1.2 The socio-economic development of hispanics in the united states  (Page 12/11)

This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation , Volume 5, Number 1 (January – March 2010). Formatted and edited in Connexions by Julia Stanka, Texas A&M University.

The socio-economic development of hispanics in the united states: in search of a theory

Héctor Luis Díaz

Hispanics in the United States of America have experienced economic prosperity in recent years and as a result they are forming a new middle class (Chavez, 1991). According to the U.S. Census (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/p01h.html) the per capita income of Hispanics increased from $8,830 in 1993 to $13,492 in 2003, a 35% increase. The median income of Hispanics increased from $11,018 in 1993 to $17,578 in 2003, a 37% increase. Furthermore, their mean income increased from $15,416 in 1993 to $23,787 in 1993, also a 35% increase. The rates of increase would be 18%, 21% and 19% respectively, if we convert 1993 dollars to 2003 dollars. According to the same source, the poverty rate for Hispanics in general declined from 27.1% in 1997 to 22.5% in 2003. Many social scientists as well as policy makers often focus on the high poverty rates of Hispanics in the United States. It should be noted, however, that if 22.5% of Hispanics are poor, 77.5% of them are not. Unfortunately, the overall economic gains of Hispanics in the United States are overshadowed by the fact that as a group, they are still over represented among the poor (Morales&Bonilla, 1993). The poverty rate of Hispanics in 2003 was 22.5% while the rate for Whites was 8.5% and the rate for the population at large was 12.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004).

Most Hispanics in the United States are progressing in spite of the fact that as a group they are not assimilated. Their experiences seem to contradict the notion that economic progress in a host country requires high levels of acculturation and / or assimilation (Ambert, 1998, p. 142; Gordon, 1964). Gordon (1964) and Marger’s (2000) theory of assimilation, suggest a linear progression from the person’s Hispanic culture of origin to the dominant White Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture of the United States. Such theory is in harmony with the Anglo-conformity theory of assimilation, which proposes that immigrants in the United States must leave their original cultural heritage behind and move towards the adoption of Anglo ways in order to join the mainstream of American society. The three-generation theory of assimilation expands on the propositions of the two other theories by suggesting that it usually takes three generations for immigrant groups to complete the process of assimilation. The experience of most Hispanics in the United States seems inconsistent with the propositions of these three complementary theories. Hispanics, who have been in this country for centuries, have not completed as a group the stages of the assimilation process put forth by Gordon, have refused to fully conform to Anglo norms, and have obviously not completed the assimilation process in three generations (McLemore, 1991, p. 5, 289; Marger, 2000, p. 318). These theories seem to have limited applicability for Hispanic immigrant groups in the United States and for this reason fail to adequately describe and explain their reality or predict their varying levels of progress and well-being.