Mexican Latino Community in the Southwest United States - Paper Sample

Introduction

Latinos can be seen to be one of the fastest-growing minorities in the United States. One of the largest groups is Mexicans, who take up 10% of the total percentage of 16% of all the Latinos in America (Masferrer, and. Roberts 246). The Southwest of America, for instance, is dominated by Mexicans, whereby most of the Mexicans have migrated to the region legally or illegally. States such as Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico have many Mexicans. Even though English is the predominant language in the area, Spanish is also used. The region was once under the rule of Mexico and Spain, which may be why there are so many Mexicans in the region.

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When Mexicans came to the Southwest, for instance, they brought missionaries as they wanted to spread their religion, beliefs, and language in the area. Some of the Native Americans were influenced, and from then Spanish became a popular language in the area. The Spanish language's continued use in the region can be attributed to Mexican presence in the region who have helped maintain the culture. It can also be attributed to the new wave of immigrants who migrate to the area.

Supplemental Reading

An article on the fighting of restrictive policies imposed on the Mexicans in Arizona explains the former and current language policies that are in place. According to the article, it is argued that if the American borders were to be closed and there was no immigration into the southwest region, the Spanish would disappear, and it would be dead in the area. For instance, in Arizona, policies in education have favored the Mexicans in the region since they promote equity and language maintained.

In the past, however, some policies were anti bilingual, which promoted the use of English as the only language in the region. However, due to the continued support of Spanish-speaking communities in the region such as the Mexicans, the language has maintained its popularity (Sergio and Sara 8). The policies that have been in place ensure, for instance, that students can gain proficiency in their native language and also the second language.

Definitions

Language ideologies are the set of beliefs about languages and their speakers. Language ideologies are subjected to moral and political interests, just like other types of ideologies. Language ideologies help expose the relationship between what the speakers of the language believe that language and what the rest of the community believes about that language (Cavanaugh 52). Therefore language ideologies help link the various assumption about a language and its people.

Conclusion

For instance, in the southwest, various policies were implemented to ensure that English is the only language spoken in the area. Due to the high immigration in the region, there was fear that the immigrants speaking in Spanish might end up making English districts in the regions. Therefore some of the policies were put in place. There have been instances that have made speaking Spanish become dangerous due to people being attacked in the region. So far, Spanish is the most spoken non-English language and hence and therefore, Spanish might overtake English in the future. Thus, most of the policies implemented against the language have been aimed to limit the growth of the language.

Works Cited

Cavanaugh, Jillian R. "Language ideology revisited." International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2020.263 (2020): 51-57.

Masferrer, Claudia, and Bryan R. Roberts. "The changing patterns of return migration from the USA to Mexico and their policy implications." Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession. Springer, Cham, 2016. 235-258.

Sergio Loza, and Sara Beaudrie "Spanish Heritage Education in the Southwestern United States: FightingRestrictive Policies toward Language Maintenance in Arizona." Spanish across Domains in the United States: Education, Public Space, and Social Media (2020): 25.