Latin American Culture Research Paper

mmigrants from Latin America have affected America’s culture by contributing a diverse cultural influence such as language, cuisine, music, dance, and cultural values. The Latin American population is increasing rapidly. According to Antonio Flores a Hispanic researcher at the Pew Research Center, the U.S Hispanic population has hit a new high. “The Latino population has risen from 9.6 million to nearly 58 million in 2016” (Flores), by 2020 Hispanics will be in greater numbers than whites. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are not the only Hispanic ethnicities. Central America, South America, and Latin America all represent the Latin community. Explaining this research on the growth of the Hispanic population reveals just how much racial diversity

Today Spanish is by far the most spoken non-English language in the U.S., becoming the fastest growing language in America. This has resulted in Spanish being spoken more by non- Hispanics in U.S. homes than any other non-English dialect. By learning Spanish, individuals would be better able to communicate with Spanish speakers. “Latin American Countries are America’s most important trading partners.” Therefore, being able to speak Spanish greatly enhances your resume, because being bilingual is a great trait to have especially, in the workplace. Hispanic and Latin American foods are exceptionally well known in the U.S. and have had a major influence on American cuisine and eating habits. “Some of the typical food items in Latin American cuisine include corn-based dishes such as tortillas, tamales, various salsas and condiments such as guacamole. “Tortilla chips and salsa are so popular that they are now one of the highest selling snack foods in the U.S.” (Interexchange). Spanish food items have even advanced to in many grocery stores in America such as Walmart were there are Hispanic food isles with Hispanic

Numerous Hispanic and Latin American musicians have achieved international fame such as Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, and Selena. Recently, Luis Fonsi who had the number one hit song of the summer last year called Despacito. Three months later Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee even made a remix version of Despacito with a well-known American singer named Justin Bieber which, helped bring Despacito to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Billboard.com) Selena Quintanilla was a Hispanic singer that helped change the Music industry in many ways. She was the first female Tejano singer to ever have a large amount of success and she opened the door for many Female Latin singers, which in turn, helped Jennifer Lopez with her career who is now a world renowned Latin singer. Latin singers are climbing the charts in the music industry alongside American artists. Music is just one of the many important topics the Hispanic community