The city of Hartford is a diverse community made up of people from all over the world. The Latino population in Hartford make up much of the population, with people who emigrated from their countries and came to the United States to discover new opportunities for themselves and their families. One specific question I wanted to answer was why Hispanic people all came to Hartford, and what factors motivated them to stay in this city. From interviews, readings, and discussions, I have found that people come specifically to Hartford for job opportunities and the education system for their children, and one thing that helps them to stay in the city is that it feels like home to them; from the places where they shop and eat, to the language spoken that resembles their language from their original countries. Hartford is a city flourishing in different cultures, specifically from Hispanic countries, and from walking around the city and going to different restaurants and shops, I have been able to discover more about the community.<\/p>\n
One of the first things I discovered while learning about the Hispanic community in Hartford is that Latino people came to the United States, and specifically Hartford, for job opportunities that their home countries did not have. Hartford seemed to be a wonderful place for people to earn money for their families. In the essay \u201cPuerto Ricans in Hartford: From Settlement to Collective Behavior\u201d Jose Cruz, writes that Puerto Ricans came to Hartford \u201cby invitation to fill critical labor shortages in industry and agriculture\u201d. In the early 1950s, Hartford was in need of people to come because of their intense labor shortages and the Puerto Ricans came to work, and ended up staying. One important part of Hartford at this time was that it was close to tobacco farms so the Puerto Ricans were needed only seasonally to come and work the tobacco fields, however the better pay and better opportunities that Hartford had enabled them to stay in the city, rather than returning to the island. Not all of the Hispanics in Hartford are from Puerto Rico. In the interview that I conducted, I spoke with an older couple in their 60s from Mexico. The interviewees told me one of the reasons they came to Hartford was the job opportunities that they received, although they both are retired now. They told me they used to work in a flower shop in Hartford and loved their jobs, especially the pay and benefits they received from it. Hartford, unlike some other cities in the United States, provided unique jobs that worked within agriculture and were easy for unskilled and uneducated workers to come and get paid significantly more than what they were being paid in their home countries.<\/p>\n
For many people in the Hispanic and Latino communities, the United States is a place that offers many opportunities and benefits that the countries where they are from do not have. One specific thing is the education system throughout the United States. In my interview with the older couple from Mexico, one of the first things they told me was that they came to Hartford for schools and opportunities. When I asked them what they liked about the schools, and specifically the schools in Hartford, they replied that they liked how the schools that their children and grandchildren attend here are bilingual. Having bilingual schools is incredibly important for many of the people that come to Hartford because they mainly speak Spanish, and sometimes, when they arrive, they can barely speak English. While it is important for the students in the schools in Hartford to learn English to be active members in society in the United States, it is still important that they can continue to learn and speak in the language that they are most comfortable in, which for many students in Hartford, is often Spanish. From walking around Hartford, it is extremely evident that most of the population speaks Spanish, simply by looking at the signs on the buildings and hearing the language being spoken between the people on the streets. For many students, the public education system in the United States can provide children with opportunities to grow up to do whatever they want to do in their lives. The education provided to many students who come to Hartford from countries where they only speak Spanish is a significant factor in why many families come to Hartford and stay in Hartford.<\/p>\n
With job and education opportunities providing members of the Latino community to move to Hartford, places that resemble their cultures from their home countries provide them reasons to stay in the city. While visiting \u201cEl Mercado\u201d I felt like I was a foreigner in an entirely different country and almost forgot I was actually in Hartford, Connecticut. El Mercado resembles what an outdoor market would be like in many Latin American countries. El Mercado also includes Mexican, Dominican, Peruvian, and Columbian restaurants. The people inside of this store seemed to have a strong sense of community and it seemed as though it was a place where they truly felt at home. El Mercado\u2019s location on Park Street is centrally located within different Latin American shops and restaurants, making it a place where people from Latin American countries want to come to and enjoy coming to. The couple that I interviewed was sitting in the restaurant El Tepeyac<\/em> eating food inside of El Mercado and it was a place that symbolized \u201chome\u201d (Mexico) where they were from. The unique Latin American places in Hartford, such as \u201cEl Mercado\u201d allow Latin Americans to feel as though they are at home, or at least a place similar to it where they feel comfortable and therefore, happy.<\/p>\n Along with locations in Hartford that make Latin Americans feel as though they are at home, the Spanish language is heavily used throughout the streets and buildings and businesses all throughout Hartford. Hearing and seeing their native language can be comforting to people who are not from the United States and don\u2019t speak English as their primary language, which is why many Latin Americans come to Hartford and stay in Hartford. In my interview with the couple in El Mercado, they preferred to have the interview in Spanish because that\u2019s what they felt most comfortable speaking. Unlike many cities and towns in the United States, the Spanish language can be seen in most places in Hartford, which is why a Latin American family would prefer to live here rather than in a different city in the United States.<\/p>\n The reasons why many Hispanic people have come to Hartford and stayed in Hartford are due to various reasons that make Hartford a unique city opposed to other destinations in the United States. The job opportunities that are in and around Hartford are what enabled many Hispanic people to come to Hartford, and the pay that they received here compared to their home countries provided a good reason for them to stay and continue to make money for their families. The education system in Hartford, specifically the amount of bilingual schools where Spanish and English are taught, are factors that keep Hispanic families in Hartford. For a child to be able to learn in two languages is very important, especially for families who have just come from a Spanish speaking country and are not as comfortable in English. The schools in Hartford provide a good transition for these children so that they are not thrown into a school being taught in a language that they cannot understand. Hartford also contains many shops and restaurants that provide authentic food and merchandise from various Latin American countries. These places can make Hartford feel like home for many people and is something that many other cities and towns in the United States do not have, therefore providing a place for Latin American people to want to come to. The Spanish language can be heard by people talking all along the streets of Hartford, and can be seen in many signs and posters within the city, which help to make members of the Latin American community, whose primary language is Spanish, feel more welcome and comfortable in the city. Hartford is a place for all members of the Latin American community to come and gain new opportunities and begin a new life while still maintaining their culture.<\/p>\n\n