Stereotyping: Three Myths
Today, in our world, many people experience racism – perpetrated by those who think and act on the basis of ignorance and fear of others they perceive as different. Many Latinos have experienced stereotyping. People may not notice the harm they are causing when they stereotype Latinos. Humans beings are different – not everyone looks and thinks and acts exactly the same. Parents are expected to teach their children how to respect others; also parents should teach their children not to stereotype another person. However, laziness, being illegal and having a high rate of drop-out are all myths that unfairly characterize Latinos.
Myth # 1: Latinos are lazy

Many people in the United States stereotype as being lazy, in their mind they think that a Latino when it wakes up doesn’t do anything and top of that doesn’t pay taxes. But this myth can easily be proven false. According to the USA Today, in an article entitled “Slow economy hits Hispanics hard”, the U.S. Hispanic unemployment rate jumped to 6.9% in April 2008 from 5.5% in April 2007. In addition, according to Andrea Lehman, in the article on Hispanic Business, U.S. Hispanics gained 292,000 jobs in October 2006. Every year the employment for Hispanics increased by 977,000 jobs, bringing the Hispanic unemployment rate down from 5.9 percent in October 2005 to the current 4.7 percent, moreover Hispanic men have one of the highest labor force participation rates of any group, 84.9 percent in October 2006. (Lehman ) On the other hand, for employees who work in construction, the unemployment rate for Hispanics in the U.S. rose to 6.5% in the first quarter of 2008. According to interviews with managers in many construction companies, the 75% of the workers are Latinos. However, Latinos work mostly in the wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, business services, and personal services such as hospital aides. Many of them are paid less than the minimum wage.
Myth #2: All Latinos in the United States are illegal

Many American have in mind when they see an Hispanic, they automatically think that “this one is an illegal alien”. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 1 in 5 children in the U.S. is an immigrant or have immigrant parents, also Naturalized Citizens are 10.3 million and Legal immigrants are 10.5 million, and 75% of the children in immigrant families are U.S. citizens. (2004 )Undocumented immigrants remain a small population. In addition, according to the new Century's Demographic Context the next century, Hispanics are native born or naturalized citizens or have legal residency status Thus, disproving that this false myth.
Myth # 3: Latinos do not value education

Education is the key for anyone who comes to the United States. Many people think that Latinos drop-out of high school and are involved in drugs, gangs, and crime. Also many people think when a Latino is enrolled in high school he or she will drop-out very easily and faster. But, according California high school, drop-out, the highest ethnic group of dropping out is the African American with 41.3 percent. to the statistics, by the year 2025 Hispanics will represent more than one-quarter of school-age, also Black students tend to have lower grade point averages than do white students. Also, they are suspended more often and for longer spells than whites in the United States. Also Latino students comprise 15 percent of K-12 students overall, a proportion projected to increase to 25 percent by 2025. Moreover, Latino students are more frequently are enrolled general courses that satisfy the basic requirements 50 percent are enrolled in general programs, as compared with 40 percent of African Americans and 39 percent of whites. As the Latino goes further into the college or university, the Latinos show that are enroll in college immediately when they finished high school and the graduation rate similar is to that of other groups are 66 percent, compared with 60 percent for African Americans. In addition, the majority of Latino undergraduates 53 percent are enrolled in two-year colleges, whereas the majority of African American 51 percent. (Latinos in school) According to a particular university Harvard, according to Harvard’s statistics of students who are Hispanics, is Latino/a are 8%. The total percentage of students that are international is 9%. For the class of 2009, the percentage of the undergraduate student body that is Latino is 7.3%.including Mexican-Americans (2.7%), Hispanic-Americans (3.4%), and Puerto Ricans (1.2%). (The Status of Latinos at Harvard ) . In addition, the number of percentage Hispanic students enrolled at Eastern New Mexico University has increased 7 percent in the past 10 years, according to school officials, which means more than a quarter of the school’s 4,000 students are Hispanic. Thus, increasing the rate of high graduates, and also adding special program to many Hispanics in need such as ESOL for middle school and high school and ESL in college and universities. (Cordova )




Reference:
1.
"Latinos in school." ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education New York NY. 02/2001 5 Nov 2008 .
2.
Lehman, Andrea. "October brings Jobs for Hispanics." 3/11/2006 5 Nov 2008 .
3.
"A Quick Look at U.S. Immigrants: Demographics, Workforce, and Asset-Building." National Conference of State Legislature 17/07/2004 5 Nov 2008 .
4.
"The Status of Latinos at Harvard." 16 Nov 2008 .
5.
Cordova, Celena. "Hispanic Trending." Latinos Marketing and Advertising Trendings 16/10/2008 16 Nov 2008 .