Anybody willing to help me with this today/tomorrow?

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I've got a 1400 word research paper due tomorrow (technically Monday morning at 2:59am), and I've been working on it for the last 5 hours. I've got it written, but haven't done any editing for spelling/grammar/etc. Anybody want to take a whack at it and give me suggestions? I have to figure out whether I really answered all of the questions as well. Thanks to anybody who can provide me with tips!

Objective of Exercise: Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word research paper identifying the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious, and familial conventions and/or statuses of four Hispanic groups living in the United States. Your paper should cover Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and two groups of your choice from Ch. 9 of the text.
Dedicate an equal portion of your paper to each Hispanic group.
Conclude your essay by summarizing major differences and commonalties apparent among the groups.
Format your paper according to APA requirements.

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Assignment: Hispanic American Diversity
Hispanic or Latino Americans are often grouped together but have some major differences between each group. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Brazilians, and many other Latin and Southern American nationalities have been some of the most recent immigrants to the United States. While they all have different reasons for coming to the United States, Hispanic Americans are the fastest growing minority and are expected to be over 20 percent of the population by 2020 (Guinn & Vincent, 2008).
Mexican American social and religious life is centered on family. Mexican immigrants tend to live together because they are surrounded by common family values and goals. Religiously, most Mexican Americans have Catholic or Protestant beliefs and also value folk beliefs. In the words of Joseph Rodriguez (2010), “Religious faith, they suggest, unifies the community in the face of economic, social, and legal marginalization.” Lujan and Campbell (2006) suggest that Mexican Americans are 80 percent Catholic and that their religious views affect their health practices.
Political involvement within Mexican Americans has been increasing. Many do not vote because of English-only laws which can hinder Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans from being able to register to vote. Some worry that by becoming too much like the dominant culture, Mexican Americans may be assimilating too much and losing their own identities. According to Teske Jr. and Nelson (1976), “Mexicans voted into office with Anglo support will have to change desires and goals to keep support” (Teske Jr. & Nelson, 1976, para. ). Mexican Americans have formed many political groups including the Mexican-American Alliance, the Mexican-American Political Association, the Mexican American Youth Organization, and the Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations to try to elect Mexican Americans to public offices, to boycott schools, and to perform other political stances (Teske Jr. & Nelson, 1976, para. ). However, many Mexican Americans are not supportive of these groups.
Cuban Americans are connected by their ancestral country, but are more varied than other Latino groups. Most Cuban Americans came to the United States during three main waves of immigration, and they have assimilated into the Anglo-Saxon culture (Watson, 1991). Watson (1991) suggests that these three waves produced three types of Cubans in America with “those who have definite cultural patters isolated from the dominate culture, those who mix Spanish and English culture, and those who arrived recently”. Political status, rather than family status, brings them together. Many Cuban Americans left their home country to escape Communism and have expressed a want to return with the overturn of that government. With the end of Castro’s reign, only time will tell how many will return to Cuba. New generations have been born in the United States and started to spread outside of the original Cuban settlements.
Cuban American life, socially, familial, and religiously, varies depending on the specific person. While most Cuban Americans continue to speak Spanish, most are also fluent in English. Cuban Americans reported feeling more a part of American society the longer that they were in the United States (Barlow, Taylor, & Lambert, 2000). Economically, many Cuban Americans are doing very well; they have twice as many college grads as other minorities (Schaefer, 2006). They have lower rates of one parent households. However, in Cuba, women were expected to stay home to take care of the children. When they moved to the United States and women had to work, it was a major adjustment for Cuban American family life. Religiously, Cuban Americans vary between the Catholic religion that was forced on Cubans by European settlers, Protestant religions that have branched from Catholics and African-influenced religions (Super, 2004).
Puerto Ricans also have distinct traditions and culture. Linguistically, they speak Spanish and English. Family is very important to Puerto Ricans. Most Puerto Ricans follow the Catholic Religion but there are small percentages of other religions including Protestant, Churches of Christ, Pentecostal, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Baptist (Schaefer, 2006). Their home country has a history of being fought over by Spain and the United States, and their culture reflects this blend. The island was also a sight for slavery and reflects the African, European, and Indian mixture in the culture and people’s appearances. On the island more so than in the United States, Puerto Ricans place each other on a color gradient scale rather than having distinct races. On the island, social class determines race, but on the mainland race determines the social class.
Politically, Puerto Ricans are United States citizens, but those who live on the island do not have the same rights as those on the mainland. The island is a common wealth with its own governor (Schaefer, 2006). Some Puerto Ricans express desires for their island to become an official US state to expand economic growth while others want independence from the United States. Puerto Ricans were recruited for workers during the World Wars, but most have immigrated since then. Some continue travel back and forth in search of jobs and better economic status (Schaefer, 2006).
Salvadoran Americans are also classified as Latinos, but represent a differing culture. Immigrants from El Salvador fled war, persecution, violence, and poverty (Schaefer, 2006). Salvadorans did not begin the majority of their migration to the United States until the 1970s and 1980s (Chinchilla & Hamilton, 1999). They are looking for more political stability in the United States but do not find many of their minority in high ranking offices. These immigrants have kept close ties with family back in the home country and continue to send support back home. Salvadorans have created groups like the Committee in Solidarity with the People in El Salvador and the Southern California Inter-Faith Task Force on Central America to specifically help Salvadorans in the Southern California region and to go against US campaigning in Central America. Several law suits were filed over Salvadorans trying to seek asylum in the United States (Chinchilla & Hamilton, 1999).
Life for Salvadoran Americans is also one of trying to maintain culture and assimilate. Roman Catholic is the primary religion and Spanish is the primary language. In recent decades, hostility toward this minority group has decreased and employment in low-wage occupations, like factories and service jobs, has increased (Chinchilla & Hamilton, 1999). Many Salvadoran immigrants had planned on returning to El Salvador after the wars, but now over half have plans to remain. Family is very important to Salvadorans; many of those with children in the home country have chosen to return for that reason. Economically, these immigrants continue to support their home countries and have taken over a billion dollars into El Salvador. Socially, Salvadorans are assimilating to “urban-style houses, money spent on social events, and land concentration.” They are also changing attitudes including “less tolerance for male patriarchy” (Chinchilla & Hamilton, 1999). However, they have kept many traditions including street markets, restaurants, forms of entertainment, and newspapers (Chinchilla & Hamilton, 1999).
Hispanics are often lumped together, but they have many distinct differences. Cuban women have the highest education and income levels of all Hispanic women. They are also older and have higher divorce rates (Watson, 1991). Studies have shown Mexican American women have higher levels of physical inactivity than other American groups; they also have a 76 percent rate of being overweight (Guinn & Vincent, 2008). Many Mexican Americans are for English-only laws while Cuban Americans assimilate but still keep their Spanish language.
While very different, Hispanics also have same major similarities. Many have Spanish as their ancestral language. Many have also been found to have elevated rates binge drinking because of trying to assimilate into US culture and stress with being a minority (Guilamo-Ramos, Jaccard, Johansson, & Tunisi, 2004). With this comes the struggle of how much of their own culture they want to retain and how much they want to fit into United States mainstream society. Many also struggle with “lower incomes, less education, and more health problems” (Schaefer, 2006). A similar attribute of all Latino groups is their strong faiths and their beliefs in the importance of family. These groups have also developed hometown clubs to keep ties with their countries of origin and to send support back to those countries. No matter how different or similar, Hispanic Americans have provided the most recent growing wave of diversity into the United States and will continue to change the melting pot of American life as they blend in their own cultural traditions.


And then my reference page follows...

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Looks like a well put together paper , I can remember one I used a few years ago it got me the best best in class and I will share it with you.

Hispanic American Cultural Diversity

A Look at Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and DominicanAmerican Ethnic Groups
A brief summary of the linguistic, political, social,economic, religious, and familial status of the Mexican American, Puerto Rican American, Cuban American, and Dominican American ethnic groups.

Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican Americans allhave very much in common, yet remain separate ethnic groups, descended from various ancestors. Many come to the United States for political asylum, but many immigrate to the United States in search of the American Dream.Traditionally, Americans have not initially been accepting of immigrants upon their arrival to the United States, but many ethnic groups have successfully been able to carve out their own niche on American soil, and while acceptanceis not readily given to new arrivals, tolerance of different ethnic groupsappears to be increasing.

Mexican Americans
Mexican Americans are a diverse people who have attained socioeconomic, linguistic assimilation, and legal status. Most are in pursuitof the American Dream and working hard to escape the humble status of theearlier generations, who are excluded from this attempt due to not having attained legal status in the United States. Alba states that Hispanics who are born in the United States or have lived in the United States for 10 years speak English well; English is the dominant language by the second generation; and by the third generation monolingualism is common. The apparent predominance ofSpanish use by Hispanics is due to recent immigration. Mexican Americans do nothave many entrepreneurships or a wide-spread ethnic economy like the CubanAmericans established in Miami. Throughout the history of immigration toAmerica, Mexicans seem to have made little progress in moving up from immigrant status to mainstream social status, partly due to the amount of discriminationand the poor educational systems provided to them. (Alba, 2006)

Puerto Rican Americans

The majority of Puerto Ricans are Roman Catholics, mixedwith various denominations of Protestant faiths. Puerto Ricans speak CastilianSpanish, which originated from ancient Latin. English is taught in mostelementary schools, but Spanish remains the primary language in Puerto Rico.Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States, with its own constitution,legislature, and governor, subject to the executive authority of the UnitedStates; due to this commonwealth status, all Puerto Ricans are Americancitizens, as such, they are considered migrants versus immigrants. In thepolitical arena, there is much debate whether Puerto Rico should maintain theCommonwealth relationship with the United States, advocate for full UnitedStates statehood, or fight for complete independence of the United States.Puerto Rican American assimilation has been both successful and distraught withproblems. Twenty-five percent of Puerto Ricans living in the United States and55% of Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico are still experiencing seriousproblems, and though American citizenship presumably carries many advantages,Puerto Ricans continue to struggle with problems such as drug-use, crime, lackof educational opportunities, and the breakdown of the familial structure.(Green, n.d.)

Cuban Americans
The Cubans exiled from the Caribbean Island after the 1959revolution changed Miami, Florida into what many have deemed the capital ofLatin America. During the Cold War many political refugees sought asylum in theUnited States where they happily accepted the benefits offered here. The CubanAmericans significantly changed many things in Miami, including reversing thetypical progression of assuming American culture and societal assimilation.Instead of replacing Spanish with English and assimilating American cultures,they brought about what has been termed "reverse acculturation",meaning Miami residents had to become accustomed to the Cuban economical impactand political domination. However, unlike the Cuban immigrants, Haitianimmigrants, derogatively referred to as "the boat people," facedinsurmountable racism and alienation for their entry into the United States.Haitian immigrants changed the typical assimilation by concealing theirheritage and adapting the dress and attitudes of the African American innercity youths. (Cato, n.d.)

Dominican Americans

Dominicans speak Spanish as their native language, althoughreportedly more are also speaking English. Dominicans practice primarily RomanCatholicism; however, Protestant, Jewish, and Afro-Christian religions exist aswell. The Dominican American communities are primarily recent. Many Dominicansmaintain a vital interest in the Dominican Republic and many migrate back totheir country of origin to establish businesses on the island. Many Dominicansenter the United States through the "back door," primarily enteringPuerto Rico then moving to the mainland United States. American values arepopular and copied by many Dominicans, so when immigrating to the United Statesthey are already familiar with much of the United States culture; however,being one of the newer cultural communities in the United States, Dominicansare somewhat resistant to assimilation, never having abandoned their homecountry and culture or completely embracing the new country and culture, thusthey are still developing their own Dominican American culture and community.The 1990's demonstrated an increase in poverty among Dominican Americans;single-parent homes headed by women in particular relied more heavily on publicassistance. Though the familial unit remains important, it is different inAmerica versus the Dominican Republic, notably families tend to decrease insize. (Buffington, n.d.)


Mexican Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans,and Dominican Americans each have a distinct cultural identity--rich in familialties, but each has been grouped in the Hispanic American category on the basisof language. Though these groups share the Spanish language, each has adifferent dialect and origin. Although Roman Catholicism is the primaryreligion of each group, there also exists in each ethnic group a variety ofreligious beliefs. While each group values familial connections, several groupsshow a change in family dynamics upon immigrating to the mainland UnitedStates. Cuban American seems to have made the most progress on the social andpolitical front, while Puerto Ricans have made the most impact on theirhomeland in the economic realm. While some groups resist assimilation intoAmerican culture, others have readily embraced it.

References

Alba, R. (2006). Mexican Americans and the American dream.Political Science & Politics. American Political Science Association.

Buffington, S. (n.d.). Dominican Americans.

Cato, J. (n.d.) Becoming American in Miami: Reconsideringimmigration, race and ethnic relations. Center for Latin American Studies,University of California, Berkeley.

Green, D. (n.d.) Puerto Rican Americans.

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