Once again we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month which was established to highlight the contributions of Americans who have roots in Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Spanish-speaking nations of the Caribbean.
According to the Office of Arts and Archives of the United States House of Representatives, this celebration dates back to President Lyndon B. Johnson, who designated the week of September 15th as National Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968.
To encourage the adoption of this celebration, six years later, President Gerald R. Ford issued a proclamation in 1974 urging schools and human rights organizations to fully participate in that week.
Two decades later, on August 17, 1988, President Ronald Reagan reiterated Ford’s call for broader recognition of Americans of Hispanic origin and to this end, Congress approved Law 100-402, which extended the celebration for a period of 31 days which was called National Hispanic Heritage Month – from September 15th to October 15th.
Since then, this month has given the Hispanic, Latino or whatever community you prefer to call it, the opportunity for the rest of Americans to know the contributions they have made to society.
In this particular year, the celebration occurs at a particularly delicate moment because the migrant community has been used as a flag to win votes by one of the candidates for the presidency of the United States.
In the attempt to use them as scapegoats for all the evils that occur in the United States, it has been said that migrants contaminate the blood of this country, that they are guilty of crimes and homicides and that they even eat pets in a town of Ohio.
In this “demonization” of migrants, there is a risk of further polarizing society and of migrants becoming the target of hate crimes.
During this month we also celebrate ordinary people, like you and me, who have come to this country to contribute their efforts to make a more prosperous and powerful country.
