Hispanic+Heritage+EssayBG15

Hispanic Heritage has been a part of America since it started as country, and we should keep it alive for this exact reason because without it America wouldn’t be the same. Many people don’t understand how much America has actually been affected by Hispanics. We have been using them as a resource for things like imported goods that we can’t grow in America, and some ways of life that we adopted because we think they suit us for decades. I mean even before America was an independent country we were importing goods from places like Spain and other Hispanic countries. But America has expanded since then, and also has the Hispanic population in America giving us more of a reason to keep Hispanic Heritage alive. It’s such a big part of America that you could probably find Hispanic Heritage in possibly every state. It may be hard to find because of our diverse population, but whether it being food, sports, or socialization. You can most likely find a shred of Hispanic Heritage.

Food is a major part of America that has been influenced by Hispanics. It’s hard to go out and not see a Hispanic restaurant in between American ones such as Wendy’s or Taco Bell. We also have made many Hispanic foods apart that Americans eat every day. For example, Taco Bell, although Americanized, still has a base of Hispanic Heritage because they sell tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. Another example is the flavor jalapeño. I mean it sounds Hispanic, and it’s so popular that you could find jalapeño Pringles, hot sauce, hot wings, etc. Jalapeño is major food flavor in American foods, but nothing comes close to the growth of churros in America. Churros, if you don’t know, are bread sticks covered in cinnamon and sugar that are sold widely in America (Lopez 4). Food has been a major Hispanic influence on America for decades, but it’s not the only one that has helped shape it.

Sports have also played a huge part in the Hispanic influence on America. Soccer is one of the top sports in the world and America has an entire league called Major League Soccer (MLS). States have made teams to play in this league from all over America such as: New York, Seattle, Toronto, and even Los Angeles. Other sports have also influences by Hispanics. These sports include baseball, basketball, and football alike. For example, in 2003 Hispanics made up about 26% of all the American baseball leagues called Major League Baseball (MLB). Also one of the greatest football players to ever play his position was a Hispanic, and his name was Anthony Muñoz. Anthony Muñoz played on the offensive line as a tackle, and even former Bengal’s coach Sam Wyche said, “He was the best offensive tackle I’ve ever seen in the National Football League (NFL) (Isaacson 2). This goes to show that some of the greatest members of sports in our countries were Hispanics, and nothing good would come out of taking their Heritage from their fans.

The two points that I made above are good ways of showing the influence of Hispanic Heritage in America, but neither of them would be made possible without our huge Hispanic population in America. We have more than 48 million Hispanics living in America today, and some of them are making a huge impact in America’s politics, business, film, music, and art. Take music for example, there is at least one Hispanic in that industry you’ve heard of. They include people such as Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, and many more. This part of Hispanic Heritage has been going back to as far as the 60’s, and it hopefully will continue into the future. Another huge area of influence by Hispanics is the film industry which is so influenced I’d be surprised if you can’t name one. People like Penelope Cruz, George Lopez, Eva Longoria, Sofia Vergara, and much more are all in “showbiz” in America ( Latin American Influences in the USA 3) . The last and probably the biggest point of all is since we have so many big Hispanic figures in our country’s long past we have to remember they’re a big part of American history (Hispanic and Latino Americans 1).

This is my point exactly. America is influenced so much by Hispanics that it’s hard to look into things like food, sports, or even population and not see anything Hispanic. Even though America is known as a melting pot, the Hispanic influence is great here and taking that away is taking away something big from America. I am personally will be affected if that happens because of my Mexican Heritage, and I honestly couldn’t begin to imagine a life where my Mexican Heritage wasn’t there. So why take it away from people who aren’t even Hispanics? We should be giving to them to remember and be proud of the Hispanic Heritage in America.

__Work Cited List: __
"Hispanic and Latino Americans." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. .
 * The Wikipedia page indicated the original sources on the page.

Isaacson, Jeff, Andre Markon, and Chris Slupek. " ." Latino Sports in America. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. .
 * This is a valid source of information because this website has a bibliography with annotations that give credibility for its content.

"Latin American Influences in the USA â Hispanic Culture." DonQuijote. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. .
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a valid source of information because on the bottom of the webpage it states all the major corporations that can give the website credibility.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lopez, Tracey. "Hispanic Heritage: How Latinos Have Changed the Face of Food in the United States." Fox News Latino. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/09/14/hispanic-heritage-how-latinos-have-changed-face-food-in-united-states/>.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a valid source of information because the website is a branch of one of the biggest news networks in America.