Latinos and the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, University of Freiburg (Englisches Seminar), course: American Society Today, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this term paper is to study the minority of Latinos, and to some extent Mexican Americans in particular, the problems they have had and still have to cope with when building wealth. First, I will introduce into the topic and its relevance in the United States by talking about the 'Wealth Distribution and the Racial Wealth Divide' in general. In chapter two, I will give a definiton of the terms 'Latino', 'Hispanics', and 'Chicanos' and then provide some basic information on them. In order to understand today's situation of Mexican Americans, one must consider their historical background and the involvement of the government blocking Mexican Americans to build wealth for a long time, which I will be dealing with in my third chapter 'Looking Back'. In my fourth chapter 'Looking at Today' I will demonstrate Latinos' and Mexican Americans' social, financial, and educational situation today by mentioning and evaluating some numbers. Finally, in my last chapter 'Looking Ahead' I will illustrate the importance of Hispanics in the U.S., examine how they will change or already have changed American society, and try to give an outlook for the future development.