Let’s End “Hispanic” Heritage Month
Language matters…let’s end Hispanic Heritage Month once and for all.
Every year from September 15 to October 15, businesses, government agencies, and schools across the United States take to social media to honor Latinae cultures, histories, and people. A diverse and expansive community, Latinae is an umbrella term that refers to the people of Latin America and our descendants. Hailing from South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Latinae individuals proudly claim many different nationalities, languages, and ethnicities. However, the official government title for the thirty day cultural celebration spanning mid September to mid October is National Hispanic Heritage Month, a name that ultimately fails to recognize the breadth of the Latinae community.
To appreciate the shortcomings of this name, it’s important to understand the meaning of the word “Hispanic.” According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term is “relating to Spain or to Spanish-speaking countries, especially those of Central and South America.” In short, Spain—or a direct relation to the country’s influence—is at the heart of the term. When we use the term “Hispanic” to refer to all Latinae people in the United States, we highlight a country that colonized much of Latin America for centuries, resulting in an erasure of culture and generational trauma for millions of individuals. The term also elevates a proximity to Whiteness as ideal by omitting recognition of Indigenous, Brazilian, and Afro-Latinae people.
It isn’t surprising that the United States uses a term steeped in a colonial-settler mindset as a blanket term for Latinae people, but it is a problem. Recognizing Spain’s influence on culture is one thing, but celebrating the colonizing country by forcing Latinae individuals to accept the term “Hispanic” is a much bigger issue. The federal government’s use of this term to identify a heritage month that celebrates all Latinae people, allows too many outside of the Latinae community confuse the two terms, erroneously believing that “Hispanic” and “Latinae” are interchangeable. This contributes to assumptions that all Latin American countries hold similar cultures and beliefs, when that isn’t the case at all.
In the United States, many of the observations around National Hispanic Heritage Month focus on Mexican history and culture while ignoring the unique contributions of other Latin American countries and people. The influence of Spanish colonization has created a number of similarities in Latin American cultures, but there are also many distinctions in language, cuisine, music, religion, and folk dances. Too often these differences are ignored, denying many Latinae residents in the United States an opportunity to celebrate their culture during a heritage month meant to uplift them.
The use of the word “Hispanic” by the federal government also suggests that all Latinae people have a relation to Spain, when many do not and see the Spanish colonization of Latin America as a time of great loss. This aids in the creation of stereotypes about what a Latinae person looks or sounds like, meaning that across the United States, people are blind to the physical diversity within the Latinae community. Cardi B and Sophia Vergara are both Latinae women, though the media celebrates Vergara’s Latin American ancestry in a way that is often absent in coverage of Cardi.
So what should we be calling the thirty days when the United States is invited to reflect on the contributions and history of Latinae people? It would be ideal to replace “Hispanic” with a more inclusive term like “Latino,” “Latinae,” or “Latinx.” While “Latino” is more traditional, newer terms “Latinae” and “Latinx” seek to create a gender-neutral option, creating a term that champions inclusion beyond geological and cultural differences. These new terms give us an opportunity to create a national understanding that centers the beautifully diverse nature of the Latinae community. Notably, these terms also exclude a proximity to Spain and Euro-centric culture, redirecting the focus to geography and allowing traditional, indigenous, and mixed ancestries to shine.
Language is forever evolving, and I’m not opposed to continuing to adjust the name of National Hispanic Heritage Month as our needs change. However, “Hispanic” is a term whose time has long passed. For the federal government to make the decision to change the name now would spark much-needed conversation, helping to expand the visibility of the people the holiday seeks to recognize. Ultimately, a new name would allow the United States to truly celebrate its Latinae residents and our beautifully varied heritage.
