La communauté hispanique aux États - Unis

La communauté hispanique aux Etats-Unis

Hispanic people represent the fattest ethnic minority (15.4% of the total population) before the African-Americans one. Since the colonization, Spanish-speaking migrants have continued to come legally or illegally to the USA which have a significant impact on some American regions.

The USA is the destination of many Latin-Americans migrants who search for greater opportunities or who want to escape from pollical unrest like the Cubans after Castro came to power. Many migrants come from Puerto Rico which benefit from a special status or Mexico. 60% of Hispanic Americans have Mexican roots.

Besides, a significant part of the United States was Mexican territory. Some cities like Santa Fe or New Mexico was founded by Spanish settlers. With the signature of the Treaty of Guadaloupe-Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico ceded all lands at the north of the Rio Grande river to the US in exchange for 15 million dollars, and a protection of the Mexican culture on these territories. But the Mexican population was rapidly overrun by English people and had difficulties to have a voice in political matters. The first Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles since the Mexican control was elected only in 2005.

Puerto Rico became a dependency of the US after the 1898 Spanish-American War, and they gain the American citizenship in 1917. However, because of a weak economy, Puerto-Rican flow keeps increasing. Likewise, the Cubans who started to arrive in the 19th century and especially in the 1960s and 1970s after Castro came to power. In 2000, 1.2 million Americans had Cuban roots.  

Hispanic communities are mostly concentrated in the West and the South. Los Angeles is the second largest Mexican city in the world while 40% of Puerto Ricans live in New York or its neighboring which is not surprising because most of them come into the US via New York. This situation lead to special configuration as in Los Angeles where a third of Spanish speakers do not consider they speak English well and that 40% of the population only speaks English. It shows the separation between the communities.

Economically, Hispanics are on average poorer than the rest of the population. Even if the medium household income has grown, the unemployment rate rose during the 2008 economic crisis (30% in 2010, compared to 12.7% for blacks).

Mexican immigration represents an issue since the American Civil War. Mexicans were encouraged to come to the USA to work as seasonal laborers in American farms until 1964. However, it did not stop the Mexican immigration. In 1982, the states were required by the Supreme Court to afford for the education of illegal immigrant children while in 1996, the Immigration Act has prohibited illegal migrants from receiving most public benefits.

Finally, the Hispanic community has a political and cultural influence. Indeed, many Hispanics are conservative Catholic and they were involved in debates like abortion or gay marriage. Likewise, Latino culture has influenced popular culture with Latino music or soap operas.

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