Literature Review
According to Lopez (2015), it is projected that a record estimate of 34.6 million Hispanics of the Mexican sub-group resided in the U.S. in the year 2013. Correspondingly, the Mexicans form the largest portion of the Hispanic population in the United States at 64.1% of the entire United States’ Hispanic population. Research carried out by the US Census Bureau (2010) found Texas to harbor much of the Mexican-American population, accounting for up to 31.6% (half) of the total population after California (30.6%), New Mexico (28.7%), and Arizona (25.9%) among other states. The population is fast increasing due to various reasons, and some researchers have speculated that the Mexican population may dethrone the dominance of the white population in the near future. According to most past and recent studies, the cultural features of the Mexican-Americans largely draw from the Spanish culture. Even so, it is noteworthy that none of the research works acknowledges the influence of the indigenous Americans or the Africans brought as slaves to the Mexican and other Hispanic communities. This fact makes it challenging to define the features of the current day Mexican-American culture, as it is a mixture of European, indigenous and African cultural influences. Acculturation has greatly contributed to the infiltration of the other cultures into the Mexican-American culture. The history of the Mexican-Americans dates back 400 years and is unique to the various settlement regions of the United States. It is noted that in 1900, there were approximately 500,000 Mexican-Americans living in the States like Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona. The settlement began with the 1813 colonization and establishment of a government in Texas by the Tejanos. Additionally, it is evident from the studies that the states that currently have the largest Mexican population were those that were first colonized by the individual Mexican groups.
Concerning family life and gender roles, Landale, Oropesa and Bradatan (2006) posit that most Mexican-American families are built on the foundations of cultural patriarchy with the mother mostly in charge of the healthcare. While the father has more say in the family affairs, the mother takes care of health-related matters and passes her responsibility to their daughters. The main intergenerational aspect in this subgroup is the solidarity. Most Mexican-American elders insist and champion for intergenerational solidarity as a way of maintaining their heritage and ensuring the future of their prosperity. The Mexican-American subgroup in the United States is known to be religious with the common denominator being Catholicism induced by the Spanish influence in their culture. They consider the Virgin of Guadalupe their patron saint following her appearance to Juan Diego 400 years ago. According to Landale, Oropesa and Bradatan (2006), the Aztec religion, dominant before colonization, is hardly practiced contemporarily. Even while their population continues to burgeon, the Mexican-Americans grapple with a variety of contemporary issues, including education, economy and immigration as shown in the following representation. However, Krogstad (2014) observed that jobs and economic issues rank top of the contemporary issues facing the Mexican-American elders followed by healthcare.