are peoples with a Spanish-speaking background, referred to collectively as Hispanics or Latinos, such as Puerto Ri cans, Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and other Latin Americans. Other ethnic groups in this country in clude Jewish, Irish, Italian, and Norwegian Americans. While these groupings are convenient, they serve to ob- scure differences within these ethnic categories (as in the case of Hispanics) as well as to overlook the mixed ances try of so many ethnic people in the United States. The distinction between racial and ethnic minori- ties is not always clear-cut. Some members of racial mi norities, such as Asian Americans, may have significant
cultural differences from other groups. At the same time, certain ethnic minorities, such as Hispanics, may have obvi- ous physical differences that set them apart from other resi- dents of the United States. Despite categorization problems, sociologists continue to feel that the distinction between racial groups and ethnic groups is socially significant. That is because in most soci- eties, including the United States, physical differences tend to be more visible than ethnic differences. Partly as a result of this fact, stratification along racial lines is more resistant to change than stratification along ethnic lines. Members of an ethnic minority sometimes can become, over time, indis tinguishable from the majority- although this process may take generations and may never include all members of the group. By contrast, members of a racial minority find it much more difficult to blend in with the larger society and to gain acceptance from the majority