THE HISPANIC CULTURE

1. THE HISPANIC CULTURE • “Experimental Socio-Historical Research”

2. Authentic Mexican Tacos

3. Activity Journal One • I chose to: Visit a Mexican Market and prepare a meal using the ingredients I found. • I am a self proclaimed Mexican food lover. One of my favorite fast food restaurants is Taco Bell. I have often been told that real authentic Mexican food does not taste anything like Taco Bell. So I thought it would be great to prepare real authentic beef tacos. I first searched for a recipe online. Then I went to a market in an area we call Mexican town and purchase my ingredients. I prepared my meal, which did not look like nor taste like anything I’ve ever purchased from Taco Bell. I was sharing this experience with my sister who informed me that Taco Bell is considered Mexican American food. Although the food did not taste bad, it was not what I had become accustom to. So, now I am a self proclaimed Mexican American food lover.

4. Hispanic Hip Hop

5. Activity Journal Two • I chose to: Familiarize yourself with and listen to the latest Latino, Hip Hop pop-music that from the culture you are studying. • I am a big fan of all types of music. So, for my second activity I have chosen to familiarize myself with and listen to the latest Latino hip hop and pop music. Oddly enough, any music outside of American music never really existed to me, other than the fact that I know logically it has to. Our radio and video station never play it, so I never hear it, therefore to it has no real existence. I never looked at it this way before, because I absolutely have never given it a thought. It is out of my scope of existence. Wow, this train thought is truly eye opening. I did not know this was how I felt until right now.

6. Journal Two Continued... • One thing I have noticed about their music outside of it being in a different language is that their use of sounds and instrument combinations are different. The rhythmic patterns and pace differ from the rhythm and blues music I normally listen to. I find this difference is most prominent in their traditional music. When it comes to hip hop and pop music, their are a lot more similarities, and you can find some that are in english instead of spanish. It was not hard to listen to, but I found myself longing to know what was being said as I listened to the spanish versions.

7. Hispanic News/Network

8. Activity Journal Three • I chose to: Change my news source to a Hispanic network Univision and I watched Primer Impacto for a week. • I am not big fan of any type of news program. It is very rare that I watch the local news or any news program for that matter. If I mistakenly what the news, it is because someone else has turned it on. So, for my journal final activity I have chosen to change my news source to a Hispanic network Univision and I watched Primer Impacto for a week. The news, no matter what network it’s on, is filled with of sad and depressing events. This program is no exception. In fact, I thought it was a bit worse, only because it displayed more graphic images from crime and accident scenes than local American programs that most people watch. This was something that I was not prepared for. In no way did I expect to see a bloody body. Additionally, because the entire program is in Spanish, I was forced to focus only on the images shown to try to interpret what the various stories were about.

9. Socio-Cultural Overview • Over the past 30 years, the Hispanic population has exhibited tremendous growth in the United States. Hispanics comprise about 11% of the U.S. population, including 3.6 million residing in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Approximately 31 million individuals are identified as Hispanics. The U.S. Hispanic population was projected to become the largest minority group by the year 2006. Seventy percent of the Hispanic population is concentrated in four states - California, Texas, New York, and Florida. Mexican is the largest ethnic subdivision of Hispanics in the United States, comprising about 63.3%, followed by Central and South American (14.4%), Puerto Rican (10.6%), Cuban (4.2%), and other Hispanics (7.4%). • Hispanic is a term created by the U.S. federal government in the early 1970s in an attempt to provide a common denominator to a large, but diverse, population with connection to the Spanish language or culture from a Spanish-speaking country. The term Latino is increasingly gaining acceptance among Hispanics, and the term reflects the origin of the population in Latin America.

10. Current Challenges • Acculturation is the process of adopting the new ways of the dominant culture. Assimilation, on the other hand, refers to the extent to which an individual enters the dominant culture and becomes a part of that culture. As you can see, the key difference is “societal acceptance.” Despite centuries of voluntary and involuntary acculturation, Hispanics in the United States have retained Spanish fluency and other traditions of Hispanic culture. As a result it makes it hard to conceptualize culture group membership for Hispanics in the United States as a continuum, with one end representing those who are completely Hispanic, such as a new immigrant, and the opposite end representing those who are completely American, like someone completely acculturated to the general American culture. Obviously the major challenge of Hispanics fall at some intermediate point between the two classifications.

11. Supporting this Group • To fully engage Hispanic audiences in the learning process, particular attention should be given to gaining and maintaining trust. Greater acceptance of educational efforts will occur by learners if Hispanic community leaders are involved in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of these educational efforts. Be aware that the physical distance between Hispanics when holding a conversation is much closer than in other cultures. • Exhibiting respect for learners is another important aspect of the Hispanic culture. Teachers need to pay individual attention to learners (e.g., greeting each learner, handing papers to each individual rather than passing them down the row, being sensitive to different cultures among Hispanics, writing educational materials at appropriate reading levels). Differences in educational levels, language skills, income levels, and cultural values among Hispanics need to be considered by Extension educators when planning educational programs. Even though Hispanics share the same language, their cultures may vary considerably.