Hispanics

1. Hispanics By: Aida Venegas

2. Table of content Slide 3 Reflection Slide 4-5 The story of Hispanics in America Slide 6 Chart: The story of Hispanics in America Slide 7 Education Slide 8 Chart: Persons assisting college Slide 9 Hispanic population exceeds 50 million Slide 10 Hispanic population Slide 11 Hispanic American Slide 12 Chart: Hispanic American Slide 13 Puerto Ricans become Citizens are recruited for war Slide 14 Race by Puerto Rican national origin 2010 Slide 15-17 Bless me, Ultima Slide 18 Would I recommend this Book? Slide 19-20 The house on Mango Street Slide 21 How it applies? Slides 22 Reflection at the end of course Slide 23 References

3. Reflection I am doing this PowerPoint to understand more about the Hispanic. Basically, I know that Hispanics immigrated years ago and have been discriminated because they are minority group. However, I want to learn what century is that they started to immigrated and why? Basically I know that people migrate to the United states to have a better life but there are reasons important behind everything other than to have a better life. Being Hispanic myself, I do not know much information about my culture how and why Hispanic started to immigrate the United States. I would like to know how many people started to arrived the United States and how they immigrated over. I heard story about how Hispanics at one point were deported to their countries because the U.S.A was flooded with Hispanics, I am not sure if this happen but I believe is worth knowing since the person who mention that to me was attorney and I have always thought about it but never research about it. I like to learn more about my heritage and culture because people sometimes ask you about your heritage . Knowing more about your culture is knowing more about yourself. If you know why people are being discriminated . I would like to know why the Hispanic culture grows so fast in United states.

4. The story of hispanics in Americas It all began when there was significant colonization by Spain, what is now the American Southwest from the 16th century onward. The Spanish-speaking citizens of the United States who were incorporated into the country as a result of the Mexican War are Mexican Americans. The numbers have increased result of immigration. Other Spanish-speaking citizens came from Cuba and Puerto Rico, and smaller numbers are immigrants form Central and South America and from the Dominican Republic. Taken together, these people are called Hispanics or Latinos. Hispanics have been second largest minority group in the nation, African American being the largest group. About 60 percent of these Hispanics trace their origin to Mexico. Hispanic have experienced less outright discrimination (except in Texas and New Mexico) than have African Americans, some sections of this group have lower economic and education levels than does the rest of the population of the United States. The term Hispanic refers to native language and to cultural background and not to ethnic description. Puerto Rican enjoy a different status form other Hispanics in that are citizens of the United States by Birth, whether by were born in their homeland or in the United States. They were granted Citizenship in 1917. They may go back and forth between the island and the mainland without visas and passports. About 86 percent of Mexican Americans make their homes in five Southwestern states: Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado and California account for more than 50 percent of the total Hispanic population in the United States. There are two basic reasons for Hispanic immigration to the United States: economic opportunity and escape form political persecution. Very large numbers of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, entered the country to escape poverty and to find a way to make a living. Mexican Americans are a product of historical development that began more than four centuries ago, when Spain conquered Mexico and made it a colony. Before that the territory was inhabited exclusively by Indians. The Mexican Americans are the second oldest component of American society. The first era from 1520 until 1809, covers the period form the Spanish conquest until the beginning of the revolt against Spain. It was during these nearly 300 years that the synthesis of Spanish and Indian cultures took place. Early in this period the Southwest of what is now the United States was added to Mexico. The last region to be colonized was Mexico. During the second era, form 1810 until 1848, the southwest was par of an independent Mexico. It developed slowly, largely because of the distance between it and the capital of Mexico City. Then in 1846-1848 the Mexican War gained the Southwest for the United Sates. The war was ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which the United states promised to protect the rights of Mexican Americans in he newly won territories. Most of the treaty’s provisions, unfortunately, were not honored by the United States. Huge tracts of land belonging to Mexicans were taken form them by the most dubious legal means or by outright theft. Violence was perpetrated against them, and there was a great deal of economic exploitation. In about 1910 the next era began with the start of massive emigration form Mexico itself. This migration, legal and illegal, has continued to the present. Arrival of Mexican was but a part of the much greater migratory trend that included many immigrants form Europe and the Far east. The Mexican immigration continued steadily until the Great Depression of the 1930s. Then with the collapse of the United States economy, many immigrants return to Mexico. Many others were sent back by the united States government. (Guisepi, 2007)

5. The story of Hispanic in American (continues) During the 1960s the Mexican American population shifted from a basically rural to a mostly urban way of life. As a city-dwelling minority they found themselves sharing the problems of the rest of the urban poor: lack of jobs, second-rate housing, and educational difficulties. By the early 1990s more than 90 percent of the Mexican Americans, as well as other Hispanics, were living in or near cities. The Los-Angles-Long Beach area has, after Mexico city, more Mexicans than any other city in the Western Hemisphere. In Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, and New York City, have begun to seek political and economic power by organizing themselves and registering to vote. In 1985 there were more than 2,1000 Mexican American elected officials. By the end of war World I, migrant laborers and farm workers stated to work in California on large farms in the Central Valley. Slowly they began to work their way to states farther north as they hear of to other crops to be harvested. Many of the migrants returned to Mexico after each season was over, but others stayed to wait for the next season or to look for better-paying jobs. During World War Ii much American man power was lost to the military forces and to defense work, resulting in shortages of farm workers. In July 1942 the government of the United States and Mexico negotiated an agreement called the Mexican Farm Labor supply Program. Unofficially it was called the bracero program, meaning day laborer. The program continued until 1964, nearly 29 year after the war’s end, largely at the insistence of employers who benefited form it. During that period it brought ever greater numbers of Mexican to states as far away as Minnesota and Wisconsin.

6. Hispanics in America

7. Education Past studies have found that at every level of schooling, there are significant differences in educational outcomes both between native-born and immigrant Latinos as well as between Hispanics and other racial and ethnic groups in America. The Pew Hispanic center monitors and tracks these educational trends because knowledge of these factors give critical insight into the future of Hispanics in the United States. The center has also focused attention on postsecondary education.  (rights, 1996-2011) Twenty-four percent of Hispanics enrollment from ages 18 to 24 years old are now attending college in the United states hit an all-time high of 12.2 million in October 2010, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of newly available Census Bureau data. From 2009 to 2010,thenubmer of Hispanic young adults enrolled in college grew by 340,000 compared with an increase of 88,000 young black and 43,000 young Asian Americans and decreases of 320,000 young non-Hispanic Whites. Young Hispanics for the first time outnumbered young blacks on campus, even though young black college enrollment has also grown steadily for decades and it, too, has surged in recent years. In 2010, 38% of all 18 to 24-years old blacks were enrolled in college up form 13% in 1967 and 32% in 2008. The Hispanic enrollment increase has been even more dramatic than the black enrollment increase because it has been spurred by a mixture of population growth and education strides. High level of immigration and high birth rates have made Hispanics the nation’s biggest minority group, comprising 16% of the U.S. population as of 2010. In 1972, just 5% of that nation’s 18 to 24 year old were Hispanic. By 2010, that share rose to 19% (trusts, 2011).

8. Persons assisting college

9. Hispanic Population exceeds 50 million, Firmly Nation’s no. 2 According, to U.S. Census Bureau the Hispanics are topping to 50 million, county’s second largest group. The country is growing at a smaller rate. Growth is concentrated in metropolitan areas and in the American West and South. The fastest-growing communities are suburbs such as Lincoln, California, outside Sacramento. Standard bearer cities such as Boston, Baltimore and Milwaukee are no longer in the top 20 for population, replaced by upstairs such as El Paso, Texas, and Charlotte, North Carolina. The most significant trend, appeared to be the nation’s new count of 50.5million Latinos, whose massive expansion accounted for more than half of the nation’s overall growth of 27.3 million people, to a new overall U.S. population of 308.7. The Hispanic population grew 43% since 2000. Bureau officials declined to say how much illegal immigration has spurred growth among Latinos and other minorities, saying the sources of the growth are still being studied. Hispanics account for nearly one Quarter of children under the age 18. Hispanics are a younger population and there are just more women of child bearing age mention an Bureau official. Immigration remains a major contributor to Hispanic population growth, the recent recession and high employment rates may have prompted a tapering off in the rate of foreign-born nationals seeking U.S residence, analysts said. (Ariosto, 2011)

10. Hispanic Population

11. Hispanic Americans Now days it no uncommon to walk down the streets of an American City today and hear Spanish spoken. In 1950 fewer than 4 million U.S. residents were form Spanish-speaking countries. Today that number is about 45 million. About 50 percent of Hispanics in the United states have origins in Mexico. The other 50 percent come form variety of countries, including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Columbia. About 36 percent of the Hispanic in the United states live in California. Several other states have large Hispanic populations, including Texas, New York, Illinois, and Florida, where hundreds of thousands of Cuban fleeing the Castro regime have settled. The are so many Cuban Americans in Miami that the Miami Herald, the city’s largest newspaper, publishes separate editions in English and Spanish. People think of Hispanics as the latest, most recent group to enter the so called “melting pot”. This erroneous perception is mostly due to the media attention given to Hispanic groups in the 1980’s, after the Bureau of the Census published their 1980 results. Their report revealed that Hispanics were the fastest growing group in the U.S., soon to become the largest minority group. People associated the growth with immigration, ignoring the long history of Hispanics in the United States. Hispanic heritage in the U.S. goes back a long time. Plymouth was founded in 1620, Santa Fe was celebrating its first decade and St. Augustine its 55th anniversary. Spanish settlements developed in the Southwest of today’s U.S. and also the Gulf coast and the Florida peninsula. Some Latinos can trace their ancestors back to those days. Other Hispanic groups, like the Puerto Ricans, did not migrate into the U.S. but instead were absorbed into it during the American expansions of the late 19th century. Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship in 1917. Economic depressions and two world wars forced many Puerto Ricans to migrate form the island in search for better opportunities. Their current political situation still confuses many who think of Puerto Rico as a foreign Country (U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany, 2010).

12. Hispanic Americans

13. Puerto Ricans become U.S citizens, are recruited for war effort Barely a month before the United States enters World War I, President Woodrow Wilson signs the Jones-Shafroth act, granting U.S. citizenship to the inhabitants of Puerto Rico. Locate about 1,000 miles southeast of Florida and less than half that distance form the coast of South America. Puerto Rico was ceded to the U.S. by Spain in December 1989 as part of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American war. In 1900, a congressional act created a civil government for the island; the first governor under this act Charles h. Allen, was appointed by President William McKinley and inaugurated that May in Puerto Rico’s capital city, San Juan. On March 2, 1917, Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, under which Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory and Puerto Ricans were granted statutory citizenship, meaning that citizenship was granted by an act of Congress and not by the Constitution. The act also created a bill of rights for the territory, separated its government into executive, legislative and judicial branches, and declared Puerto Rico's official language to be English.As citizens, Puerto Ricans could now join the U.S. Army, but few chose to do so. After Wilson signed a compulsory military service act two months later, however, 20,000 Puerto Ricans were eventually drafted to serve during World War I. Later, during World War II, Puerto Rico became an important military and naval base for the U.S. Army. Its economy continued to grow, aided by a hydroelectric-power expansion program instituted in the 1940s. In 1951, Puerto Rican voters approved by referendum a new U.S. law granting the islanders the right to draft their own constitution. In March 1952, Luis Munoz Marin, Puerto Rico's governor, proclaimed Puerto Rico a freely associated U.S. commonwealth under the new constitution; the status was made official that July. Though nationalist agitation for the island's complete independence from the U.S. was a constant—as were calls for Puerto Rico to become a state—subsequent referendums confirmed the decision to remain a commonwealth (A & E, 2011).

14. Race by Puerto Rican national Origin 2010

15. Bless me, ultimaby rudolfoanaya Ultima comes to stay with Antonio's family one summer when he is seven years old. She is a curandera, a healer who uses herbs and sympathetic magic to cure people and to stop curses. Antonio dreams of his own birth the night before Ultima arrives. When he was born, his father’s people, the vaqueros, and his mother’s people, the Lunas, who are farmers, fought over which direction Antonio’s life would take. At the moment of crisis, Ultima, who had delivered him as a midwife, says she will be the one who sees what Antonio’s destiny is. The night Ultima arrives, Antonio dreams that Ultima’s owl (a physical embodiment of her spirit) lifts the Virgin and carries her up to heaven. Antonio helps Ultima gather herbs and learns from her the uses for all the herbs and the ancient method for gathering them. One night a man from town who has been emotionally hurt by the war kills another man. A posse comes after him and Antonio sees the man shot. At the edge of the river, Antonio takes his confession and prays the Act of Contrition for him. Antonio senses a presence in the river. He dreams that night of his three brothers, who are away at war, and the presence of the river. Antonio worries about the Roman Catholic doctrine that says the man, Lupito, who was shot by the posse, will go to hell because he died with a mortal sin on his soul. He wonders if the River would forgive if it were an alternative god. At home, his father, Gabriel is unhappy. He has moved close to the town for the benefit of his wife who was never happy living on the llano (prairie), but it makes him unhappy. Unlike Maria, Antonio’s mother, a devout Catholic, Gabriel does not believe in Christianity. He wants his sons to come home so they can move to California and work together. Antonio hears the story of his mother’s ancestor. Priest who led the first colony of people from Mexico to settle the land. They named their village El Puerto de la Luna. Antonio’s mother wants him to be a priest. When Ultima goes to church, Antonio hears people whisper about her. They say she is a woman without sin and others say she is a witch. Antonio joins a gang of boys from the town. Antonio loves to gather herbs with Ultima. They are both happy in this task. They feel the presence of the river together. When they go home, Antonio thinks of the Virgin of Guadalupe in his mother’s s living room, to whom she prays incessantly. She is a manifestation of the Virgin Mary. She appeared to a Mexican boy and since then people in the area worship her. Antonio goes with his mother and sisters to El Puerto to visit his uncles and to help gather in the harvest. He hears stories of a family of witches, the Trementina sisters, who dance a black Sabbath with the Devil.

16. Their father is Tenorio, a man who keeps a salon and a barber shop in the village. When Antonio returns home, he goes to school for the first time. His mother insists that he will be a man of learning. Ultima tells them he will indeed be a man of learning. Antonio hears about the end of the war. He dreams of his brother's return. The next day, his brothers return home. They are morose and uncommunicative. It is clear they will not be following their father to California to fulfill his dream of working together. In the spring the brothers still haven’t done anything. They sleep all day and go to the pool hall or the house of prostitution at night. They talk of leaving constantly. Antonio dreams that his brothers encourage him to go into the house of prostitution. His brother, Andrew tells him he won’t go into the house of prostitution until Antonio has lost his innocence. Antonio wonders constantly about what innocence means. Everyone gives him a different answer. His mother tells him when he takes his first communion he will gain understanding. Ultima tells him innocence exists in the land. One day his two oldest brother leave home. Antonio is doing so well in school he will be skipping the second grade. When he is not in school, Antonio fishes with his friend Samuel. Samuel tells him the story of the golden carp, a god of the river. In ancient times, the gods let the people settle in this fertile valley. They gave them everything but told them not to eat the carp. When a drought came, and food was scarce, the people ate the carp. The gods retaliated by turning the people into carp. One god took pity on them and asked the other gods if he could join the people and give them comfort. He is the golden carp. Antonio is drawn by the story but he doesn’t know how to reconcile this story of a god with his belief in the Christian god. That summer Antonio helps Ultima cure his Uncle Lucas who has been cursed by the Trementina sisters for interrupting their black mass. Ultima uses Antonio in the healing ceremony. He takes on the sickness of his uncle because he is pure and the evil is expelled. It comes out in a wriggling mass of hair. The sisters had used his hair in initiating the curse against him. When Antonio returns home, he goes fishing with Cico. Cico takes him to Narciso’s garden, a fabulously abundant place. He worships the earth and is rewarded with a beautiful and fruitful garden. That day, Antonio sees the golden carp. Cico tells him only believers can see it, adults and others cannot. He tells him the land where they are living used to be a sea and that the golden carp has promised to punish the people if they keep sinning. The god will flood the town. Ultima worries about the retribution against her for turning the curse that was laid on Lucas back onto the Trementina sisters. She gives Antonio her scapular as protection. The people of Pasturas visit the family. They are the vaqueros, old companeros of Gabriel, Antonio’s father. They tell the story of the land. First there were sheepherders. Then they brought cattle from Mexico. With the cattle, they became vaqueros (cowboys). This free way of life came to an end when the Tejanos (people from Texas) came and fenced the land. One night, Narciso shows up and warns the family that a posse is out intending to lynch Ultima for the death of Tenorio’s daughter. It is led by Tenorio who claims Ultima is a witch. When the posse arrives, Ultima passes its test and they leave. Antonio takes another trip to El Puerto. He looks for a non-punishing God. He thinks it might be the Virgin Mary. He thinks only women know how to forgive. At harvest time, he hears his uncles tell stories of the witches, the Trementina sisters. When he returns home, he begins the third grade. That Christmas, the school plans a nativity play, but the day it is planned turns out to be a blizzard. Only the boys show up to school. The play goes on and is a disaster with the boys making fun of every part of what is supposed to be a holy scene of the birth of Christ. On his way home, Antonio witnesses a fight between Narciso and Tenorio. Tenorio had been insulting Ultima and Narciso was defending her. Narisco gets away and Tenorio realizes he needs to warn Ultima. He is in no shape to make it to her so he goes in search of Andrew. Antonio follows him at a distance. He is shocked to see that Andrew is in the house of prostitution. Andrew refuses to come and help. Narciso goes alone and Antonio follows behind him.

17. Antonio falls behind in the blizzard. He hears a shot and sees that Narciso has been killed. He finds him before he dies and prays. When he gets home, he has a fever. In this dream, Ultima is powerless. Antonio has a fever for days. When he recovers, he rejects Andrew as a good model for him. Leon and Eugene, his two other older brothers, arrive home for Christmas. Antonio is preoccupied with preparing for his first Holy Communion. He is eager for it because he believes all his vexing questions will be answered on that day. The family is not altogether surprised when all three older brothers leave without notice. He also hears his father’s ideas of spiritual life. His father believes the earth has a voice and that it will wreak vengeance upon people for misusing it. For Gabriel, to sin is to misuse the land. He hears Florence, who is an atheist and thinks God is powerless against evil. Antonio entertains the idea that maybe God is gone at present and that other gods are ruling in place of God. When they are late for catechism, Florence is punished with a torturing hour ofpain and Antonio is excused. When Antonio tries to take seriously the stations of the cross, he can’t help but be distracted by hisfriends’ silliness. On the day of his first confession, his friends make him do a mock confession outside the church. He plays the priest and hears the confessions of two boys who get more thrills out of their sins than repentance. Then his friends want him to confess Florence. Antonio tries to get away, but they force him. Florence says he has no sins. The other children torture him in punishment. Antonio refuses to give him penance. On Easter Sunday, Antonio is excited to be able to take his First Communion so he will have God inside him. Tenorio’s second daughter is dying. A man from the Agua Negra ranch comes to Ultima to ask for help. His home is being haunted. Ultima takes Antonio and Gabriel and they go to the ranch. She determines that Tenorio is getting back at Tellez for a slight one day in his barber shop. Tenorio has wakened the ghosts of three Comanche Indians who were lynched by one of Tellez’s ancestor and never properly buried. Ultima performs a burial ceremony in the Comanche way and the curse is lifted. Antonio is preoccupied with the continued silence of God at all the communions he has taken since his first communion. He meets Cico one day in Spring and they go and see the golden carp. Cico tells Antonio the people had many local gods before the Spaniards brought the Christian God and that they don’t need a celestial god when they have so many gods in their backyard. They decide to bring Florence to see the golden carp since it is a god that does not punish, but only brings peace and beauty. When they go out to find Florence, they find that Florence has drowned while diving in the river. Ultima sends Antonio to see is uncles in El Puerto because he has seen too much death. On the way there, he has a significant talk with his father. His father tells him he will give up the old argument between the Marezes and the Lunas. Antonio wonders if a new religion can be formed. His father tells him understanding comes with life. He has a wonderful summer learning how to plant. At the end of the summer, he finds out that Tenorio has once again threatened Ultima. He is caught on the road by Tenorio who tries to kill him. He gets away and runs the ten miles back home to his house, but as he arrives he finds Tenorio has shot Ultima’s owl (her animal spirit). He knows this means Ultima will die. He talks to Ultima on her deathbed and she gives him instructions about where to bury the owl and what to do with her herbs. She dies and he immediately takes the owl and buries it where she said. He knows that the town will give Ultima a burial the next day, but in reality, he is burying her that night. He faces his future with the assurance gained from all her lessons.

18. Would I recommend this book? I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about Mexican Heritage because you learn about the religion and what it means for them. As we know not all Mexicans have the same religion but great amount of persons are Catholics‘. This book explains the importance of Virgin Mary to the Mexicans. I got to learn more about witches and for importance it is for some when for others it can be threat. It explains the importance religions is the Mexicans. They follow the church rules and go to Catholism. In this story I learn that as a child is growing up they are raise to love religion and that anything they do god will punish them. It help me understand more about witches and how people can be judgmental. It shows me that no matter who we are, we are always going to be a part of our families and religion. I agree with this book because being an Mexican, myself I have always been taught to love god and to love religion. I have been taught to think of Virgin Mary as hero and a person who gives miracles for those persons who need her the most. This book can explained the importance of religion to Mexicans is part of their heritage. I agree with this book because Mexicans take religious very serious, it part of who they are and where they are coming from. This author gives a good description about religion and detail information about why religion is so important.

19. The house in mango streetBy Sandra cisneros The story is told by Esperanza, and begins when she first moves to Mango Street, a poor, Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago. Esperanza says that she has lived in many different places. She implies that she is close to her family, and describes their interactions and even their hair. She does not like her name, because it is too long and because it was her grandmother’s name. Her grandmother did not want to get married, but was forced to by Esperanza’s grandfather. Slowly, Esperanza begins to meet people in the neighborhood. She meets Cathy, a stuck-up girl, and Lucy and Rachel, who live across the street. Sisters, these two will become Esperanza’s best friends on Mango Street. They are loud and sassy, just the opposite of Esperanza, but this is what she likes about them. Esperanza’s younger sister, Nenny, to whom she feels close in a strange way, even though sometimes they annoy each other. One day they, Esperanza and Nenny go to visit a used furniture store and the owner plays a music box with music so beautiful Nenny begins to cry, Esperanza naively tries to buy the box. The man says it is not for sale, and Esperanza is embarrassed by her sister. Esperanza describes other people from the neighborhood. Meme Ortiz has a dog that is big and clumsy, just like him. Louie’s cousin got arrested for stealing a car. Marin is waiting for some rich man to find her and take her away from Mango Street. Esperanza understands that people feel scared when they come to Mango Street because the area is poor and they don’t know everyone there is harmless. But she also knows that her own community is scared when they go to other neighborhoods, too. The Vargas children are so numerous, and so out of control, that people don’t even try to prevent them from hurting themselves anymore, even though they do it all the time. Esperanza’s friend Alicia is going to the university, even though her father makes her do all the housework ever since her mother died. Darius, who goes to school with Esperanza and usually only says foolish things, one day tells everyone that a cloud he sees in the sky is God. Everyone questions him, but he simply repeats his statement, and Esperanza thinks he is wise. Esperanza, Lucy, Rachel and Nenny talk about all the different names for clouds and snow. This evolves into a mock-insulting name-calling Game; they are poetic and humorous. Soon after, they are given some second-hand ladies’ shoes. Feeling like grown women, admiring their skinny legs in the high heels, they parade around the neighborhood. But when a bum tries to get Rachel to kiss him, telling her how pretty she is, the girls get Nervous and go home. Esperanza decides she wants to eat in the "canteen" with the children who don’t live close enough to school to go home for lunch. However, one of the nuns at her school realizes that she lives only a few blocks away, and tells Esperanza she has to go home. Starting to cry and feeling ashamed of where she lives, Esperanza can hardly speak. The nun tells her she can stay just for that day, but when Esperanza goes to the canteen, there’s nothing exciting about it and all the kids watch her as she cries. .

20. `Esperanza’s mother buys her all new clothes for a cousin’s baptismal party, but she forgets to buy new shoes, so Esperanza has to wear her old, worn out ones. At the party she feels embarrassed, and won’t dance, even when a boy her age asks her. Then her Uncle Nacho forces her to dance, telling her how pretty she is, until she relaxes and dances with him in front of everyone, thrilled at the attention. At her first job, Esperanza works at a photo finisher’s. She feels intimidated at first, unsure of how to act around all the older people, until an elderly man comes in for his later shift, and is friendly to her. She is grateful, until he asks her for a birthday kiss, and grabs her, kissing her on the mouth, and will not let her go. Esperanza’s father comes into her room to tell her that his father is dead. She is the oldest child, so she must tell her siblings to behave that day. Her father begins to cry, and she comforts him. In contrast to this tenderness, Esperanza plays a game with her friends, imitating her sick aunt, who is bedridden. Coincidentally, the aunt dies that day, and Esperanza feels very guilty, since her aunt always cared for her, listening to her stories and taking her seriously. Esperanza visits a fortune-teller, Elenita, a neighbor who lives with her family in a cluttered apartment full of candles. Elenita tells Esperanza she will have a "home in the heart," which disappoints Esperanza, who wants a real home. Marin meets a Mexican immigrant, Geraldo, at a dance. Afterwards, he is hit by a car and dies. He has no identification and no one knows who he is. Marin goes with him to the hospital. Ruthie lives next door with her mother. Even though she is an adult, she plays with the children and sings to herself. She is very dependent on her mother, and the kids like her a lot. She tells stories about herself, none of which seem to be true. Earl is a jukebox repairman who lives nearby and works nights. He brings strange women to his house, and does not seem to have a wife who lives with him. Sire is a boy who stares at Esperanza when she walks past his house. She tries to stare back but she is also intimidated. He and his girlfriend Lois stay out late and seem to have adventures, and Esperanza is jealous, even though her parents tell her to stay away from Sire. Esperanza can relate to the four skinny trees planted outside her house. They don’t seem to belong there, but they continue to grow, strong and defiant. Mamacitais a very large woman from Mexico. Her husband brought her and their son to Chicago, but she is lonely for home, and does not leave her apartment (no one is sure why) and refuses to speak English. She and her husband fight, and she cries when her young son begins to sing a Pepsi commercial. Rafaela is young and pretty and her husband won’t let her leave the house when he goes out. She asks the neighborhood kids to buy her coconut or papaya juice, and they send it up to her on a string. Sally is a beautiful girl ,Esperanza’s age who wears makeup and black clothes. She talks to boys, and Esperanza admires her, not believing that she is dangerous or bad (as some people say) and pitying Sally because she has to change her clothes and rub off her makeup before she goes home. Esperanza believes that what Sally really wants is love, and she understands that. Minerva, writes poems. She is slightly older than Esperanza, but already is married and has children. Her husband fights with her and leaves often. She cries, not knowing what to do. She and Esperanza read their poems to each other. Esperanza vows that she will not be superior when she gets rich and has her own house. She will invite homeless people to live with her happily. Esperanza does not want to depend on anyone. She wants to control men with her beauty, but never settle down with one. She wants to be free and strong. Esperanza’s mother tells her to stay in school, because she herself regrets leaving. She says she was smart, and Esperanza silently agrees. But she left school because she felt ashamed of her clothes, Mrs. Cordero explains, and tells Esperanza not to make the same mistake. Sally admits to Esperanza that her father beats her, though she will not tell anyone else. She prepares to live with Esperanza for awhile, but then her father apologizes, and she goes home with him. Soon after, he beats her again. The neighborhood children play in an abandoned garden. Esperanza likes to play there, even though some people say she is getting too old. Sally stands at the edge of the garden, talking to some boys, who take her keys and say she has to kiss them to get them back. Esperanza tries to help Sally by trying to fight the boys, but everyone, Sally included, tells her to go away, making her feel foolish. She doesn’t understand the game, or why Sally would want to play it. She runs away and cries, and never goes back to the garden after that. Sally takes Esperanza to a carnival, where she leaves with a boy and tells Esperanza to wait. Sally never comes back, and Esperanza is molested by a group of boys. Soon after, Sally gets married. She says she is happy, but her husband never lets her go out or see her friends. Esperanza meets the Three Sisters, aunts of Lucy and Rachel. They tell Esperanza she is special and understand that she wants to leave Mango Street. They tell her she must not forget her roots, and that she must come back for those she leaves behind. Though Esperanza agrees, she is still disgusted with Mango Street. She tells Alicia she won’t come back until someone fixes it up, even though Alicia tries to tell her that Mango is part of her, whether she likes it or not. Esperanza dreams of a house just for her, where she can write in peace and not have to take care of anyone else. At the end of the story, she finally learns that Mango Street is part of her, but does not define her. She understands that, through her writing, she can ease the pain of her memories. Sometimes, she says, the ghost of Mango Street lets go of her.

21. How it applies? I think this book applies to this topic because it talks how Hispanics live in a communitywhere low-income poverty exist, others would think of it as terrible place to live in. Persons of others ethnic group and being economic well, might feel afraid to live in this kind of neighborhood but it shows how low income people can also feel afraid about going outside their neighborhood. Not because they are Hispanics means that they will not be having any dreams for the future. This story shows how people tried to leave their neighborhood to become someone better in live. I think this story shows me that when having a job, I should appreciate what I have because there are other people who suffer harassment from clients or co-workers. It helps me understand that we should appreciate everything we have everyday because we can have it all in one day and in the next we might not have anything. This book relates to my topic because it shows the lives of Hispanics and how their surroundings can be. This book can give detail information about the lives of Hispanics for those who do not understand their struggles and their lives. I agree with the author because usually minority group families live in low-income communities and also can suffer from work harassment. As I have known some families as mention in this book, man are usually taught as children that, they should be the man of the house and that in order for a woman to follow their rules they should consider domestic violence. In my opinion this book demonstrates part of Hispanics lives, but it only demonstrate part of the Hispanic population because not all the Hispanic population act this way.

22. Reflection at the end of course Learning about Hispanic Americans, help me understand where each person is coming from. I got to understand the different cultures and the numbers of person growing in the United States. Something I learn was that I never knew that Hispanics are number 2 in the largest amount of population in minority group after African America’s. Even though Hispanics have suffered discrimination it hasn’t been as much as African Americans. I learned that Hispanic population is growing more and more each decade.I always wonder the reason why Hispanics such as Puerto Ricans had citizenship and learn that they do not need any passport or visas to travel. When non-Hispanics whites do need passports and visas to travel, it was kind of weird but is what was mention in my articles. This information will help me in employment later in life because when ask about my heritage I will know more information to tell people and I won’t say anymore, well I do not know much about my heritage.

23. References • (n.d.). Retrieved from http://history-world.org/hispanics.htm Guisepi, R. (2007, January). The Story of Hispanics in Americas. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from History World: http://history-world.org/hispanics.htm • rights, T. P. (1996-2011). Education. Retrieved November 22, 2011, from Hispanic in America: http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_detail.aspx?id=218 • trusts, T. P. (2011, August 24). Hispanic College. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from Hispanics in America Enrollment Spikes, Narrowing Gaps with Other Groups: http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=85899363536&category=218 • Ariosto, M. M. (2011, March 24). Hispanic population exceeds 50 million,firmly nation's No. 2 group. Retrieved November 19, 2011, from CNN: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-24/us/census.hispanics_1_hispanic-population-illegal-immigration-foreign-born?_s=PM:US • U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany. (2010, October). Hispanic Americans. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from Society: http://usa.usembassy.de/society-hispanics.htm • A & E. (2011). Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens, are recruited for war effort. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from History Channel: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/puerto-ricans-become-us-citizens-are-recruited-for-war-effort