Hispanic Heritage Month. In places like Texas and New York where Hispanics, aka Latinos, comprise a sizable minority, those words resound with meaning. In Maryland, where Hispanics constitute 6 percent of the total population, those words often bring a smirk, a raised eyebrow, a question mark. What Hispanic heritage?
Over the years, starting under the administration of former Mayor Kurt Schmoke, I?ve been fortunate to speak on Hispanic issues ? our history, our challenges and successes. Inevitably, the question always arises ? “What does it mean to be Hispanic?” And, more importantly, in an age where globalism reigns, “Does any one really care?”
We care to the same extent as those who celebrate other ethnic festivals-the Irish, Greek, German, Ukrainian, Polish and Italian among them. They are some of the first immigrants in Baltimore City to make their mark.
Hispanics are not new to this nation, of course. One need only look at the history of Texas or California to know not all Hispanics are recent immigrants. It is also important to know that the term Hispanic does not constitute an ethnic definition, but a way to identify those who share a common language.
Those who prefer to use the moniker Latino say they want to include their indigenous and/or African heritage.
In a society that seeks to label everything neatly, Hispanics/Latinos prove to be a challenge. Socio-economically and educationally, we are as diverse as any other community and ? research shows ? like other immigrants ? later generations surpass their parents and grandparents economically. Better educated immigrants also fare better than immigrants who may have farmed their own land and who, with changing economies and loss of land in their own countries, migrated north for better job opportunities.
Ethnically, our diversity is also highlighted by the range of ?looks? among Hispanics-from the more European, white-skinned Hispanics, to those who clearly bespeak their indigenous or African heritage.
Whether we are professors teaching at a local college, business entrepreneurs, community advocates, construction workers or house cleaners, Hispanics/Latinos share a common language and culture dating back to the Spanish conquistadors and their subsequent descendants in all of the 21 nations that, combined, make up Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain.
Even Argentina, whose population is largely European, shares Spanish.
So, what do we celebrate every year from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15?
We celebrate our shared history ? whatever our background-our shared language and our shared cultural values.
And we also celebrate the struggle of arriving in a new world and working hard to achieve a better life, whether going from Cuban refugee to successful doctor, or from Central American or Mexican construction worker to the father of a son, or daughter, on his or her way to surpassing his or her parents? education and perspective on the world. We also celebrate a new life-and ? one hopes ? a new attitude toward one another that is truly inclusive.
Whether it?s the Argentine professor of Jewish background, or the Spanish advocate or Peruvian social worker working with victims of domestic violence, we all come together and sit at the table, at least for the duration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
It is a month meant to highlight our common bonds and a month designed to tell the world ? we are here, have been here and will continue to be part of the fabric of this great nation.
Haydee Rodriguez is a freelance writer living in Baltimore City. She holds a juris doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law. She can be reached at [email protected].
