For several centuries, the United States has faced societal issues in regards to understanding and accepting socio-cultural differences. Therefore, it is essential that people understand these cultural differences in order to eradicate common misconceptions and racial stereotypes. These stereotypes affect social perceptions and have extremely become ingrained in the modern world. To understand the reasons behind the development of misconceptions and racial stereotypes, one must highly understand the history of minority groups. This paper will explore and analyze the historical background, misconceptions, stereotypes, and social injustices of the Latin/Hispanic American culture.
Before I conducted a research regarding the racial stigma that Latin/Hispanic Americans face, I searched for a book that would help me expand on my topic. The book, Latinos Facing Racism: Discrimination, Resistance,
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In the 19th century, many American settlers believed in the idea of “manifest destiny,” to inevitably and justifiably expand U.S. territory across North America and beyond. This philosophical view the Americans had to expand U.S. territory soon led to the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Soon in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War. Thus, the U.S. won and “acquired more than 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory—all or part of the states of Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas.” (Congress) As a result, the victory of the U.S helped cultivate the perception that Mexicans are inferior than European Americans. Also, the aftermath of the war severely changed the relations and attitudes between Americans and Mexican Americans within the United States. Thus, the unfair relationship and treatment Mexican Americans faced, continues to have an influence on the modern-day stereotypes against Hispanic