Social Issue Analysis: Hispanics in the United States

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Hi,
Here it is, the solution. I decided to expand the essay up to 3000+ words to discuss details. Of course, you will have to adapt this into your own word limit (up to 2,450) which means you will have to utilise the skill of generalising or omitting: you have to decide to cut certain information or in your re-interpretation of the essay, reword according to the demands of the word limit. As you will find out I have decided to draw on both quantitative and qualitative sources, using your book as a guide but expanding my data from available sources. I strongly suggest that you visit the websites of the online sources.Print out the word copy of the essay that I have attached to make this easier. The issue you are sked to discuss is massive, it has a lot of aspects. You can only choose to delve into certain facets of it and when you, from a sociological perspective, you have to use objectivity & critical thinking. To back up the statistical data, go to Pew Hispanic Center website, use the reference section as guide. Do this for the data provided by Blumrosen too (http://eeo-1.com). Read a little about what EEO is and it's significance. Look for the chapter indicated in the reference. Your professor, I believe will ask you to expand on this if you will need to discuss it in class. It would be interesting if you can print out the Pie-charts from Pew Hispanic Center's Online Factsheet. It will make the numbers far easier to ground. The citations are in place, as well as the Abstract.Notice the Titles per Subject Grouping as well as the Recommendation/Opinion/Closing Paragraph -- it maintains objectivity without taking sides & even while expressing an opinion, it does so from a sociological perspective.I recommend that you print out the newspaper articles I indicated (they are all online) as well as visit the online resources I indicated in the reference. The only book I dont think you will have access to is Smith's. But don't worry, just quote him and refer to his ideas as I did in the sample essay,cite and refer. That is more than enough. I hope that this solution will be helpful to you. If you have any questions regarding the solution, just send me a message. Thank you for using Brainmass!

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Racial Discrimination and Hispanics in the United States
Sample Essay Solution for posting/by OTA 105878

Abstract:
The essay looks into the Issues involved in the Racial and Ethnic Discrimination of the Hispanics in the United States by utilising a sociological perspective drawing on qualitative & quantitative data sources from published material on the subject printed or published online. The essay looks into facets of American & American-Hispanic history to point out aspects that influence current opinion & trends. Findings are expanded in quantitative-driven statistics and given messy details by utilising the ethnographic-related data published in the News & Opinion media.

The Hispanics: Ancestry & Ethnicity

In 2006 the Hispanic population has become the largest minority group in the United States (Clutter, et. al. 2000). The term "Hispanic" was coined by the Federal Government in the 70's to 'identify' a diverse group of people among the populace whose roots & culture are deeply connected to the Spanish language and whose origins point to Latin America. "Latino" as a slang in the recent years have come to accepted in the mainstream & among the Hispanics due to the 'Empowered' image portrayed by entertainers with Hispanic origins & ancestry in the Mass Media (i.e. Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendez, Ricky Martin). 90% of Hispanics in Latin America and in the United States are Roman Catholics. The Catholicism they practice is rooted in their way of life & influences how they see the world and their place in it. Granted, like any Colonial-adapted belief aspects of their pre-colonial Pagan beliefs were adapted into their practices (i.e. The Lent practice of certain Catholic sects of Self Flagellation as well as the actual 'Crucifixion' during the re-enactment of the passion play --- anthropologists claim that this practice echoes Aztec/Mayan sacrifices). These aspects however reinforce their Catholic selves and their "familias". Traditionally, Hispanic families are a close knit group that goes beyond the Western nuclear versions. Although the father is still responsible for the family and the mother for the home --- the nuclear unit is considered to be part of the bigger clan with its very own 'Padre de Familia', a very important social unit in Hispanic societies. It is the moral responsibility of the members of the clan to look after each other in times of plenty & difficulty. This kind of fierce loyalty at times tends to polarize Hispanic groupings to one end of a debate alone in the greater American society. For instance, the latest social dilemmas posed by illegal Hispanic immigrants across the States has pushed the legal Hispanic population to take the immigrant's side in the debate inciting, in the worst cases, rage, hatred and violence against their persons from the most extreme of America's white populace.

To look into the sociological problems brought about by the social phenomenon of racial discrimination, it is imperative to look into the issues & facts through a sociological perspective (Macionis, J. 2006).This means organizing key concepts and ideas to logically approach the subject at hand maintaining objectivity, critically evaluating ideas and using evidence to back up claims. To approach this subject matter properly, we would need to revisit the meaning of Race & Ethnicity and delve into the various social groups influenced by both that make up the U.S. Populace. It is also important to situate the study - ground it by marking the historical events that influence current trends drawing from the various factors that contribute towards it. Race refers to the idea of dividing people into population or groups according to a set of beliefs, ...