Download Racial and Ethnic Relations NINTH EDITION

Racial and Ethnic Relations
NINTH EDITION
Chapter
9
Puerto Rican and
Cuban Americans
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Big Picture Questions
• What roles have Puerto Rican and Cuban
Americans played in building this country’s
wealth and institutions?
• What are the persisting barriers to social
and economic mobility of Puerto Rican
and Cuban Americans?
• How would assimilation and power-conflict
theorists explain current Puerto Rican and
Cuban American socioeconomic realities?
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Puerto Rico and Cuba
• Spanish-speaking islands in the Antilles
• Point of origin for large numbers of Latinos/Latinas
• Puerto Rico
 All Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens,
but Puerto Rico is not a state
 Island’s future debated; 3 possibilities
-- Independence, statehood, and commonwealth
• Cuba
 “[Oscillation] between a corrupt democracy and dictatorship”
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
PUERTO RICO
• Borinquén
 Original name for Puerto Rico
• Indigenous population in 1493 when Spanish imperialists
arrived
 Used as forced labor in mines
 Genocidal decline
- Forced labor, disease, brutal killings, violent
suppression of rebellion
- Enslaved Africans imported
• Proportion of whites and people of color almost equal
 People product of several racial and ethnic heritages
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
FROM SPANISH TO U.S. RULE
• 1897: Puerto Ricans pressured Spanish into granting autonomy
• 1899: Spanish-American War Treaty
 Spain gave Puerto Rico to America
• 1917: Jones Act awarded U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans
• 1940s: Operation Bootstrap
-- Program designed by Puerto Rican governor to bring economic
development by attracting U.S. corporations
• Since 1970s: high unemployment encouraging migration to mainland
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
MIGRATION TO MAINLAND
• 1920s: Significant immigration to U.S. mainland
began
 1940: numbered almost 70,000
 Over next two decades: increased to 887,000
• Since 1970 involved in return or circular
migration
 Fled island’s economic crises and encountered
problems of unemployment and poverty on the
mainland in addition to racial discrimination
 Late 2000s: Half of all Puerto Ricans resided in
mainland communities, where they made up about
9% of all Latinos/Latinas
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Current Issues
• U.S. Congress recently ended the tax
incentive encouraging U.S. corporations to
locate in Puerto
• October 2009: Thousands of workers took
to the streets to protest government
employee cutbacks, which had brought the
unemployment rate to at least 15 percent
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Joined by Other Latinos/Latinas:
Diversity in the New York Area
• By 1990s: city Anglo population decreased
significantly; now about 35% of city’s population
• Early 2000s: Latino/Latina population of Long
Island increased to 282,693 (more than 10% of
population)
 Of that, a significant portion is Puerto Rican, Mexican,
and Cuban
 Others: Caribbean or Central or South American origin
 Increasingly Salvadoran, Colombians, and Dominicans
• Latino/Latina diversity has encouraged panHispanic (pan-Latino/a) consciousness
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
PREJUDICES AND
STEREOTYPES
• Puerto Ricans long suffered racial stereotypes
similar to Mexicans
 Images as lazy, submissive, emotional
 Often referred to derogatorily as spics and viewed as
criminals
 Stereotype of criminals and drug users influence
police actions in Puerto Rican communities
• Underrepresented on television programs
 Esai Morales co-founder of Washington’s National
Hispanic Foundation for the Arts
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Other Negative Images
• Culture of Poverty
– anthropologist Oscar Lewis
 Stereotyped idea that poor people develop a
defective and deviant subculture
• Frequently, whites emphasize accents of Latinos
and Latinas as problematic when they do not do
the same for those with other types of accents
• Image of lazy Puerto Ricans on welfare still found
at high levels of government
• Whites couple negative images of Latinos/Latinas
with fearful views of immigrants
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Color Coding and
White Prejudice
• In Puerto Rico
 As in other Latin countries, a spectrum of racial
categories based on multiple physical and cultural
characteristics is recognized
 Society is more integrated than mainland society
 Dark-skinned individuals still face significant
discrimination at times
 There is often an attempt to disguise a particular
family’s African ancestry
• Color Coding
 Social stratification or discrimination based on
skin color
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ECONOMIC AND RELATED
CONDITIONS: THE MAINLAND
• Discrimination common for Puerto Rican
immigrants
 Those with darker skin suffered the most
• Puerto Ricans brought many talents and
skills
 Yet, skills went unused on the mainland
• Unemployment much higher for mainland
Puerto Ricans than for white workers
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Occupational Distribution (2008)
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Employment Discrimination
• Institutionalized discrimination long rooted in
color coding and linguistic prejudice
• Underrepresented in government jobs relative to
their population percentage in New York City
 Institutionalized discrimination seen in height and
weight requirements that disqualify Puerto Rican
applicants
• Employment opportunities heavily shaped by
discrimination
 White job applicants with felony records as likely to
be called back as Puerto Ricans with no felony
records
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Industrial Restructuring
• A variety of changing structural factors in the
economy has contributed to high unemployment
 New York City moved from industrial to serviceoriented economy
• Presence of employed workers is crucial to a
community’s survival
 Unemployed Puerto Ricans reside next to employed
blue-collar workers who help them and maintain the
community’s social institutions
-
Mainland Puerto Ricans relatively poor compared to
other U.S. groups
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Housing Problems
• Housing discrimination a significant problem for
Americans of Puerto Rican descent
 Have been excluded from most good housing markets
 Compared with other major groups,
-
More likely to live in dilapidated housing
Use a larger percentage of their income for housing
• In recent years, Puerto Rican neighborhoods
have experienced gentrification
• Latinos/Latinas pressed New York’s attorney
general for action against housing discrimination
 Discrimination by local officials still persists despite
even federal measures to stop it
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
EDUCATION
• 2008 American Community Survey
 Nearly 73% of Puerto Ricans had completed high
school compared with 90% of whites
 High dropout/pushout rates remain a nationwide
problem
• Low college graduation rate for mainland Puerto
Ricans restricts socioeconomic mobility
• Puerto Rican parents struggle against an
educational system that has typically failed their
children
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Barriers to
Social and Economic Mobility
• Few Puerto Ricans in influential positions in
education
 Puerto Rican communities have little control over
educational decision-making
 Curriculum often based on assumption that Puerto
Ricans are culturally or linguistically deficient
• Public schools are de facto segregated
 Racially segregated schools have negative
implications
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Language
• Few schools today are structured to deal with nonEnglish-speaking students
• In current atmosphere of hostility to bilingual education,
limited English proficiency creates barriers for
Latinos/Latinas
 Often inaccurately assigned to low-ability groups
 Puerto Rican students do less well than white students on
conventional achievement tests
• Hermán La Fontaine
-- viable “definition of cultural pluralism”
 “Must include the concept that our language and our culture
will be given equal status to that of the majority population”
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Official English Policies and
Spanish Speakers
• Support for English as the official language has
grown dramatically in recent years
• Xenophobic Americans often praise English-only
policies as a means to unify diverse groups and
promote “traditional” (European) values
 Educator Catherine Walsh: “[E]fforts toward linguistic
cohesion resonate with a kind of colonial domination . . .
that threatens to silence the less powerful”
 Language reflects and imbeds a group’s history and
culture and is inseparable from group and personal
identity
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
POLITICS
• Among mainland Puerto Ricans, voting rates
 Have been relatively low
 Have increased since 1990, especially in areas
where government is responsive to community needs
• Election to major political office has come slowly
 Late 2000s: Still just 3 Puerto Ricans in U.S. House
of Representatives and none in U.S. Senate
• 2009: Sonia Sotomayor became the very first
Puerto Rican (and first Latina) on the U.S.
Supreme Court
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Local and State Government
• In recent decades, Puerto Ricans have served
on numerous city councils and as mayors of
small towns and a few cities
• Long-term effects of institutional discrimination
seen in state and city government
 Many report poor treatment by government and
private agencies
• 1980s: Puerto Rican governor announced
campaign to register mainland voters, thus
expanding their political power
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Politics and
Recent Intergroup Conflict
• In New York City, Puerto Ricans and African
Americans make up about half the population
 Long history of successful coalitions and periodic
tensions
 Latino/Latina voters critical to election of David Dinkins
(1989) – 1st black mayor
 Al Sharpton assisted in protest of U.S. Navy test
bombing of a Puerto Rican island
 Puerto Rican mayoral candidate, Fernando Ferrer,
supported by blacks
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
PROTEST
• In Puerto Rico, protest against colonial status
periodically punctuated U.S. rule
 Puerto Ricans fought hard to retain their culture
• Pro-statehood sentiment on the island has increased
over the decades
 Supporters of statehood argue commonwealth status is
second-class
 Opponents fear economic and cultural changes of
statehood
-
Rubén Berríos Martínez,
president of Puerto Rican Independence Party:
“Assimilation is unacceptable to Puerto Ricans”
 Recent meeting in Panama supported independence
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
On the Mainland
• Arriving poor and stigmatized as inferior, Puerto
Ricans developed significant organizations to
cope with discrimination and other barriers
 Latino-Justice PRLDEF (formerly the Puerto Rican
Legal Defense and Education Fund)
 National Puerto Rican Coalition (NPRC)
 Young Lords were long involved in social action
• In recent decades, numerous Puerto Rican
organizations have worked for better quality of life
and increased participation in political process
 Social and cultural clubs seek to preserve elements of
traditional culture
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
More Community Protest
• Puerto Rican communities have long protested
discrimination by local whites
 Latinidad - Idea of Latino/Latina cultural unity in
struggles against gentrification
• Some protest movements have brought
significant changes
 Founding of community college in South Bronx and
supportive programs at City University of New York
• Coalitions between grassroots organizations and
established groups have been created to
improve economic conditions
• Puerto Rican Day Parades held since 1950s
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
RELIGION
• Catholicism has long been main religion among
Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican and Cubans developed distinctive
branching religions
• On mainland, Puerto Rican Catholics led by nonPuerto Rican clergy
 Latino/Latina caucuses have pressed for Spanish-language
services and more Latino priests
 Many left for evangelical Protestant churches
-
Warmer reception and community feeling
Many communities now have numerous evangelical churches
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ASSIMILATION AND
COLONIALISM
• Over the decades Puerto Ricans have resisted
complete acculturation
• There is continuing racialization of Puerto
Ricans by whites
• Overt job discrimination appears to be declining,
though covert and subtle discrimination remains
• Structural assimilation at primary-group level
and marital assimilation have not reached levels
comparable to those of most European
immigrants
 Generational conflict is sometimes a problem
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Power-Conflict Perspectives
• Anglo-conformity pressure on Puerto Ricans has
been heavy
• Assimilation into economic and political institutions
relatively slow
• Analysts of U.S. treatment of Puerto Ricans generally
concerned more about negative effects of racial
discrimination, unemployment, and deteriorating
housing on the lives and futures of Puerto Ricans
• External colonialism: still a U.S. “possession”
• Internal colonialism: “urban enterprise zones” in
numerous cities exploit Latino and black communities
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
CUBAN AMERICANS:
PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION
• One of the largest Latino/Latina groups
• Like Puerto Ricans, group has its roots in an
important Caribbean island close to U.S.
• Most migration stemmed from political
upheaval or economic distress on the island
• Early Cuban immigrants were committed to
Cuba’s independence from Spain and
contributed to U.S. efforts in war with Spain
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
History
• Cuba became U.S. protectorate in 1902
• Political turbulence accompanying succession of
repressive dictators brought many refugees to U.S.
• Large numbers immigrated to U.S. after 1959
revolution of Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio
Batista
 Victory brought hope for economic and political reform
 Threat to U.S. businesses, suspicion of communism,
and Castro’s declarations of non-tolerance led to break
in diplomatic relations with U.S.
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Immigration Waves
• 1st major immigration after revolution was Cuba’s
moneyed elite
• 2nd wave began in 1961: middle- and upper-income
who chose exile rather than life under Castro
• Early groups composed of lighter-skinned Cubans,
and Florida was usual destination
• Immigrants and U.S. viewed Cubans as refugees
who intended to return when Castro was overthrown
• 3rd group arrived between 1965 and 1970s
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
The Mariel Immigrants
• Mariel Boatlift
 4th group of 125,000 Cubans who came to U.S. in
1980
 Popular stereotypes characterized them as
“undesirables”
-
-
Less education and containing large percentage of criminals
and mentally ill, but latter claims greatly exaggerated
Some left voluntarily; others, considered undesirable by
Cuban government, forced to leave
 Key difference: Unlike earlier immigrants,
approximately 40% were darker skinned
• About 1.6 million Cubans in the U.S. today
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
INTERGROUP CONFLICT
• Major result of Cuban migrations is significant
change in population of Florida
 By 1980s, Latinos/Latinas majority in Miami
• Tension accelerated between Cuban immigrants
and black residents of Miami
 Blacks felt Cubans getting too much government
assistance and taking jobs
 Today, larger and generally more affluent Cuban
American community in south Florida controls
numerous businesses; many prefer to hire Cuban
Americans, which creates friction with the black
population
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
INTERGROUP CONFLICT,
continued
• Cuban American leaders are critical of the
friendliness of some black leaders, inside and
outside the United States, to the Cuban Communist
government
• Cuban American leaders angered the black
community when they ignored visiting black officials
• Political tensions between African Americans and
Cuban Americans have surfaced periodically in
presidential elections since 2000
• Differential treatment of immigrants from Cuba and
Haiti has fueled significant tensions between
Miami’s Cuban and Haitian communities
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Racial Division
Among Cuban Americans
• Cuban American population diverse in terms
of racial gradient central to U.S. society
• Before revolution, Cuban society segregated
 Lighter-skinned Cubans had more residential
and economic privileges than darker-skinned
Cubans with more African ancestry
 Castro decreed equality between the two
• In U.S. immigrants faced a world in which
societal privileges were linked to racial
classification
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
STEREOTYPES AND
DISCRIMINATION
• Cuban Americans sometimes stereotyped as
anti-Castro militants or extremists
• Some analysts stereotyped Cuban Americans as
predominantly successful group that does not
face discrimination
 Susan Eckstein
-
“Anglo upper class and the Anglo professional, and
business community excluded Cuban immigrants from their
informal social circles and . . . economic interest groups”
• Like other Latinos/Latinas, Cubans have
experienced discrimination at hands of Anglo
whites
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
THE ECONOMIC SITUATION
• Cuban immigrants experienced dramatic decline in
occupational status when they entered U.S. economy
• Increased Cuban presence in Florida elevated Miami’s
importance as center for Latin American and other
international commerce
• Compared with other Latino/Latina groups, Cuban
Americans enjoy greater economic success
• Motivated by concern to “fight Communism,” largescale U.S. programs played a major role in advancing
structural assimilation of these immigrants
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Employment
• Wide range of occupations among Cuban
immigrants has facilitated development of large
and interdependent local economy
 Appeals to group solidarity helped some businesspeople exploit their compatriots as low-wage workers
• Another factor of mobility is economic
organization of the Cuban family
 Gainful employment of women became economic
necessity for upward mobility in U.S.
• Among Latino/Latina groups, Cubans have
relatively high levels of economic success
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Occupational Distribution (2008)
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
POLITICS
• Expectation of short-lived Castro regime led most
post-1959 Cuban immigrants to remain politically
inactive in U.S. for some years
• Since 1980s Cubans have become very politically
active
 2/3 of adults are citizens and they register and vote
in large numbers
• Many remain involved in politics of Cuba
• Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)
 Influential group established in 1981
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
The U.S. and Cuba
• Cuban community currently divided over proper
U.S. government response to Cuban government
 Political division substantially a result of different views
and experiences of immigrants who came before 1980
and those who came after
• In the past, some engaged in paramilitary training
and terrorist acts against Castro
 Exiles recruited by CIA involved in unsuccessful
Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961
• Collapse of Soviet Union brought severe
economic hardships to Cuba’s people
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
RELIGION
• Santería
 A type of syncretic religion that included aspects of
both Catholic and older African religions
• Surveys from late 2000s found Cuban Americans
less likely than other major Latino/Latina groups to
say religion is most important thing in their lives
• Less opposed to abortion, but more opposed to gay
marriage, than Puerto Ricans or Mexican Americans
• Pan-Latino/Latina diversity leaves some Cuban
parishioners feeling alienated because of different
approaches to Catholic religion
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ASSIMILATION
OR COLONIALISM
• Like other Latinos/Latinas, Cubans have faced
prejudice and discrimination, including language
discrimination and restriction or exclusion in
Anglo-dominated organizations and institutions
• Identificational assimilation has come slowly,
especially for older Cubans who consider
themselves exiles
 Many of those say they have a “fractured identity”
 Others, especially those who left as children or were
born in the U.S., say they have a double identity
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Identity
• Identification of Cuban American women and African
American women
 African American women felt they were “American,” but felt they
were not seen as such by Anglo whites
 Cuban American women did not feel they were American and
did not think Anglo whites saw them as American
• Preservation of Cuban culture and identity provides a
foundation for economic and political integration in U.S.
society
• Over time, Cuban immigrants and their children have
made significant economic achievements
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Cross-Generational Differences
• Cultural assimilation pressures created crossgenerational problems similar to earlier European
immigrants
• 1990s--Strategy Research Corporation (SRC)
 Ranked Cubans least culturally assimilated of major
Latino/Latina groups, based on language use and behavioral
and attitudinal measures
• More recently, however, mid-2000s survey in Miami
found that nearly half of Cuban Americans spoke English
outside their homes and most worked with non-Cubans
• Recent U.S. Census survey also found that an
overwhelming majority of Cuban Americans under age
18 spoke English well
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Adaptation
• Cuban Americans especially in south Florida
adapted selectively to U.S.
• Nonetheless, younger generations are
assimilating more rapidly than Cuban-born to the
dominant culture
• Dominant Euro-American culture does regularly
make some modest adjustments to new groups
entering the society
 Latino/Latina music and foods have become popular
 Chain retailers have discovered this group’s buying
power
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Power-Conflict Perspective
• No one has applied a sustained power-conflict
perspective to the case of Cuban Americans
• Opportunities and accomplishments of U.S.-born
generations (lighter-skinned majority) seem in some
ways more similar to those of older white ethnic groups
• Substantially greater political and civic integration with
dominant group can occur only if later generations
disperse residentially
• There are also major language-related obstacles to the
full cultural and structural assimilation of Cuban
Americans
Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition
Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.