gambling addiction or fail to provide needed
services for their people.
Nonetheless, many Native Americans
continue to embrace their cultural heritage.
Pan-Indianism today emphasizes common
elements that run through Native American
cultures, creating an identity that goes beyond
the individual nations.
People from Latin America
In the 2000 census, 12.5 percent of the U.S.
population declared that they were Hispanic or
Latino/Latina, with ancestry in Latin America
(the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and
South America). They are now the largest
ethnic minority group in the United States, and
they are growing almost three times faster than
the population as a whole (2.9 percent per year
versus 1 percent per year in the general population), due both to immigration and
higher birth rates (Figure 8.4). By 2050, the Hispanic population will nearly triple,
from 35.6 million to 102.6 million.
Because these regions were originally settled by Native Americans, Europeans,
Africans, and Asians, Hispanics may be of any race. Most speak Spanish at home, but
they may speak Portuguese, French, Creole, Japanese, Italian, or an Indian language.
Most are Roman Catholic, but they can be Protestant (usually Pentecostal), Jewish,
Muslim, or followers of an Afro-Caribbean religion like Santería. Some do not approve
of dozens of distinct cultures being lumped together into people from a continent, so
they prefer to be called Mexican Americans (or Chicanos), Cuban Americans, and so
on.
Latinos in the United States come from various countries of origin:
■From Mexico: 34.3 million. This is the most established of the Hispanic
subgroups: Just 36 percent are foreign born, and many have had ancestors in
California, Arizona, or Texas since those states were part of Mexico.
■From Central America: 2.3 million, mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, and Nicaragua. These people live mostly in California, Texas, Florida,
and New York. They tend to be foreign born (71 percent), and 34 percent immi-
grated within the last decade. About 22 percent fall beneath the poverty line.
■From South America: 1.7 million, mainly from Colom-
bia, Ecuador, and Peru. They tend to be foreign born (74
percent), and 33 percent immigrated within the last year.
Many are well educated and belong to the middle class.
About 35 percent of the foreign born have college degrees.
■From Cuba: 1.2 million. Of this group, 68 percent are for-
eign born, but most arrived more than a decade ago. Most
settled in Florida. They tend to be more affluent than other
Hispanic subgroups. About a third of the foreign-born
adults have some college.
■From the Dominican Republic: 912,000. Over half live
in New York. They are among the most impoverished
of the Hispanic subgroups; 36 percent fall below the
poverty line.
ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES 265We are a nation of immigrants.
President John F. Kennedy
said this was the “secret” of
America: “a nation of people
with the fresh memory of old
traditions who dared to
explore new frontiers.” Lati-
nos represent the nation’s
largest ethnic minority. (Span-
ish Harlem, New York City.)nAUTH© 1997 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS
SYNDICATE. All Rights Reserved.