numerous affiliates internationally.
• El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language daily newspaper serving the greater Miami, Florida market.
• Vida Latina, a Spanish-language entertainment magazine distributed throughout the Southern United States.

[edit] Notes