American Miami or Cuban Miami?

To continue the discussion on Hispanics, today our focus is on the American city of Miami. Miami is the city that has the greatest number of Hispanics among the 50 states of the United States. It has been for thirty years that Cubans dominated city and changed all aspects of life in Miami like politics, ethnicity, culture and more important the language.

The wave of Cuban immigration goes back to 60s where Cubans who opposed Fidel Castro migrated to US, Miami. After that the number of Cuban migrants decreased slowly as in 70s there were 265000 migrants, in 80s were 140000 and in 90s there were 170000 migrants to Miami. It is interesting that on the contrary to immigrants of 60s who were mainly educated and wealthy, there were a huge number of immigrants to Miami in 1980 that mainly consist of poor and less educated Cuban who were encouraged by Castro, and were ideologically close to him.

In 2000, 96 percent of Miami population was who were born outside Latin America but they used to speak Spanish. Two third of the Miami population are Hispanics and one half of them consist of Cubans. A shift from a traditional touristy place to an international touristy place was from the most important consequences of immigrations that were caused by the flow of wealth and capital by Cubans to Miami. In 1960, many Cuban refugees brought their wealth to Miami, developed industry and invested excessively there. Miami changed to an international center of economic activities that will promote commerce and investment. Due to this fundamental progress, many American companies and industries move to Miami.

To a great extent, Miami’s economic development owes Cubans’ relationship with countries of Latin America like Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Venezuela. In 2000, Spanish was the language of politics and even commerce; even media shifted its focus from English to Spanish.

Cubans made their own city of culture and economic in Miami so they feel no reason for assimilation to American identity and even sometimes Americanization seems unpleasant. They made their own bank, commerce and ballot box; they have members in Congress and legislature. Nowadays, the directors of biggest companies in Miami are Cubans or of Cuban ancestors. It is surprising to know that in this condition Blacks and English speaking people are among minorities, they have no way to escape; they have to assimilate with Cubans or leave Miami as 140 thousand English speakers left Miami in 1993.

Cubans had so a vast influence in Miami whether economically or culturally that Miami is called the capital of Latin America. Some believe that they are having their own method of foreign policy view that is conducted by the legislators. They are so dominantly living in Miami in US that they acquire others to accept and assimilate to their own culture. Here, there is a question? Do we assume Miami an American Miami or a Cuban Miami? If an American Miami for now, but not certainly a Cuban Miami for near future.

Hispanics; a Disparate Ethnicity in United States

“The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream US culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves- from Los Angeles to Miami- and rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril.” Samuel P. Huntington, April 2004.

This piece of writing has been inspired by Huntington’s article called “The Hispanic Challenge”. Here there is an attempt to observe Hispanics coming and being in the US and notice the features that characterize Hispanics different from other ethnicities in the United States. Hispanics are currently having an outstanding position in today’s discussion of US.

America was established by European settlers who were British, white and protestant; this formed American identity in the early days of America’s foundation. WWI and the assimilation of different European immigrants and their offspring into US society caused the ethnicity and race issues vanish as an important component of American identity. Thus, American identity is after that based on culture and “creed”. Key elements of that culture according to Huntington include “the English language; Christianity; religious commitment; English concepts of the rule of law, including the responsibility of rulers and the rights of individuals; and dissenting Protestant values of individualism, the work ethic, and the belief that humans have the ability and the duty to try to create a heaven on earth, a “city on a hill.” Immigration in the last two centuries has changed and influenced the Anglo-Protestant culture of the American early days.

As it is being discussed repetitively in recent years Hispanics are the greatest and most serious challenge to American identity and their fertility rate is highly increasing. We have to bear it in mind that Hispanics, as immigrants to US are innately different from those of other immigrants to US. To prove the importance of Hispanic immigrants on US society it is just easy to imagine that Mexican immigration to US stops and then various issues of bilingual society, political leanings, poor income and the skill and education will be resolved at once.

Hispanics had no precedents in US history unlike the Europeans enduring immigration to America. Hispanics and specifically Mexicans are very different with other US immigrants in six items: contiguity, scale, illegality, regional concentration, persistence, and historical presence. Mexican immigrants unlike other immigrants do not travel long ways to come to US, the US-Mexico border is the largest border between two countries in the world; people of a third world country easily pass the border and enter a first world country with a very different economic status. This community is greatly immense. “Mexican immigrants constituted 27.6 percent of the total foreign-born U.S. population in 2000. The next largest contingents, Chinese and Filipinos, amounted to only 4.9 percent and 4.3 percent of the foreign-born population.” There is an estimation that US Hispanic population increases to 25 percent by 2050.
The illegal Mexican immigration to US is far more than other ethnicities; “illegal immigration is a post-1965 and Mexican phenomenon.” Moreover to contiguity, their scale and illegality, Hispanic’s regional concentration in Southwest- California- is a factor that gives Hispanics a sense that they are no more a minority group, thus they do not like to assimilate with American culture; “The more concentrated immigrants become, the slower and less complete is their assimilation.” Their high birth rate in particular cities in US and their practice of their own language shape a community with a particular culture. Economic condition of Mexico is in decline, this phenomenon is fueling this immigration generator.
Beyond this discussion, Mexicans assume US Southern states as their homeland. Mexicans can assert US territory. Many southern states have been under Mexican’s control until the lost those lands in the Mexican-American war of 1846-8. So migrating to US southern states for many of Mexicans is like moving to their own lands. The spread of Spanish language and the issue of bilingual US is another obstacle for Hispanics assimilation in American identity.
United States is affected in two ways; first, a large portion of US population is Hispanic in culture and language and second, the American nation is a bilingual and bicultural one. Many Hispanics prefer to have their own culture and even sometimes contempt American culture.
What seems interesting is that the Hispanic-Anglo division in US can replace the racial division between Blacks and Whites.