Hispanic-Americans in the Eastern United States

• Author: Lourdes Travieso Parker,Joseph P. Fitzpatrick
• DOI: 10.1177/000271628145400109
• Published date: 01 March 1981
• Date: 01 March 1981
• Subject Matter: Articles

98

Hispanic-Americans

in

the

Eastern

United

States

By

JOSEPH

P.

FITZPATRICK

and

LOURDES

TRAVIESO

PARKER

Joseph

Fitzpatrick

is

a

professor

of

sociology

at

Fordham

University.

Father

Fitzpatrick

is

well

known

for

his

studies

of

the

Puerto

Rican

community,

such

as

Puerto

Rican

Americans:

The

Meaning

of

Migration

to

the

Mainland,

and

for

his

community

activities.

He

is

vice-president of

the

Puerto

Rican

Family

Institute.

Lourdes

Travieso

Parker

was

formerly

director

of

the

Bilingual

Teacher

Corps

Project

of the

City

College

of New

York

and

the

Center

for

Bilingual

Education

of the

New

York

City

Board

of

Education.

She

is

an

educational

consultant

and

a

Title

VII

doctoral

fellow

in

Bilingual

Education

and

Educational

Administration

at

New

York

University.

ABSTRACT:

The

eastern

part

of

the

United

States

contains

a

large

and

growing

Hispanic

minority.

If

present

trends

con-

tinue,

all

Hispanics

will

constitute

the

largest

minority

in

the

United

States

by

the

year

2000. Their

influence

is

already

felt

in

the

social

and

political

life

of

the

nation.

The

largest

con-

centration

of

Hispanics,

mainly

Puerto

Ricans,

in

the

East

is

found

in

the

New

York

City

area.

Cubans

predominate

in

the

Dade

County

area

of

Florida,

with

large

numbers

also

in

New

York

City

and

in

the

northern

New

Jersey

area.

Newcomers

from

Santo

Domingo

and

Central

and

South

America

are

found

in

New

York

City

and

other

large

eastern

cities.

These

populations

vary

in

age,

color,

education,

and

occupation.

Cubans

and

Central

and

South

Americans

tend

to

be

at

the

level

of

the

American

middle

class;

Puerto

Ricans

and

Dominicans

tend

to

be

at

lower

socioeconomic

levels.

Puerto

Ricans

are

steadily

progressing

in

New

York

City

in

terms

of

political

representation

and

organizational

activity.

Those

born

in

the

continental

United

States

are

at

higher

educa-

tional

and

occupational

levels

than

their

Puerto

Rican

born

parents,

but

they

reflect

the

problems

of identity

common

to

previous

second-generation

newcomers.

Hispanics

may

play as

important

a

role

in

the

United

States

during

the

next

century

as

Americans

from

European

backgrounds

have

played

in

the

present

century.