Reflection #6: Two Americas

In the essay “Two Americas?” by Joseph Contreras, you can see a comparison and contrast and it explains how he sees the clash of civilization between the Anglo and Hispanic culture, the new war is between the white majority and the Hispanic population, all this is because of the immigration. How is this possible? All this is possible because all the Latinos that are living in poor condition they see the States like a land of hope and progress. The most outstanding comment in this essay would have to be the one where the author says that soon United States will be completely divided into two cultures: Anglo and Hispanic. Also, he says that there will be not one, but two official languages: English and Spanish. The fact that stood out from the essay was the one where it says that the rate of Latinos going to college has risen from 16% to 22% in a mere 20 years. The household income has risen also 4.3% in just 11 years. The teenage and young-adult group is earning more money than anyone else in their age group. And lastly, Latinos beyond the age of 25 with college degrees are earning more than white workers with comparable educational backgrounds. In my opinion, it's great that the Latino culture is expanding, but what's even greater is the acceptance that the United States are giving to the Hispanic culture. Ads are being shown and published using Hispanic viewpoints and backgrounds. Once one begins to realize that it's true that the United States are accepting the culture, it is clearly visible in any mass media medium. In television we clearly see Hispanic culture, be it in an MTV show, or even famous Hispanics having American documentaries made of them. In newspapers and news we see how news from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and even Cuba reach the tabloids. In one of United States most famous landmark: Hollywood, we see a wide array of Latin stars, from Ricky Martin and Mana to Jennifer Lopez, we see many role models for Americans, all with Hispanic Backgrounds. In the government we see how Puerto Rico is slowly gaining some insignificant but viewable power in congress.