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The Hispanic community is part of the Americas whose people are descendants of the Spanish-speaking migrants who settled in the continent. They are traced back from their origins in Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other countries that speak Spanish and come together to form a common culture in the U.S. Most use Hispanic or Latino as an identity spectrum. Hispanic and Latino are identities, and people of these groups may share a race. Since 16th century, they have been settled continuously in the U.S. Spanish explorers were pioneers in the land of the present-day U.S. In the 18th and 19th centuries, after the end of the revolutionary war of America, Spain had claimed half the territory of today’s American continent. Hispanic and Latino immigration to America in 20th and 21st centuries has markedly increased following changes in the immigration law of 1965. The community in urban areas is more populated than other racial groups in rural and suburban neighborhoods.
Description
On climate, there is enough rain which is positively affecting the livelihood of the Hispanic community. More physical activities in the area are also influencing climate changes in the Americas (Larsen, Pekmezi, Marquez, Banitez, & Marcus. 2013). The physical activities taking place in the communities include farming which is supported by rich soils in the area. 71% of the Los Angeles population is of Hispanic origin, while 52% are in New Mexico, New York, and other states like Arizona. The topographical features in North Carolina, a state with a considerable percentage of Hispanic and Latino residents is among the wettest in the country with vast marshlands in the coastal area and many lakes in the regions of the Piedmont and Appalachian. It forms a spectacular landscape of the coastal plain, Piedmont and the Appalachian Mountains which have influenced the climate and soil in the region. The mountain area consists of plateaus broken into ranges and on the east side there are the Blue Ridge Mountains of 3,000 to 4,000 feet with others reaching as high as 6,000 feet. The inland water covers 3,820 square miles with some lake region covering 63 square miles. The Hispanic Community is surrounded by various places, for instance, the Boyle of 6.52 square miles, the Panorama city of 3.65 square miles, and the Korea town of 2.7 square miles.
Environment
The community is well supplied with water from various reservoirs and the primary contaminants such as sewages and others are below the standard maximum level. The quality of drinking water in Los Angeles has varied a little over the last years but still remains excellent. Local moderate water is 44.5% with 22.6% being relatively poor in other areas. 56% of road pollutions contributed to pollution in the area, 23% was from toxic substances from industrial waste, and 18% from human activities. 42% of gases from nearby industries are changing the color of air and interfering with its odor and quality (Hargrove, Juárez, Carillo, & Kore, 2015). 67% of food production is coming from farms, and 21% is processed. One of the potential disasters in pollution of the community is the waste material released from industries and the activities of humans such as inappropriate disposal of harmful substances.
Housing
The housing sector in the Hispanic community is 60% privately owned, compared to the public sector at 32% private ownership. Renting is more prevalent in central cities where the prices of land are high, with a bigger concentration of low-income households. 60% of the households live in rented homes with a 22% in home ownerships (Schwartz, 2014). The average household size in Los Angeles counties is 3.6 with El Monte being the biggest house owner. The percentage of frail elders has decreased by 10% due to increase in nursing homes where they are examined. 3% are the seniors who are refusing medical care in those nursing homes.
Leading Industries and Occupations
The leading industries were construction followed by fishing and others like food and processing sectors.
Population Profile
The last population census of the Hispanic community was in 2014, with a total population of 55 million which saw an addition of 1.15 million more people in the previous year (Colby & Ortman, 2015). In the past decade, the population has been increasing year by year. The population per square miles in Manhattan was 23 people, in Bronx it was 42 people per square mile, in Brooklyn 71, and 58 in Staten Island (Schneiderman, Chirinos, Avilés-Santa, & Heiss, 2014). The mobility of the Hispanic people is characterized by unequal employment and unbalanced education in the community. The Puerto Ricans are less educated while the Mexicans are more educated and employed. The type of family in the community is defined by culture and traditions that define that particular society. They form the Mexican family culture, Hispanic family culture, and the Latino Family under which many people belong.
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Biological Considerations
Most populations are in the age limit of 6-57 years, with 12% forming the old age of between 50 and above. 0-18 forms 60% of the population. Females are 60% more than men who are at 51%. According to a survey of the Hispanic and Latino race, white’s forms 53%, some other race forms 36.7%, two or more races created 6%, Native American and Alaska Natives formed 1.4%, Asian constituted 0.4%, and the native Hawaiian formed 0.1% of the total population (Jiménez, Sanders, Mauriello, Kaste, & Beck, 2014). When it comes to ethnicity, white Americans constituted 63%, black Hispanic Americans formed 12.4%, while the Asian America formed 38.5%. The rate of mortality was high in older people at 15% but less compared to those of Youths which was at 30%. The annual birth rate is 40%, and the crude death rate is 34%. Mortality rate between ages of 19-35 was high compared to other ages. Infant mortality rate is 23.5% however, it is decreasing due to improvements in the health sector. Maternal mortality rate is at 8% of the women population. The leading cause of death rate in the population is diseases such as Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and road accidents. Morbidity is being caused by prevalence diseases such as Heart diseases and respiratory illness.
Physiological Considerations
There are various historical events which are relevant to the Hispanic community (Dawson, 2014);
- 1565- The first European settlement was brought by Saint Augustine to the U.S. introducing the Spanish language
- 1598- New Mexico was settled by the Spanish making it the largest and oldest settlement of Spanish-speaking people
- 1718- San Antonio mission was founded and became the most prosperous mission and the essential one
- 1789- Adoption of the Bills of Rights
- 1810- Separatist movements began in America
- 1837- Seguin was named the Military Commander of West Texas and later the mayor
- 1846- On April that year, Mexico and the U.S. disputed over territory and were at war and in June the same year the Military commander was awakened by an angry mob of Anglo settlers forcing him to sign Capitulation articles to make California an Independent Republic (O’Callaghan, 2013)
- 1870- The Spanish government frees the slaves in Cuba and Puerto Rico
- 1910- The revolution of Mexico began as a revolt against Porfirio President and the railroads that served as a means of trade and development became the escape route for violence and revolution
- 1921- For the first time in the history of the country, many immigrants were allowed in the U.S.
- 1948- One of the witnesses of racial injustice, Dr. Hector, began to hold meetings for Mexican-Americans to voice their concerns, and a Mexican-American movement was established
- 1963- John F. Kennedy, the U.S. president, was assassinated leaving Lyndon Johnson as his successor
- 2003- Hispanics were pronounced the largest minority group in the nation and surpassed African-Americans
The future economic prospect of the Hispanic Community have been defined by their outlook on education and a strong economy. Earlier, their economic activity was behind due to relatively low levels of education and large-scale immigration. Today there is a strong economy and improved skills which are continuously raising their economic prospects (Marable, 2015). The formal and informal communication network of the Hispanic people are used for communication purposes. There are hundreds of internet media circulating in their community. Univision is their largest Spanish-language TV network that affiliates its market in the U.S. Telemundo is another Spanish television, and La Opinion is their Spanish newspaper. Others are Vida Latina, V-ma, and People en Espanol among others. Informally some in rural areas are still using senders to pass information and others through face to face communication (Culbertson & Chen, 2013). According to Health Department, 9.2 of deaths in the Hispanic community were as a result of suicide. Mexicans had a rate of 5.5 while others stood at 6 percent. Hispanics had a low mortality rate due to suicide compared to whites. There are adequate protective services to children in the Hispanic community. Workers in the industry area are well protected from health hazards. The Latino Community forms a protective service for staff and their members. The common source of stress among the youths and children in the Hispanic community is due to less employments and poor housing among children (Driscoll & Torres, 2013). Unemployment is contributing to high suicide rates among all age groups and even rising stress levels. Low incomes and the use of drugs are also causes of stress and deaths among the Hispanic community.
Socio-cultural Considerations
According to a report in 2011, one person in every family was the breadwinner of the household. More families are unemployed in the community. Of the 146.3 million working-age people in the united nation, only 16.1% are employed with most of them working in the manufacturing, hunting, fishing, and construction industries, where most workers were Hispanic (Kagitcibasi, 2013). The level of unemployment in the Hispanic community is high in metropolitan areas like Las Vegas and Los Angeles which accounts for 67% of the unemployment rate in the community. The rate of poverty was 25.8% in the Hispanic group but higher in the Cuban-American community which stood at 26.3%. Retired people were many in the Dominican-America group which had 30% more retirees compared to 26% of the Mexican-Americas.
According to a survey, 70% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans are Catholic, 20% are Protestant, alternatives Christians are 3%, 1% have no identity and 6% have no religious preferences. In the Hispanic community, 67% are married couples, 44% are married with children, 30% of the men are not married, 24% of the women are unmarried, and 30% of Hispanic women have never been married. 57% were divorced males and females, and 30% children live with single parents. 69% of all Hispanics are bilingual in English and Spanish, 22% are monolingual speakers of English, 9% are monolingual speakers in Spanish while 0.4% speaks other languages excluding English and Spanish.
Education
Despite their growth, the Hispanic community remains the lowest population with high education facilities with 30% public facilities more being lower level schools and 20% being private schools which are expanding at a greater rate than public facilities. Libraries are more in the urban areas by 20% compared to 12% in the countryside. Teen pregnancy has declined in the past few years in the U.S. However; Latinos still have a high rate of teen pregnancies which stand at 35% (Vespa, Lewis, & Kreider, 203). There is a small percentage of people with special conditions which is about 28%, but high rates of road accidents were recorded with a 30% rise. 25% are children and adults who are born with disabilities while 15% of the victims suffer injuries during development.
Transportation- 1.7 millions of Latino use public means, 3 million use Latino carpool, 1 million people use bike motorcycle, and others walk to work.
Behavioral Considerations
60% of the Hispanic population are vegetarians, 56% consume proteins and other beverages, while 40% love fruits. More leisure time is spent fishing and hunting among the young people while a high percentage of elders pursue sports as a form of recreation. 56% of public cars used have a seat belt while 60% of private cars have seat belts.
