My Thesis paper for World Hisory Honors.

Here is a paper I wrote for my World History Honors class. It is not to great because I put it off tell the last minute to write it

Enjoy!



CJ Obermaier
World History Honors
Mrs. Bramer
April 09, 2007
Latinos Assimilation in Missouri
Latinos in Missouri are attempting to assimilate in Missouri. Since America has always been considered the melting pot, assimilation in America allows different cultures to hang on to some of their Native Culture. By examining the language, where they consider home, the population of Latinos, their culture in Missouri, and what type of support system the Latinos have we can prove that assimilation is slowly beginning to take place.
From 1990 through 2000, the estimated population of Latinos in Missouri went up 92%. Hispanics come to Missouri to work on the numerous amounts of agricultural jobs. In 110 counties in Missouri the Latino population has increased. Kansas City alone is ranked 11th in the nation for the increasing population of Hispanics in urban centers. Rural counties that have meatpacking plants experienced increases in Hispanic population.
Immigrant workers had a low annual wage in 2001 of 14,400. About half of immigrant workers earn less than double minimum wage, compared to native workers where only 32% earn less than double minimum wage. Although immigrants can get visas to do professional jobs in the United States, they also get visas to work jobs that employers can not find workers in the United States to do it.
Although there are many Mexicans who moved to Missouri with very little education, this may be changing for there children. More immigrant children live with both parents than native families. Immigrant’s children do well or even better than their native counter parts.
Some Latinos don’t consider Missouri their permanent residents of Missouri. Alfreado, a Hispanic who lives in Hurtsville, works in a Mexican restaurant. He speaks mainly Spanish, and sends money home to his family in Mexico. There are a number of Latinos in Milan Missouri who immigrated there to work for Premium Standers Farms. A good number of them are Spanish only speaking. Although many of these immigrants are from Mexico there are also some from Argentina and Costa Rica. 70% of the Latinos on the United States send money back home according to Kevin Shields, a community affairs specialist with the FDIC. (University of Missouri, 2007) For instance immigrant working in Missouri at meat packing plants have wages that are so low that they cannot afford benefits like health insurance, because they need to send money home for their families (wife and children) in their home countries. (Barham, 2002) (University of Missouri, 2007) This is especially dangerous due to the type of injuries associated in meat packing plants.
Many of the temporary residents of Missouri work in some type of agricultural job. Recently there was a workshop in Saint Joseph’s Missouri for employers of Latino work force to help explain the challenges and opportunities of having Latinos work at Missouri farms. One of the things explained that due to the long distance they have to travel home, they need several weeks off during winter vacations. Missouri employers can also help their Latino laborers obtain temporary working Visas. The workshop also encourages employers to learn to speak some Spanish to the workers, as the workers attitude improves with this effort form the employer. (University of Missouri, 2004)
If a Latino decides to permanently move to Missouri, first they would need to apply for a green card or permanent Visa by getting a permanent job in the United States. Even after the worker gets a green card it takes 3-6 years to get a Visa for the workers spouse and children. It also takes 3-5 years to become a permanent resident. Only so many Visas are allowed per country, so countries that have a lot of people wanted to move to America have a longer wait. Somewhere between 6-10 years the green card holder can now apply to be a Natural Citizen. (Kirberger, 2007)
It does appear that the Latinos in the area are working towards assimilation. Central Latino has a Chapter in Milan Missouri. This organization provides English language classes, transportation services, helps Latinos with medical forums and drivers examines. There is a center like this for Latinos in Colombia Missouri. They have after school programs for children to help them of there school work, math and reading skills. They also have a teen tutoring program to help lower the Hispanic teen dropout rate which is currently 27.8%, higher than whites at 6.9%, black 13.1% and Asians 3.8. The Colombia organization also offers English as a second language class. The organization feels that without a good understanding of English, Latinos will have problems finding jobs, and to deal with everyday living.
Latinos have many forms of there own communication. The newspaper Adelante! is published by the Missouri School of Journalism. it is a bilingual newspaper to help Spanish speaking people know what’s going on in there community. These paper in available both in English and in Spanish!
Cambia de Coloras, which means Change of Colors is an annual conference for Hispanic/Latinos immigrants here in Missouri. It began in the year 2002, and in 2007, the conference in using the motto "todus juntos" which means "everyone together." This seems that to be one way the Spanish community is helping to integrate themselves into their Missouri community. The April 2007 conference covered education, including the MAP test, health including, best practices of prevention, education work shops for students and their parents.
Three barriers to Latino Immigrants is financial, linguistic, and cultural. Communicating to doctors, utility clerks, law officers, and school workers can sometimes be difficult due to the language barrier. It can be frustrating to run a household on $15,000 a year for a family of six. This type of low income that a man named Santos earns working full time a poultry farm does not allow Santos to afford health insurance for his wife and two children. He also has to care for his mother-in-law who is sick. Although Santos is striving to be a permanent resident of Missouri he is struggling with things as small as getting his electricity turned on. When Santos went to get his electricity turned on he did not have an interpreter. He could not understand why he had to pay a deposit for a service he had not even used yet. After much time and confusion he finally got his electricity turned on. (University of Missouri, 2007)
Fortunately for many Latino Immigrants in Missouri organization such as, Central Latino provides support by helping Mexicans achieve success despite the cultural differences they have here in America. Newspapers like Adelante! Help Latinos get local news in there native language. A native American cannot even grasp the difficulty that comes to moving to a land of opportunity, yet coming from a different culture and different language.
In Marshfield alone, there are 2 authentic Mexican food restaurant that appears to be pretty popular. Although not a authentic Mexican food, Missouri has its share of Taco Bell’s. Mexican food is also one of the top 3 favorite food in the United States. Go into any grocery store in Missouri, and you can find a Mexican food section. Hispanic culture is also becoming some of American culture.
Although the Spanish language is not very common in Missouri, in some parts of Missouri you can often hear Spanish being spoken. Branson and Springfield are two examples of cities that you can hear Spanish being spoken.
In September, four cites in Missouri have had the Festival of Amistad, which mean Festival of Friends. The main purpose of this Festival was to share Latino culture with Missourians. Latino food and music were two of the things featured at this festival. Southwest Region Alianzas informs the community not only about the Festival of Amistad, but other things that help support the Latino community. (Williams, 2007)
So, in conclusion while it may appear that Latinos have not assimilated in Missouri, it is just a time consuming process that is in fact taking place. With a little time, and some help from fellow Missouians, Latinos can someday assimilate with more ease than right now.




Work Cited
Barham, Elizabeth, and Green, John J.“LATINOS IN MISSOURI” January 2002, 26 April 2007 <http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:2oZn4qcpgO4J:www.ssu.missouri.edu/RuralSoc/Latinos/papers/GreenBarham.pdf+missouri+latinos+sending+money+home&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us>
Kirberger. “Immigration Temporary Permanent”,2007. 26 April 2007.
< http://www.immigration-lawyer.com/immigration.htm>
University of Missouri-Columbia. “Cambio de Colores.” 17 June, 2005.14 April 2007 <http://www.cambiodecolores.org/2005/People/Participants.html>
University of Missouri. “Community Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture Program”16 Dec. 2004, 14 April 2007. <http://agebb.missouri.edu/sustain/lac/latinoworkforce.htm>
University of Missouri, “Centro Latino” April 14, 2007 <http://centrolatino.missouri.org/Eng/board.htm> <http://centrolatino.missouri.org/Eng/education.htm>
University of Missouri.” Latinos in Missouri: Everyone Together - Todos juntos” 18 April 2007. 25 April 2007 <http://www.cambiodecolores.org/2007/Program/>
University of Missouri . “Financial Security Panel” July 3, 2003. April 14, 2007 <http://www.cambiodecolores.org/2003/Adelante/FinancialSecurityPanel.html>
Williams, Pat. “ Southwest Region Alianzas” 10 April 2007. 26 April 2007.
< http://extension.missouri.edu/greene/Al ... ianzas.htm>

Hm, you really didn't make the case for this though. Most places with a high Hispanic population give these sorts of services anyway (English classes, drivers license, etc). I think in order to improve this, you have to go back to the meaning of the word "assimilation" and give proof to show that these Latinos are doing more to attempt to become part of American society-- not just that they are bringing their culture to Missouri. The example about the newspaper is vaguely proving of the fact that they want to learn English, but this is your only statement that credits the point of the essay. Here are some things to consider:

-Give examples of how Hispanics in Missouri are trying to adopt American culture and values alongside their own. You need to show that they're willing to do more than just learn English. The festival example, "Todos Juntos" didn't really go into any depth or details. All I know after reading this is that they are trying to stress unity in this celebration, no assimilation.
-If you want to steer clear of "assimilation", you can talk about how they've become part of the "salad bowl" that America supposedly is. The term "melting pot" is often used less an less since it's believed that cultures retain their roots for the most part rather than just melting into "one big culture".

I do like how you talked about the man, Santos. Talking about the troubles and problems of an individual is a lot easier to relate with. While I think your paper is well-meant, it doesn't go "the full 9 yards" in terms of proving your original thesis. I can't actually even find your thesis. It should be the last (or next to last) statement in your intro paragraph.

Anyway, there are a few grammar errors and such. No doubt, someone else here can go through the paper and catch all the errors.

Well, Missouri doesent have a high Latino population.
Also, my conclusion is that assimutaion is starting to take place, not that it has taken place yet. BY the services that are offerend they are trying to learn English and be able to live in Missouri which is predominaly a English speaking state.

Thanksyou for taking the time to read my paper MQ



Kyle, I do know how it feels to be the minority in a community. I lived ina arena that was mostly Hispanics which spoke a lot of Spanish. I alsowent to school with Native Americans were I had to elarn there culture and holidays as that is what they based there school on.
Again, thank you for taking the time to read my paper = )

Don't double post, the edit button is there for a purpose - Brad