Andrea Elizalde

EDU280
Assignment 3
Background/Origin

“The term Latino embraces a diverse group of people that includes recent immigrants

from Latin America countries as well as persons whose ancestors lived in what is now the

Southwestern Unites States” (Bennett, 2015). The origins from the Latino ethnic group is long,

usually it is just no one place that Latinos come from. People can come from the islands of the

Caribbean’s, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South America, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, El

Salvador, Dominican Republic, and from Cuba.

“Today, roughly 63 percent of Latino Americans trace their Ancestry to Mexico; 9.2

Percent are Puerto Ricans; 3.5 percent are Cuban American; and the rest ; 24.3 present, have

origins in El Salvador, The Dominican republic, Columbia, Venezuela, and about two dozen

other countries of Central and Southern America” (Bennett, 2015). To think that “Latinos are the

largest, youngest, and fastest-growing minority in the United States, accounting for 14% of the

nation’s total population” (Burchard, 2005).

Latino ethic group have similar backgrounds, or common history, such as “ Puerto

Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans have much in common in their histories and aspects of their

culture, such as music, religious practices, food preferences, and political attitudes” (Bennett,

2015). Some example could be the food Latinos make for the holidays, we usually have the same

foods but we make them differently, in our own way. My family makes tamales with corn leaves,

but people from Guatemala make their tamales with banana leaves. The Latino ethnic group can

come from different countries but “Latinos living in the United States will often share a common

language, immigration experience, and a culture with attitudes and values that often differ from

those of the mainstream English-language culture of White non-Latinos” (Burchard, 2005).

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EDU280
Assignment 3
Ethnic Identity

“Ethnic identity is of great importance particularly because of the direct impact that it is

thought to have on identity formation” (Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, 2002). I think there is a lot of

confusion when it comes to ethnic identity. Such as myself, I am Mexican American but in high

school I wanted to be like everyone else. I was getting confused due to the ways other kids from

other ethnic groups do things. I then came to relies that people from the Latino ethnic group do

simpler day to day routines that just come natural to us. “Ethnic identity1 has been examined as a

resilient factor that may also be associated with well-being for ethnic minority group members.

Ethnic identity can be perceived as one of many social identities each individual has” (Sabine

Elizabeth French, 2010).

Latino immigrants living in the United States have become dreamers. And they have

identified themselves this why due to the fact that “The Development, Relief, and Education of

Alien Minors, or DREAM Act, is a bipartisan bill created to assist graduating youths who were

brought into the United States at a young age by their undocumented parents” (Bennett, 2015).

“The myriad of obstacles and challenges these students face in pursuit of a postsecondary

education in today’s climate is daunting. Yet there are many who endure despite the odds. Often

with little or no prior knowledge of the nature of institutions of higher education or how to

navigate bureaucratic systems successfully, they persist. Circumstances for these students often

necessitate resilience” (Amanda Morales, 2009).

When I finally found my identity in the Latino ethnic group, I was so proud of myself. I

was not afraid of fitting in, I was now comfortable of how I can function in a world with

different groups and different ethnicities. “Ethnic identity development may be a form of Tajfel’s

“social creativity” strategy because in the process of developing positive ethnic identity,
 Andrea Elizalde
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Assignment 3
individuals redefine what it means to be a member of their ethnic group and no longer allow

society to define it for them. Thus, it is critical to focus on the development of ethnic identity,

especially for people of color in the United States” (Sabine Elizabeth French E. S., 2006).

Stereotyping
There are many negative stereotypes that a person in the Latino ethnic group faces. They

sometimes say that because we are Latinos we are “cholos” or that we are dark skinned, or even

that we have thick accents and don’t know English. “Although many Latinos may experience

discrimination or prejudice, there is variability among Latinos in these experiences. All Latinos

do not have dark skin or a foreign accent by which they can be physically identified, and,

therefore, some Latinos may be less likely to be targets of discrimination.” (Adriana J. Umaña-

Taylor, 2002).

Along with all these negative stereotypes there is also the idea that if you are from the

Latino ethnic group you speak Spanish, or that the language we speak is the same in all other

Latino counties. “Finally, there are many misconceptions about Latinos sharing a common

culture and a common language. It should be noted that although most Latinos do share Spanish

as a common language, there are many variations in the way that Spanish is spoken (i.e., accent

and intonation) as well as in the vocabularies of the different Latino nationalities, which reflect

different cultural norms, influences, and beliefs” (Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, 2002). The best

example that comes to my head is that a word in where my parents grew up in could mean

something totally different in another Latino country. Such as “Agua” for us in Mexico this

means water, but in Cuba it is pronounced differently, “Gua gua” which means the bus.

Another common stereotype can be that the minority Latino ethnic group is not smart or as intelligent as

the rest of the United States. “Latino/a student’s face negative cultural stereotypes that portray
 Andrea Elizalde
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Assignment 3
members of their ethnic groups as less intelligent than European American students. Although

one might anticipate that these negative stereotypes and educational outcomes would pose a

threat to the self-esteem of ethnic-minority students, research consistently finds that Latino/a

students have levels of self-esteem and academic self-concepts are on average equal to or higher

than those of their European American counterparts” (Toni Schmader, 2001).

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Assignment 3
References

Bennett, C. I. (2015). Comprehensive multicultural education: Theory and practice (8th ed.).

Chapter 7

Burchard, E. G. (2005, December). Latino Populations: A Unique Opportunity for the Study of Race,

Genetics, and Social Environment in Epidemiological Research. American Journal of Public

Health, 95, 2161-2167.

McGoldrick, M., Giordano, J., & Garcia-Preto, N. (2005). Ethnicity and family therapy. New York:

Guilford Press. Pages 153-165

Umana-Taylor, A. J., Diversi, M., & Fine, M. A. (2002). Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem of Latino

Adolescents: Distinctions Among The Latino Populations. Journal of Adolescent Research,

17(3), 303-327. Retrieved April 14, 2016.

Schmader, T., Major, B., & Gramzow, R. H. (2001). Coping With Ethnic Stereotypes in the Academic

Domain: Perceived Injustice and Psychological Disengagement. Journal of Social Issues J Social

Isssues, 57(1), 93-111. Retrieved April 14, 2016.

French, S. E., & Chavez, N. R. (2010). The Relationship of Ethnicity-Related Stressors and Latino

Ethnic Identity to Well-Being. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 32(3), 410-428.

Retrieved April 14, 2016.

Morales, A., Herrera, S., & Murry, K. (2009). Navigating the Waves of Social and Political

Capriciousness: Inspiring Perspectives From DREAM-Eligible Immigrant Students. Journal of

Hispanic Higher Education, 10(3), 266-283. Retrieved April 14, 2016.

French, S. E., Seidman, E., Allen, L., & Aber, J. L. (2006). The development of ethnic identity during

adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 42(1), 1-10. Retrieved April 14, 2016.