Essay on Comparing American Culture and Latino Culture

Introduction Frequently, we do not put too much attention to our own cultural values and traditions until we are exposed to a different culture, and start comparing. In order to have a more productive and fruitful life I believe we need to become more self-aware and more sensitive to the culturally and ethnically diverse community we live in. Two cultures that have been sharing the same living space for centuries are the Hispanic and American culture. In this paper I would be analyzing each culture giving a brief background and pointing out some aspects in how they differ, like the perception of time, family, orientation, and others. American culture has a couple of aspects in which it differs from the Hispanic culture, which for the†¦show more content†¦The term Hispanic means people who come from a country where Spanish is spoken. And the term Latino means someone who comes from Latin America. Because of our Latin American origins, Hispanic Americans are also called Latinos. Within this soon to be largest group of minorities in the United States, there are people of many different national and ethnic origins. They are not from one nationality or one culture, but are from many different origins. Many Latinos identify themselves with their cultural or national background. For example someone who is born in the U.S, but his/her parents are from Mexico can call him or herself Mexican. The three largest groups of Latinos in the United States are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Many Puerto Ricans also call themselves Boricua. Members of subgroups sometimes use more specialized names. For example, some Mexican Americans call themselves Chicanos, and Puerto Ricans living in New York State often refer to themselves as Nuyoricans. Many Latinos in the U.S. are descendants of Mexican people who lived in the Southwest when it was taken as plunders of war or acquired in a series of land sales. 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