Eth125 Axia Mexican Americans
...States: 64 percent Mexican Americans, almost 11 percent Puerto Ricans, over 13 percent were from Central and South America and the Caribbean, almost 5 percent were Cuban Americans, 7 percent classified as "other." An additional 3.7 million were Puerto Ricans living on the island of Puerto Rico, bringing the nation's total Hispanic American population to over 30 million. Although Hispanic Americans live in every part of the United States, they are more heavily concentrated in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Puerto Rico, and Texas. Mexican Americans. Today, while the majority of Mexican Americans live in urban areas, significant numbers comprise the three agricultural migrant streams that flow from the south to the north across the country, often twice annually.
Historically, Mexican Americans have been both an urban and rural population. Since the 1600s, Mexicans were the first Americans to establish homesteads in the territories. Poor Mexican Americans have always faced de facto segregation through attending schools outside of the white system. Even today, Mexican Americans are likely to attend segregated schools. Untold numbers of U.S.-born Mexican American citizens have suffered civil persecution since the 1800s, which continues to this day. The treatment of many Mexican American children in the public education system perpetuates unequal treatment.
Puerto Ricans
The population of Puerto Rico is made up of people who have ancestry composed of the world’s three major races (white, black and yellow). The culture has remained much the same, but it has become more nationalistic. During colonial rule, the Puerto Ricans were in no way full-fledged Spaniards. They slowly began to alter their early heritage into something truly “Puertorriqueño.” They developed their own folklore, music, arts and their own ways of living...
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