What It Means to be a Hispanic

Celebrating The National Hispanic Heritage Month

The world is becoming more and more diversified. This means, now more than ever, people have the opportunity to learn about each other’s culture and value system.

This month, we have a great opportunity to learn about the Hispanic culture during the National Hispanic Heritage Month which is actually observed in the United States from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. This is a time to take a back seat and celebrate the histories, cultures, victories, progress, and contributions of the American people of Hispanic descent (People from Spain, Mexico, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, according to the Library of Congress.)

As important as it is to acknowledge the Juneteenth Celebrations or the 4th of July celebrations the National Hispanic Heritage Month carries the same weight. Every year going into the National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, I am reminded of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s words when proclaiming the first National Hispanic Heritage week in 1968.

This is what he had to say;

“The people of Hispanic descent are the heirs of missionaries, captains, soldiers and farmers who were motivated by a young spirit of adventure, and a desire to settle freely in a free land.”

He goes on to add, “This heritage is ours.”

What I love about these statements is the fact that the president is acknowledging that America belongs to every one of us, it doesn’t matter how you landed in this beautiful country. As long as you identify as American you have as much right as everyone else.

Ever since the proclamation of this celebration, much of the debate has been centered around what being “Hispanic” actually means. I have seen questions like “who the term hispanic identifies” been deliberated from time to time. Lately, the debate has been whether terms such as “latino,” Latina” or Latinx” are more appropriate than Hispanic.

To clear off this dust, legislation from the 70s tried to clusterize what belongs as Hispanic and with some accuracy.

The legislations defined Hispanics as people from Spanish speaking countries and backgrounds.

But, the U.S. Census Bureau has a different definition and approach as to who qualifies as a Hispanic. The Bureau defines a Hispanic as any person who identifies themselves as Hispanic and using this definition or model, it estimates that there are about 62.1 million Hispanics in the United States as of 2020 and percentage wise, thats about 19% of the total population.

Basically, it is important to look at the term “Hispanic” as one ethnicity and not merely one’s race. Going by this definition, then it is clear that the term would apply to all people from all walks of life and from various backgrounds and not from a certain part of the world.

Going into the National Hispanic Heritage Month, it is important to understand there isnt any one right way to be a Hispanic person. Rather, it a collection of people from various walks of life and from different countries that mostly share a common language.

I think rather than having our own definitions of who we think qualifies as Hispanic, its best getting the definition from the people themselves. Therefore, why dont you take your time and get to experience what it truly means to be hispanic this month and get what people who already identify as Hispanic think Hispanics should be? This should be the best time of the year to get to know your Hispanic neighbor, ask them about their identity, their culture, it is the best time to learn from them for a better understanding of who Hispanics are.

Sources

https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/ https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2021/09/25/pbss-haas-visits-purduenational-hispanic-heritage-month/5865416001/ https://www.joplinglobe.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-celebratenational-hispanic-heritage-month/article_11dc0894-1d51-11ec-a43bbb4dc55b8ae1.html