The plight of the Hispanic citizen in the United States is difficult to characterize; a massive demographic that has made its home in an equally massive nation - every major US city today boasts an impressive and diverse Hispanic population. Nowhere is this more true than in Los Angeles and New York City, where Hispanic Americans number in the millions. But who are Hispanic Americans? To what degree have they assimilated to the broader ômainstreamö American culture? How do they differ from one another? In major American cities, Hispanics have, by degrees, experienced a blend of alienation and acceptance.
First, it must be understood that the broadly defined ôHispanicö or ôLatinoö label is itself a vast oversimplification. The US Census Bureau is the first to acknowledge that Hispanic Americans can belong to any of 13 distinct races (Cohen 88). As with any demographic, Hispanics do not rise and fall as one people, but rather experience gains and setbacks regionally and of course, individually. Thus, it is not surprising that Hispanics in Los Angeles may experience very different things than their counterparts in New York City. For one thing, the Hispanic population of Los Angeles is largely Mexican. In the state of California as a whole, 84% of all Hispanics are of Mexican origin; in Los Angeles, this figure is just as high (Pew Hispanic Center 1).
By contrast, in New York City, there are a plethora of different peoples that comprise the Hispanic population. A patchwork of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, South and Central Americans, Cubans, and Mexicans is blanketed over metropolitan New York, and in some respects, Hispanic neighborhoods reflect this. For example, Castle Hill, Hunts Point and Grand Concourse in the Bronx are predominantly Puerto Rican areas; Roosevelt Avenue, Corona, and Jackson Heights in Queens are home to New YorkÆs up and coming South American population (Ramirez & de la Cruz 2-6). These...