Have you heard of Hispanic Heritage Month (拉美裔文化月)? We break down this monthlong celebration from September 15 to October 15 that recognizes the different Hispanic community in the United States and the varied and meaningful contributions they bring to our country and culture.
According to the Hispanic Heritage Month (拉美裔文化月) official website, it is observed "by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America". For generations, Hispanics have contributed to the food, music, business, science, and culture that we know as American, and the 30 days that make up Hispanic Heritage Month each fall is just one opportunity to show these achievements.
Hispanics are the country's second-largest racial group, behind white non-Hispanics according to the latest 2020 census (普查). Hispanics now account for 18.7 percent of the U.S. population, up 2.4 percent in the previous decade with 62.1 million Hispanics living across America with big concentrations in New York, California, Texas and Florida.
Hispanic Heritage Month first started as a week when it was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. According to Congressional history, the week was created to bring attention and awareness to "Hispanic-American contributions to the United States", along with networking opportunities for "grassroots and civil rights activists inside and outside the Hispanic-American community".
Almost 20 years later, Representative Esteban Torres of California, a proud Mexican-American, gave a bill to expand it into Hispanic Heritage Month saying supporters of the bill "want the American people to learn of our heritage. We want the public to know that we share a legacy (遗产) with the rest of the country, a legacy that includes artists, writers, Olympic champions, and leaders in business, government, cinema, and science". That bill didn't pass, but Senator Paul Simon of Illinois gave a similar bill that President Ronald Reagan signed into law after that in 1988 creating now what Hispanic Heritage Month is.
