This overview presents a profile of the Hispanic American community in five key areas: demographics, education, poverty, health, and civil rights. The demographic overview considers population composition and location, population growth, language acquisition, family status, and employment. Educational status and trends, underrepresentation in education and training programs, factors affecting Hispanic undereducation, and signs of progress are discussed. Employment, earnings, and income; children and families; and factors associated with increasing poverty for Hispanics are considered. Hispanic health status, access to health care, and factors limiting access to health care are discussed. A section on civil rights treats public attitudes, evidence of discrimination, and Federal enforcement activities. A final section presents policy implications. The following findings are highlighted: (1) Hispanics constitute the first and most recent immigrants to the United States and the population continues to grow rapidly; (2) Hispanics have many of the values identified as typically "American"; (3) Hispanics have the lowest level of educational achievement of any major population group; (4) employed Hispanics are far more likely than other Americans to be among the working poor; (5) Hispanics are more likely than other Americans to contract certain diseases, yet less likely to have access to regular health care; and (6) Hispanics suffer from substantial levels of discrimination in education, employment, and housing, yet receive minimal attention from Federal civil rights enforcement agencies. Included are extensive end notes. (JB)