Cubans In Miami Research Paper

Words: 1517
Pages: 7

Cubans in Miami
Jennifer Hawkins T/Th 9:30-10:45 am

Greg Masterson
Genessis Hernandez
Monique De Luna
Nicole Baeza
Valerie Tornero
Makayla Hill
Kimberly Garibay
Cayla Wheeler

Introduction

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History
Before 1960, the population of Cuban-Americans living in Miami was small (Bryan, 2012). According to Suburban Stats Today (2015) sixty-five percent of Miami Florida’s population belong to those who identify as Hispanic or Latino. Throughout its rich history, even prior to the Spaniards landing, Miami has been a city of great stories and survival (George, 1996). George (1996) explains the story of Miami begins more than 10,000 years ago with the settlement of Paleo-Indians up until the beginning of 1565
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Due to Florida only being ninety miles from the coast of Cuba, an overwhelming majority of Cubans immigrated to Miami, Florida. The cause of the mass immigration was due to political and economic reasons when Fidel Castro took over. In result, a cultural life has transformed due to the fact Miami Cubans viewed themselves as political exiles rather than immigrants. Moreover, the reasons Cubans had to leave Cuba were not by choice, but to escape the communist regime. (Whaley & Paul-Ward, 2011) According to Whaley and Paul-Ward (2011), many left Cuba to seek personal and political freedom in Miami, which would later Cuban- Americans reclaimed their way of life, culture, valued roles and occupation. The Cuban diaspora led to several waves of exiles and later immigrants, where they formed a thriving community in what became to be known as the most significant Cuban-American enclave; Miami. (Fulger, 2012). Furthermore, Fulger (2012) explains that the Cuban immigration came in four different waves between 1959 and 1980, which have occurred due to political repression in …show more content…
Although they left their native country of Cuba to reside in Miami Florida, they still have similar cultural values, due to the fact that more than half of the Hispanics in Miami are Cuban descent. Miami Cubans value their native language and it is not uncommon to have Miamians speaking Spanish more often than English (Huntington, 2004). A Cuban-born sociologist observed that Cuban residents of Miami, Florida have no pressure to be the ideal American, with 75% of adults speaking a language other than English at home (Huntington, 2004). In fact, 74.3% of Cuban Americans in Miami said they could speak Spanish equally, if not better than English (Buffington,