Mexican Americans: Difference between revisions

 

===Politics and debate of racial classification===

In some cases, legal classification of White racial status has made it difficult for Mexican-American rights activists to prove minority discrimination. In the case ''[[Hernandez v. Texas]]'' (1954), civil rights lawyers for the appellant, named Pedro Hernandez, were confronted with a paradox: because Mexican Americans were classified as White by the federal government and not as a separate race in the census, lower courts held that they were not being denied equal protection by being tried by juries that excluded Mexican Americans by practice. The lower court ruled there was no violation of the Fourteenth Amendment by excluding people with Mexican ancestry among the juries. Attorneys for the state of Texas and judges in the state courts contended that the amendment referred only to racial, not "nationality", groups. Thus, since Mexican Americans were tried by juries composed of their racial group—whites—their constitutional rights were not violated. The US Supreme Court ruling in ''Hernandez v. Texas'' case held that "nationality" groups could be protected under the Fourteenth Amendment, and it became a landmark in the civil rights history of the United States.<ref name="Another White Race:">{{cite web|url=https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=21+Law+&+Hist.+Rev.+109&key=9eb15db6c4cb5ea99766572941111225|title=LexisNexis® Litigation Essentials – Error|website=litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007170227/https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=21+Law+&+Hist.+Rev.+109&key=9eb15db6c4cb5ea99766572941111225|archive-date=7 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us475|title=Hernandez ''v.'' Texas|website=[[Oyez Project|Oyez]] |publisher=[[Chicago-Kent College of Law]] |access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref>

 

In the past, Mexicans were legally considered "White" because either they were accepted as being of Spanish ancestry, or because of early treaty obligations to Spaniards and Mexicans that conferred citizenship status to Mexican peoples before the American Civil War. Numerous slave states bordered Mexican territory at a time when 'whiteness' was nearly a prerequisite for US citizenship in those states.<ref name="Haney-Lopez0">{{cite book| author = Haney-Lopez, Ian F.| title = White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race| publisher = New York University| year = 1996

| chapter = 3 Prerequisite cases| page = 61}}</ref><ref name="Haney-Lopez1">{{cite book| author = Haney-Lopez, Ian F.| title = White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race| publisher = New York University| year = 1996| chapter = Appendix "A"}}</ref>

 

Although Mexican Americans were legally classified as "white" in terms of official federal policy, socially they were seen as "too Indian" to be treated as such.<ref name=ManifestDestinies>{{cite book|author=Gomez, Laura E.|title=Manifest Destinies|publisher=NYU Press|date=Feb 6, 2018}}</ref> Many organizations, businesses, and homeowners associations and local legal systems had official policies in the early 20th century to exclude Mexican Americans in a racially discriminatory way.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> Throughout the Southwest, discrimination in wages was institutionalized in "White wages" versus lower "Mexican wages" for the same job classifications.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> For Mexican Americans, opportunities for employment were largely limited to guest worker programs.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=http://www.understandingrace.org/history/society/post_war_economic_boom.html |title=RACE – History – Post-War Economic Boom and Racial Discrimination |publisher=Understandingrace.org |date=1956-12-21 |access-date=2014-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818185124/http://www.understandingrace.org/history/society/post_war_economic_boom.html |archive-date=2013-08-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

 

==Demographics==

Mexican Americans are concentrated in California (34%), Texas (26%) and Arizona (5%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/us-hispanics-facts-on-mexican-origin-latinos/|title=Facts on Hispanics of Mexican origin in the United States, 2021|first1=Mohamad|last1=Moslimani|first2=Luis|last2=Noe-Bustamante|first3=Sono|last3=Shah|accessdate=4 December 2023}}</ref>

 

 

==Culture==

 

Family units and structures are typically larger among Mexican Americans. Parents and elders are treated with a high degree of respect by Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans often celebrate Quinceanerais.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://info.umkc.edu/latinxkc/essays/spring-2017/mexican-immigration-family/|title=Mexican Immigration to the United States and Its Effect on Mexican Culture and the Family Structure – LatinxKC|accessdate=1 March 2024}}</ref>

US politicians cited numbers as high as 20 million undocumented immigrants in the United States without providing statistical proof.<ref name="gale encyclopedia" />

 

Some immigrants to the United States, both from Mexico and elsewhere, oppose illegal immigration, even if they once lacked documents themselves. However, according to a survey conducted by the [[Pew Research Center]] in June 2007, 63% of Americans would support an immigration policy that would put undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship if they "pass background checks, pay fines and have jobs, learn English", while 30% would oppose such a plan. The survey also found that if this program was instead labeled "amnesty", 54% would support it, while 39% would oppose.<ref>{{cite web|author=Publications |url=http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=335 |title=Summary of Findings: Mixed Views on Immigration Bill |publisher=People-press.org |date=2007-06-07 |access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>

 

 

===Intermarriage===

According to 2000 census data, US-born ethnic Mexicans have a high degree of [[Interracial marriage in the United States|intermarriage]] with [[non-Hispanic whites|non-Latino whites]]. Based on a sample size of 38,911 US-born Mexican husbands and 43,527 US-born Mexican wives:<ref name="Borjas1">{{cite book |last1=Borjas |first1=George J. |title=Mexican Immigration to the United States |date=2007 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-06668-4 |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iONl31AMQYC&pg=PA244 }}</ref>

* 50.6% of US-born Mexican men and 45.3% of US-born Mexican women were married to US-born Mexicans;<ref name=Borjas1 />

==Education==

===Parental Involvement===

Parents are commonly associated with being a child's first teacher. As the child grows older, the parent's role in their child's learning may change; however, a parent will often continue to serve as a role model. There are multiple research articles that have looked at parental involvement and education. A key aspect of parental involvement in education is that it can be transmitted in many ways. For a long time, there has been a misconception that the parents of Mexican American students are not involved in their children's education; however, multiple studies have demonstrated that parents are involved in their children's education (Valencia & Black, 2002).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Valencia |first1=Richard R. |title='Mexican Americans Don't Value Education!' On the Basis of the Myth, Mythmaking, and Debunking |journal=Journal of Latinos and Education |date=April 2002 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=81–103 |doi=10.1207/S1532771XJLE0102_2 |s2cid=144594549}}</ref> It is important to know that the parents of Mexican American students frequently display their involvement through untraditional methods; such as, consejos, home-base practices, and high academic expectations.

 

Literature has demonstrated that parental involvement has had a positive influence in the academic achievement of Mexican American students. Studies have shown that Mexican families show their value towards education by using untraditional methods (Kiyama, 2011).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kiyama |first1=Judy Marquez |title=Family Lessons and Funds of Knowledge: College-Going Paths in Mexican American Families |journal=Journal of Latinos and Education |date=January 2011 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=23–42 |doi=10.1080/15348431.2011.531656 |hdl=1802/23012 |s2cid=17247506 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> One educational practice that is commonly used among Mexican families are consejos (advice). Additional research has supported the idea that parents' consejos have had a significant influence on the education of Mexican American students. Espino (2016)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Espino |first1=Michelle M. |title=The Value of Education and Educación : Nurturing Mexican American Children's Educational Aspirations to the Doctorate |journal=Journal of Latinos and Education |date=2 April 2016 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=73–90 |doi=10.1080/15348431.2015.1066250 |s2cid=146963763 }}</ref> studied the influence that parental involvement had on seven, 1st generation Mexican American PhDs. The study found that one of the participant's father would frequently use consejos to encourage his son to continue his education. The father's consejos served as an encouragement tool, which motivated the participant to continue his education. Consejos are commonly associated with the parents' occupation. Parents use their occupation as leverage to encourage their child to continue his or her education, or else they may end up working an undesirable job (Espino, 2016). While this might not be the most common form of parental involvement, studies have shown that it has been an effective tool that encourages Mexican American students. Although that might be an effective tool for Mexican American students, a mother can be just as an important figure for consejos. A mother's role teaches their child the importance of everyday tasks such as knowing how to cook, clean and care for oneself to be independent and also to help out around the house. The children of single mothers have a huge impact on their children in pushing them to be successful in school to have a better life than what they provided to their children. Most single mothers live in poverty and are dependent of the government, so they want the best for their children so they are always encouraging their children to be focused and do their best.

 

Additional literature has demonstrated that parent involvement also comes in the form of parent expectations. Valencia and Black (2002) argued that Mexican parents place a significant amount of value on education and hold high expectations for their children. The purpose of their study was to debunk the notion that Mexicans do not value education by providing evidence that shows the opposite. Setting high expectations and expressing their desire for their children to be academically successful has served as powerful tools to increase of the academic achievement among Mexican American students (Valencia & Black, 2002). Keith and Lichtman (1995)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keith |first1=Patricia B. |last2=Lichtman |first2=Marilyn V. |title=Does parental involvement influence the academic achievement of Mexican-American eighth graders? Results from the National Education Longitudinal Study. |journal=School Psychology Quarterly |date=1994 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=256–273 |doi=10.1037/h0088292 }}</ref> also conducted a research study that measured the influence of parental involvement and academic achievement. The data was collected from the NELS and used a total of 1,714 students that identified as Mexican American (Chicana/o). The study found a higher level of academic achievement among 8th grade Mexican American students and parents who had high educational aspirations for their children (Keith & Lichtman, 1995).

 

Additional research done by Carranza, You, Chhuon, and Hudley (2009)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carranza |first1=Francisco D. |last2=You |first2=Sukkyung |last3=Chhuon |first3=Vichet |last4=Hudley |first4=Cynthia |title=Mexican American adolescents' academic achievement and aspirations: the role of perceived parental educational involvement, acculturation, and self-esteem |journal=Adolescence |date=22 June 2009 |volume=44 |issue=174 |pages=313–334 |id={{Gale|A207643292}} {{INIST|21922379}} |pmid=19764269 }}</ref> added support to the idea that high parental expectations were associated with higher achievement levels among Mexican American students. Carranza et al. (2009) studied 298 Mexican American high school students. They studied whether perceived parental involvement, acculturation, and self-esteem had any effect on academic achievement and aspirations. Results from their study demonstrated that perceived parental involvement had an influence on the students' academic achievement and aspirations. Additionally, Carranza et al. noted that among females, those who perceived that their parents expected them to get good grades tended to study more and have higher academic aspirations (2009). The findings suggest that parental expectations can affect the academic performance of Mexican American students.

[[File:Oasis_Drive-In,_Crystal_City,_TX_IMG_4246.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Oasis Drive Inn with mural of a [[scarlet macaw]] on US Highway 83 in [[Crystal City, Texas]]]]

[[File:Record Ave. & Hammel St..jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[City Terrace]] streets]]

[[File:Los Angeles with Mount Baldy.jpg|thumb|250px|Los Angeles attracts Mexican American immigrants because of its rich Spanish and Mexican architecture, history and culture.]]

 

 

=== Diabetes ===

[[Diabetes mellitus|Diabetes]] refers to a disease in which the body has an inefficiency of properly responding to [[insulin]], which then affects the levels of glucose. The prevalence of diabetes in the United States is constantly rising. Common types of Diabetes are [[Diabetes mellitus type 1|type 1]] and [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2]]. [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|Type 2]] is the more common type of diabetes among Mexican Americans, and is constantly increasing due to poor diet habits.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Seligman|first1=Rebecca|last2=Mendenhall|first2=Emily|last3=Valdovinos|first3=Maria D.|last4=Fernandez|first4=Alicia|last5=Jacobs|first5=Elizabeth A.|date=March 2015|title=Self-care and Subjectivity among Mexican Diabetes Patients in the United States|journal=Medical Anthropology Quarterly|volume=29|issue=1|pages=61–79|doi=10.1111/maq.12107|issn=0745-5194|pmid=24942832}}</ref> The increase of [[obesity]] results in an increase of [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] among Mexican Americans in the United States. Mexican American men have higher prevalence rates in comparison to non-Latinos, whites and blacks.<ref name="Martorell-2004">{{cite journal|last=Martorell|first=Reynaldo|date=2004-12-15|title=Diabetes and Mexicans: Why the Two Are Linked|journal=Preventing Chronic Disease|volume=2|issue=1|pages=A04|issn=1545-1151|pmc=1323307|pmid=15670457}}</ref> "The prevalence of diabetes increased from 8.9% in 1976–1980 to 12.3% in 1988–94 among adults aged 40 to 74" according to the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994.<ref name="Martorell-2004" /> In a 2014 study, The US Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, one in three people living in the United States will be of Latino origin including Mexican Americans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/diabetes-among-hispanics-all-are-not-equal.html|title=Diabetes Among Hispanics: All Are Not Equal|last1=Drive|first1=American Diabetes Association 2451 Crystal|last2=Arlington|first2=Suite 900|website=American Diabetes Association|access-date=2018-12-09|last3=Va 22202 1-800-Diabetes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210110837/http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/diabetes-among-hispanics-all-are-not-equal.html|archive-date=2018-12-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> Type 2 diabetes prevalence is rising due to many risk factors and there are still many cases of pre-diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes due to lack of sources. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (2011), individuals of Mexican descent are 50% more likely to die from diabetes than their white counterparts.<ref name="Martorell-2004" />

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