Ethnographymain

Honeycutt 1
Rodney Honeycutt
English 111-98
Ms. Douglas
24 March 2016
Why is Miami Predominantly Hispanic?
The first thing that an outsider would notice about the city of Miami is that the number of
Hispanics completely outweigh the number of such people in other parts of the United States.
There is no question that the majority of this country is white, but why is Miami an outlier?
Based on statistics from 2010-2014 from the U.S. census, Hispanics make up sixty-five percent
of Miami-Dade county as opposed to the nationwide percentage of seventeen percent. The U.S.
census also shows that Spanish is the primary language spoken at home in a similar sixty-five
percent of Miami-Dade County. Whereas English is the primary language spoken at home in
only twenty-six percent of homes in the same county (Miami-Dade County Population and).
These statistics lead back to the question, why is the number of Hispanics an exponential outlier
as opposed to the rest of the United States?
Primary Research
An observer took a trip to Miami to see if there was a noticeable, more populated number
of Hispanics there because if not, the relevance of this ethnography would be nonexistent. The
observer constructed a tally chart for the number of Hispanics, Caucasians, and other ethnic
groups and set observing areas in Miami-Dade County where he would put together his research.
These places consisted of a restaurant in downtown Miami named Duffys, the condo complex in
which the observer was staying with the name Intracoastal Yacht Club, and a vicinity on the
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beach of South Beach (these findings may be skewed as they were placed into ethnic group
categories solely on visuals and good judgement). The findings are recorded below.
Group
Duffys
Intracoastal
South Beach
Total
Hispanic
Caucasian
African-
Restaurant
21
12
14
Yacht Club
12
17
6
32
17
12
65
46
32
American
Total
47
35
61
143
The observers findings prove the statement that Hispanics are more eminent in the
Miami-Dade area as opposed to the rest of the country, provided that the U.S. Census is correct
with its statement that Hispanics make up twelve percent of the nations population. Even though
the size of this study group is substantially smaller than the Miami-Dade County population, the
statistics coincide with the U.S. Census statistics. Although this primary research proves that
Hispanics are more relevant in Miami it does not tell us why.
Secondary Research
The term Hispanic refers to persons of Spanish-speaking origin or ancestry, because
this a broad spectrum of people it becomes extremely difficult to pinpoint a specific reason as to
why Hispanics as a whole are located in Miami. For that reason, the researcher must narrow that
spectrum of people. According the same U.S. census mentioned earlier, Cubans make up fiftyfour percent of Hispanics in Miami-Dade County. Within the Cuban-American population of
over one million in the state of Florida alone (Vogel), researchers are kept busy tracking waves of
movement.
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The first large wave of Cuban immigration came in the years 1959 and 1960. This was
mainly for political reasons. In 1959, Fidel Castro and his Communist regime took over Cuba.
During his rule, the conditions of life, especially economically, worsened to the point where
Cubans fled seeking jobs and a better life. Almost all of these immigrants fled to the southern
coast of Florida which was just across the Atlantic from Cuba. Most of this wave of Floridas
newest residents settled in the city of Miami, where there is actually a section called Little
Havana, named after Cubas capital. During this wave of immigration about 250,000 Cuban
immigrants arrived in the United States (Moments in U.S. Diplomatic).
Another flood of Cuban immigration came in 1980 due to the Mariel boatlift. The Mariel
boatlift began when several Cubans took control of a bus and drove it through a fence of the
Peruvian embassy in Havana. They requested, and were granted, political asylum from Fidel
Castros communist ways. On the first of April of 1980, Castro stated that the port of Mariel,
which was just outside of Havana, would be opened to anyone wishing to leave Cuba given that
they had a ride waiting to pick them up (Waves of Cuban). Castro even allowed thousands of
criminals and mental patients to leave as well. Many Cuban exiles from the first wave of 1959
rushed to Southern Florida (Key West and Miami especially) to hire boats to transport family and
friends from the port of Mariel back to Southern Florida since that would be the shortest and
cheapest distance from Cuba. This began a six-month drama where more than 125,000 Cubans
left their country and overwhelmed the Florida coast (Waves of Cuban). The Mariel boatlift
reached an end by mutual agreement from the United States and Cuba. Florida took the biggest
hit from these events when crime drastically increased for years after the mass migration. The
movie Scarface provides a great depiction of the aftermath as the crime wave in Miami served as
a major influence for one of the greatest films of all time.
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Conclusion
There is no debate that the Hispanic population in Southern Florida, specifically Miami,
is substantially greater than the Hispanic population anywhere else in the United States. This is
backed up with primary and secondary research. The secondary research shows multiple and
specific events where Hispanics migrated to the state of Florida.
To this day, immigration to the southern coast of Florida by Hispanics is still largely
present. The current high number of Hispanics in Southern Florida adds another, and very
simple, reason for more Hispanics to migrate there, their people are there.
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Works Cited
"Miami-Dade County Population and Races." Miami-Dade County, FL Population and Races.
USA.com. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
"Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History." Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. Web.
24 Mar. 2016.
Vogel, Mike. "Snapshots of Florida's Hispanic Community." Florida Trend. 30 Apr. 2013. Web.
24 Mar. 2016
Waves of Cuban Immigrants." The Advocates For Human Rights. Energy of a Nation:
Immigration Resources. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
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