Learning Objectives

  • Understand the population characteristics of all Hispanic American groups.
  • Explain the history of Mexican Americans, including their cultural characteristics, their immigration patterns, their development in the United States, changing U.S. policy and laws affecting them, and their key organizations and leaders in social movement activism.
  • Explain the history of Puerto Ricans, including their immigration patterns.
  • Explain the history of Cuban Americans, including their immigration patterns and the dynamics and importance of the Cuban American ethnic enclave.
  • Analyze how different types of prejudice and discrimination affect Hispanic Americans.
  • Compare and contrast the differing situations for Hispanic Americans using the concepts of assimilation and pluralism, especially in terms of
    1. acculturation,
    2. secondary structural assimilation, and
    3. primary structural assimilation.
  • Apply the concepts and information in this chapter to the overall situation of Hispanic Americans today, and assess their influence on U.S. society, including our understanding of race and ethnicity and what it means to be an American.