Umaña-Taylor Yazedjian Summary

Hispanic heritage is an important concept that surrounds my entire life. I have lived in Puerto Rico during my whole childhood. This culture has been important in my life because it helps define who I am and how I view the world. Both of my biological parents are Dominican, but I lived with my mother and step-dad in Puerto Rico. It was not until I moved to the United States that I began to become more aware of different ethnic groups. The United States has been called the “melting pot” society. Newcomers to this country were expected to adapt their “old world” values and culture to fit the values and lifestyles of the “new world” (An Overview of Diversity Awareness, n.d.).

Race and ethnicity are two terms which are crucial in understanding a person’s familial and personal identity. These terms are misunderstood by most Americans, and many do not know the difference. There have been major societal implications to the changing populations of groups of race and ethnicity in the US. Minority groups and immigrants have struggled with discrimination, poverty and other issues partly due to historical impacts such as slavery and segregation. Economical and political oppression has had a strong effect on the structure of Black families in the US, leading many families to an “extended household” structure. Latino families tend to exhibit familism, which may have slowed their integration into American life, but may have also helped their growth in the US.

Cultural diversity has been a major issue of concern for several decades, and it has affected institutions of learning, where facilitators have to balance the family and school involvement in enhancing learning. Establishing a meaningful environment for students with diverse backgrounds enhances positive performance in their academic, personal, and professional objectives. A healthy relationship with family members involves identifying the needs of each family’s cultural stand; this is because a culture may play a major role in defining a family’s responsiveness to a school’s involvement. The globalization aspect has facilitated the creation of a multicultural society, and hence the need for an education system that addresses the need to

I dedicated my undergraduate summers to aiding the Mexican-American community in the United States. As a lead research assistant for Project SEED at the University of Texas, my responsibility was to further the project’s goal of understanding the social, emotional, and educational development of “child brokers” in families of Mexican descent. These children often carry the responsibility and the stress of communicating for their parents. My fluency in Spanish allowed me to conduct surveys directly with the participants, and this experience taught me how important an American education and bilingual reforms are to the children of these

Often, immigrant parents will push for their children to learn the official language of the country they live in. These parents claim that their children will be more successful in life if they acquire that second language, because of the pressure of versatility in society. By quickly enforcing second language, the children find themselves taken over by this incoming force. Constant exposure is the most efficient method of learning, but requires an immense amount of time and effort. Due to frequent subjection of practice, the second dialect will outweigh the original, taking its place as the most proficient language a person uses. Most importantly, the learner must have the eagerness within themselves to truly acquire a second language. Non-native speakers can be uncomfortable with residing in a country whose official language is not their primary. Virginia Gonzalez’s and Ana Celia Zentella’s reports analyze Latinos’ standard of living and the possible outcomes of children of immigrant families in an English governed community. Other works such as Aria by Richard Rodriguez reveals advantages from learning English, such as being able to communicate confidently and feeling included. However, the risk of losing the first language outweighs the advantages. The negative effects are often overlooked and unexpected as shown through the scholarly works of Lily Wong Fillmore, Monique Bournot-Trites and Ulrike Tellowitz. As I will argue in the paper, the common notion that learning a

Latino families have been in this country even before the twentieth century. Since the twentieth century latino families have grown. They migrate and arrived in great numbers with their children and families to this country. Latino families are said to be resilient and adaptive when it comes to their family structure. About 68% of children in latin families have two parent in their circle. In the article, “Trump administration considers separating families to combat illegal immigration” talks about changes deportation brings upon family structure, diversity of latinos in the united states and differences in parenting.

Being the child of an immigrant mother, I have been blessed with the special ability to witness firsthand the importance of diversity. When my mother immigrated to the United States from Panama in 1990, she soon realized that the country in which she now resided was very different from the country of her birth. As a result, my mother was forced to adapt to her new environment by always keeping an open mind to her new surroundings, and this allowed her to overcome different obstacles such as the language barrier and a foreign culture. Through my mother's life story, I have been able to learn about the values of different cultures, and this has allowed me to broaden my horizons beyond my hometown in North Carolina. For me, one of the most exciting

The Latino population in the United States is diverse. In this dissertation, the term Mexican-Origin is used to identify our study subjects who self-report as Mexican-American, Chicano or Mexican. The original terms (e.g. Latino, Hispanic, Mexican-American) used in other studies cited below will be retained to preserve integrity of the literature.

The identify issue acculturation and parent style connect to the personal experience of the NPR interview. The stereotype and

The client of the supervisee was of the Latino descent. They form a small minority in the United States of America. However, all Latino—most of whom have emigrated from different Latin American countries—share the same culture. Most of them are Spanish speakers and practice Roman Catholicism. The Latin Americans have familism as their most fundamental value, that is to say, the family is at the center of their individual identities. And also, simpatia which is the promotion of a warm and respectful interpersonal relationship (Cofresí & Gorman, 2004). Nonetheless, there are various subgroups within the Latino community each with their own varying beliefs, practices and values. These

Knight, G., Roosa, M., Calderon-Tina, C., & Gonzales, N (2009), J. (2009). Methodological issues and research on Latino populations, In L. Sayas & J. Borrego, Jr. (Eds.) Handbook of U.S. Latino psychology: Development and community based perspectives (pp.45-62).

I migrated to this country in 1988, at the height of the Nicaraguan civil war in the midst of violence and famine. Nevertheless, my Nicaraguan culture transcended borders, including the collectivist form of raising children. In Nicaragua the entire family, including extended family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) help raise children. Undoubtedly, these child-rearing practices present unique challenges for Nicaraguan and Latino migrants living in a society that encourages and rewards individualism.

The acculturation theory aims to explain the interactions between immigrants and the host country. In this particular scenario, it will be used to describe the effect that American culture has on the Latino population who immigrated to the United States. When Latino immigrants arrive to the United States, they are faced with socioeconomic, linguistic, cultural and political challenges that can potentially affect the way they view cultural norms in the United States (Rogers-Sirin 2014). Given the multigenerational Latino identity, it is important to understand how place of nativity and time (generational differences) affects acculturation levels particularly in sexual behavior and ultimately teen pregnancy.

First I will speak about my Hispanic culture and how my American culture has mixed in and made me a more “modern Hispanic”. As many people know our family is the cornerstone to our community and we are very close as a unit. In fact we are so close knit that I actually live in the same neighborhood as some of my family members and my grandma lives with my family. Grandparents play a big role in our culture so it is not uncommon to live with them or nearby. Fathers are the accepted head of the family and the mothers are responsible for the maintenance of the household. The usual tradition in my family is to ensure that the senior members pass down the Spanish language among the young. The younger generation in my family failed to uphold this tradition. We no longer pass down the Spanish language because we have lived and learned the American way for so long and we know we can get away with just knowing English. Another very important tradition is the respect, good manners, and the importance of honor. I learned this at a very young age from my grandparents and parents. One way we show this is the way we greet each other, my family is very big on greeting with a kiss on the cheek and hugging. This shows respect but also the togetherness of our culture. As you can see my culture is very much so about the love and we genuinely care about each other’s well being. This is a very great element that is beneficial to our health. As studies have showed “love keeps the doctor away.” Also another positive element is the fact that our family members are less likely to become depressed because we never feel isolated.

When I was younger, my mother always preached to her children the importance of knowing our family heritage. Coming from a family who is Cuban the dynamics centered on hanging with our families on reunions and being at weddings and our cousin’s birthday. This reason is why my mother felt