Subculture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Subculture - Research Paper Example Further, Latinos have considerably different histories, cultural approaches and contemporary social problems (Suarez-Orozco & Paez 5). They form a major subculture in the United States, with characteristics that distinguish them from mainstream culture. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the distinctive components of the Latino Subculture. Whether the group sees themselves as a distinct subculture and how they are viewed by the mainstream culture will also be examined. Description of the Latino Subculture The main reason for the presence of various subcultures in the United States is immigration from other countries and environments. â€Å"Latinos are not a simple racial or ethnic group, but they are the product of a distinctive civil society† (Hayes-Bautista 5). Latinos are generally described by governmental policy models as: a racial group, a language group, a group with strong affilitation to their traditional culture, a dysfunctional minority gr oup, or an urban underclass. However, the core element of Latinos is the continued presence of a Latino civil society, which provides Latino children with their initial experiences in the social world, teaches them right and wrong, duty, early concepts of civic responsibility, and first notions of personal identity. There is a great heterogeneity among the different groups of Latinos, their experiences depending on various factors such as â€Å"race, color, gender, socio-economic status, language, immigrant status, and mode of incorporation into the United States† (Suarez-Orozco & Paez 4). The social practices and cultural models of multiculturalism contribute to the experiences, perceptions and the range of behaviors of both immigrant and native-born Latinos in ways unprecedented during earlier large-scale immigration. The racial and ethnic categorization of Latinos has high stakes political and economic implications such as civil rights, equal opportunities, and affirmative action. Mainland Puerto Ricans and immigrant Dominicans indicate a high level of transnationalism, evident in the economic, political and cultural strategies adopted by diasporic people. They lead double lives with double loyalties, living alternately between their island and the mainland; remitting large sums of money to their homeland, continue to participate in political processes there, and periodically visit their homeland to maintain their social and cultural ties. Transnational behavior, and alternately moving between the mainland and Mexico has been practised by Mexicans also based on the completion of seasonal work (Suarez-Orozco & Paez 332). Components of the Latino Subculture Symbols In the United States Hispanic popular Catholicism, the hope of resurrection or liberation cannot remove the sufferings of the past and the present. It has to emerge from the living memories and symbols of those sufferings: â€Å"the tears, the blood, the scars, the crucified Jesus† (I sasi-Diaz & Segovia 280). Thus, the second major symbol of Catholicism is a symbol of celebration, of the hope that continues amidst suffering, the symbol of Mary. Latinos identify Mary with the symbol of the crucified Jesus, and crucification is considered as the root of resurrection not only of Jesus but of all people. Latino symbolism is resilient, and is evident in their determination