From September 15 to October 15, Hispanic and Latino food, music and history take center stage — gearing up for a month-long celebration of culture and traditions.
In Gainesville, where about 12% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, Hispanic Heritage Month is focused on embracing the rich Hispanic and Latino culture within the community. But among the celebrations, there is also reflection on the history of colonialism in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Kaylinn Escobar, a 20-year-old public health junior at UF who is Colombian-American, said she feels like the term “Hispanic” generalizes Latino cultures and trivializes the history and customs the month is supposed to honor.
Hispanic Heritage Month was first established as a week-long observance by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, which former President Ronald Reagan later extended to the entire month in 1988. September 15, the date of at the beginning of the month, coincides with independence days for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Because of this focus on Latin American countries gaining independence from Spain, Escobar said there should be more emphasis on Latin culture in the month’s celebration — rather than colonizing nations.
“The fact that they include them in the dialogue makes it an injustice,” she said.
An excellent starting point for understanding Latino culture is access to Latino history within educational institutions, Escobar said, in addition to schools that encourage discussion of the relationship between Latin American countries and the US.
Exposure to the background behind the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month can also help individuals understand how it can be interpreted as inclusive or exclusive, she said.
“Hispanic as a term might be inclusive for me, but it’s not for a lot of people,” Escobar said. “I think Latino, Latinx, and Latina is a better term just to encompass specific Latin American countries — that geographic area and the perspectives and cultures from there.”
But for others, the term Hispanic is not only inclusive of their identity and culture, but also of the language necessary to understand Latin America’s complicated post-independence history.
Cinthya Gaxiola, the 31-year-old English and citizenship class coordinator for the Gainesville chapter of the League of Latina Women, said she identifies as Hispanic because of her background. Gaxiola, who is Mexican-American, said her last name is of Spanish origin, her native language is Spanish and her physical appearance resembles that of European and indigenous ancestry.
The word “Hispanic” is part of history, she said, and it’s important to acknowledge that history to understand how colonialism has affected Latino heritage.
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“It is painful, but necessary for us to come to terms with it and learn from it,” said Gaxiola.
Further, Gaxiola said he feels like the term “Hispanic” creates a unity between different cultures and countries — transcending geography. It is bittersweet that what binds Hispanic people is a language that was forced upon their indigenous ancestors, she said, leaving remnants of colonialism in the people’s culture.
Although Gaxiola feels represented as Hispanic, she said she understands why members of Latinx communities may not share her experiences.
“I can see how other people might feel that it excludes them, especially if they’re gender fluid or a member of the LGBTQ community,” she said.
Sofi-Nicole Barreiro, a second-year master’s student specializing in Latino and transnational studies at UF’s Center for Latin American Studies, said she sees Hispanic as exclusive to many identities, including her own. Barreiro, 24, said she dislikes the term Hispanic and uses Latino to describe her identity, though she admires the inclusion offered by the term Latinx.
Labels and terms transform over time and are often limited to certain parts of history, Barreiro said.
Hispanic as an identity term, she said, was popularized by the US Census Bureau, community organizers and Spanish-language media during the 1970s and 1980s in order to collect more data on the population. In 1980, the bureau asked the entire nation about their Hispanic ethnicity for the first time.
Terms like Hispanic, Latino and Latino are appropriate in different situations depending on the context, Barreiro said. In an academic setting, she said, it’s important to emphasize inclusivity based on gender and language, which is something the term Latinx can achieve.
“I think identity has a lot to do with the terms we use and feel comfortable using,” Barreiro said.
It’s also important to understand the migration histories of the Latino and Hispanic populations who immigrated to the U.S., Barreiro said. These populations are not a monolithic group, she said — they have different cultures and motivations for leaving their countries of origin.
Barreiro said there is a lack of education on Latino history and the contributions of Latino individuals in the US
“The Latino experience in the United States is largely about … asserting your identity as someone who is not necessarily a white person in the United States — but someone who has a more ethno-racial background,” she said.
Contact Isabella Marzban at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @IsabellaMarzban.
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Isabella Marzban is a fourth-year journalism major and a street reporter for The Alligator. You’ll usually find her going hiking, listening to classic rock on her CD, and doing yoga with her friends.
