Latin American communities and the United States

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This is a very good question! In order to develop your response for this assignment, it is important to first define Latin Americans.

Hispanic and Latin Americans are persons in the United States who identify themselves as being either Hispanic or Latino depending on their country of origin. Hispanics is a term which refers to persons of Spanish-speaking countries as their placed or origin, while Latin is more commonly used for anyone of Latin American origin. So with the large number countries that these categories fall under (Spain, Brazil, Puerto Rico, etc...), there is a rich blending of cultures within society. Typically, Spanish speaking origins residing in the east part of the United States identify themselves as Hispanic, where Spanish speaking origins in the west identify themselves as Latino.

With this rich blending of cultures, they have contributed to the social and cultural fabric of the United States greatly. "Hispanics are the largest minority group in the country with more than 50.5 million people, or 16.3 percent of the population. 35 million people speak Spanish at home and more than half of those say they speak English "very well," according to the Census Bureau" (Hispanic Heritage Month; A Celebration For Us All). The Spanish language therefore is very commonly spoken in the United States which contributes greatly to our cultural fabric. Today, in fact, many school districts across the country begin teaching students to speak Spanish in the very beginning grades in school in attempt to create ...