Hispanic Heritage Month begins tomorrow. It lasts from Septemer 15th to October 15th and the Independence Days of Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua all occur during Hispanic Heritage Month. Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming were all part of Mexico prior to 1836 and 1848, and according to the Census Bureau, there are approximately 60 million Hispanic people in the United States.
Before it the month begins, I want to address the question that someone may be thinking: Why isn't there a month for white people? It's not fair that there is a month for African American and Hispanic people and no month for white people.
As a child, I remember asking my parents why there isn't a "Kid's Day". I reasoned that "Kid's Day" should be a national holiday, just like Mother's Day and Father's Day. My parents explained to me that every day was "Kid's Day", so no national holiday was needed. I don't think I was satisfied with that answer at the time, but looking back, I now understand what my parents meant. Their lives revolved around me and my brother. They spent years changing diapers, feeding us, burping us, and waking up in the middle of the night with us. As we grew up, they took us to school everyday, picked us up from school, made dinner for us, ate with us, and helped us with our homework. They brought us to practices and rehearsals, they were our biggest fans at baseball games, softball games, basketball games, football games, cross country meets, and dance recitals. They made sure we had clean clothes to wear. They called off work when we were sick. In a very real sense, every day was "Kid's Day" for me, and Mother's Day and Father's Day were the two days of the year when my parents were recognized for everything that they did the other 363 days.
I tell that story about "Kid's Day" because it is the best analogy that I can come up with whenever I hear people questioning the validity of Hispanic Heritage Month or Black History Month. The contributions of white people to society are highlighted in history classes in schools across the country every day. Just as there is no need for a special day to celebrate kids, there is no need for a special month to pay tribute to white Americans who have influenced our nation or study their traditions and customs because just as kids are celebrated every day of the year, these heroes have made it to the history books, are often well-known and recognized year round, and their traditions and customs have usually been adopted as the norm across our country. On the other hand, hispanic and black Americans and their stories are often left out of history books or reduced to a few sentences and their customs and traditions remain largely foreign and exotic to mainstream America. Therefore, it is appropriate to take time to learn about and appreciate the history and cultures that are embodied in Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month, just as Mother's Day and Father's Day are appropriate celebrations of people who do not get much credit during the rest of the year.
Remember when the Black Lives Matter movement first began and opposition argued against the movement, insiting that All Lives Matter? The problem with All Lives Matter is not that it is false - all lives do matter, but not all lives are being devalued, dishonored, and degraded. For that reason, it is necessary to specifically state that black lives, the lives that are being ignored, actually matter. Similarly, the existance of Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month do not indicate that the history of white people in America is not important. Rather, these months exist in order to bring our attention to stories that have been erased and ignored.
I am German, British, and Italian. As a non-Hispanic American, I am looking forward to appreciating and celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, not to celebrate my own heritage, but to celebrate and recognize the heritage of my students, my friends, my neighbors, and countless Hispanic people who have contributed to our society in ways that are difficult to quantify. Why do I encourage non-Hispanic people to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month? Here are three of reasons.
It is good to listen to voices and perspectives that are different from your own. This, I believe, is especially true for people like me who can trace their ancestry to Europe, have white skin, and speak English. Our voices and perspectives are all over. Though we may not always agree with everyone who looks like us, we can usually be guaranteed that our thoughts and opinions are represented on television, in entertainment, and in politics. Our traditions and customs are so common and accepted that we don't even think of them as traditions and customs anymore. In these echo chambers that we live in, it is good to listen to different voices, hear different stories, and be exposed to different persepectives. This month is a beautiful opportunity to listen to voices that have been silenced tell stories that have been ignored.
Learning history is a step towards equity. People who look like me have long benefited from systems that oppress others. One way to begin to deconstruct those systems is to learn the history that we have not been taught.
Differences can be celebrated. Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month does not mean taking other people's traditions and customs as your own. You don't have to reject yourself and your culture in order to celebrate another person and their culture. Fully being yourself, you can learn about and appreciate other cultures and traditions, embrace neighbors, and be challenged by perspectives not your own. The untiy that comes from the celebration (not assimilation) of differences validates everyone by preserving diversity.
Before it the month begins, I want to address the question that someone may be thinking: Why isn't there a month for white people? It's not fair that there is a month for African American and Hispanic people and no month for white people.
As a child, I remember asking my parents why there isn't a "Kid's Day". I reasoned that "Kid's Day" should be a national holiday, just like Mother's Day and Father's Day. My parents explained to me that every day was "Kid's Day", so no national holiday was needed. I don't think I was satisfied with that answer at the time, but looking back, I now understand what my parents meant. Their lives revolved around me and my brother. They spent years changing diapers, feeding us, burping us, and waking up in the middle of the night with us. As we grew up, they took us to school everyday, picked us up from school, made dinner for us, ate with us, and helped us with our homework. They brought us to practices and rehearsals, they were our biggest fans at baseball games, softball games, basketball games, football games, cross country meets, and dance recitals. They made sure we had clean clothes to wear. They called off work when we were sick. In a very real sense, every day was "Kid's Day" for me, and Mother's Day and Father's Day were the two days of the year when my parents were recognized for everything that they did the other 363 days.
I tell that story about "Kid's Day" because it is the best analogy that I can come up with whenever I hear people questioning the validity of Hispanic Heritage Month or Black History Month. The contributions of white people to society are highlighted in history classes in schools across the country every day. Just as there is no need for a special day to celebrate kids, there is no need for a special month to pay tribute to white Americans who have influenced our nation or study their traditions and customs because just as kids are celebrated every day of the year, these heroes have made it to the history books, are often well-known and recognized year round, and their traditions and customs have usually been adopted as the norm across our country. On the other hand, hispanic and black Americans and their stories are often left out of history books or reduced to a few sentences and their customs and traditions remain largely foreign and exotic to mainstream America. Therefore, it is appropriate to take time to learn about and appreciate the history and cultures that are embodied in Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month, just as Mother's Day and Father's Day are appropriate celebrations of people who do not get much credit during the rest of the year.
Remember when the Black Lives Matter movement first began and opposition argued against the movement, insiting that All Lives Matter? The problem with All Lives Matter is not that it is false - all lives do matter, but not all lives are being devalued, dishonored, and degraded. For that reason, it is necessary to specifically state that black lives, the lives that are being ignored, actually matter. Similarly, the existance of Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month do not indicate that the history of white people in America is not important. Rather, these months exist in order to bring our attention to stories that have been erased and ignored.
I am German, British, and Italian. As a non-Hispanic American, I am looking forward to appreciating and celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, not to celebrate my own heritage, but to celebrate and recognize the heritage of my students, my friends, my neighbors, and countless Hispanic people who have contributed to our society in ways that are difficult to quantify. Why do I encourage non-Hispanic people to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month? Here are three of reasons.
It is good to listen to voices and perspectives that are different from your own. This, I believe, is especially true for people like me who can trace their ancestry to Europe, have white skin, and speak English. Our voices and perspectives are all over. Though we may not always agree with everyone who looks like us, we can usually be guaranteed that our thoughts and opinions are represented on television, in entertainment, and in politics. Our traditions and customs are so common and accepted that we don't even think of them as traditions and customs anymore. In these echo chambers that we live in, it is good to listen to different voices, hear different stories, and be exposed to different persepectives. This month is a beautiful opportunity to listen to voices that have been silenced tell stories that have been ignored.
Learning history is a step towards equity. People who look like me have long benefited from systems that oppress others. One way to begin to deconstruct those systems is to learn the history that we have not been taught.
Differences can be celebrated. Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month does not mean taking other people's traditions and customs as your own. You don't have to reject yourself and your culture in order to celebrate another person and their culture. Fully being yourself, you can learn about and appreciate other cultures and traditions, embrace neighbors, and be challenged by perspectives not your own. The untiy that comes from the celebration (not assimilation) of differences validates everyone by preserving diversity.
I wish Hispanic Heritage Month did not have to exist because I wish Hispanic voices and cultures were celebrated, appreciated, and recognized everyday. But at the same time I am very grateful that Hispanic Heritage Month does exist and I look forward to the opportunity to center voices that are usually marginalized, to learn instead of teach, and to listen instead of talk. I invite you to join me, and to continue ever after October 15th has passed.
Now that this blog post is almost over, where should you start? There are so many places to begin. I have some recommendations. When you are done reading them, stop listening to me and find some Hispanic voices with stories to tell. Visit a store or restaurant where Spanish is the dominant language. Try a dish you haven't tried before. Attend a local Hispanic Heritage Month celebration (shameless plug: there is one at TF South on October 15th from 4:00 to 6:00). Go to the National Museum of Mexican Art or the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture (did you know that both of those are here in Chicago?). Read the words of Esther Cepeda and Erika Sanchez. Learn about the stories of Oscar Romero, Cesar Chavez, and Frida Kahlo. Listen to the voices of Dolores Huerta, Sylvia Mendez, and Rigoberta Menchu. Whatever you do, listen, celebrate, and appreciate.
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