ilSilM
STAFF EDITORIAL
not a race,
but a box no one fits in
HOW WE SEE IT
“Race” and “ethnicity” are not interchangeable, nor are
“Hispanic” and “Latino”
Hispanics are currently the
largest ethnic minority. According
to the U.S. Census Bureau as of
2017, roughly 58 million people
in the United States identify as
Hispanic - about 18 percent of
the total population. But racially,
Hispanics almost don’t exist in the
United States.
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 37
percent of Latinos checked off
their race as “some other race”
and wrote in responses such as
“Hispanic” or “Latin American.”
That’s because Hispanics more
often than not don’t feel as if they
fit into just one of the six cate
gories of race broken down on
the Census. These categories are
defined as “White,” “Black or Afri
can American,” “American Indian
or Alaskan Native,” “Asian” and
“Native Hawaiian or other Pacific
Islander.” How Hispanics tend
to define “race” is a little more
ambiguous than these categories
allow.
In a Pew Research study
conducted in 2015, two-thirds of
Hispanic adults attribute their ra
cial background to their Hispanic
background. Within that statistic,
56 percent of Hispanic adults con
sider their Hispanic background
as part of both their racial and
ethnic background.
Hispanic identity could not
be more complicated if it tried.
The term “Hispanic” is tied to
language and typically means a
person can tie their heritage back
to a Spanish-speaking country.
Latino or Latina identity means
someone has ties to one of the
33 countries that make up Latin
America, including those in the
Caribbean and North and South
America. Spain would be con
sidered Hispanic but not Latino.
Brazil would fall into the Latino
identity but would not be consid
ered Hispanic since its national
language is Portuguese.
In other countries, when His
panics are asked how they identify,
they will most likely answer with
their nationality. It isn’t until com
ing to the United States that the
answer would change to Hispanic
or Latino.
The U.S. has time and time
again pushed a specific image of
what a Hispanic- or Latino-iden
tifying person is supposed to look
like. If someone were asked to
identify a Hispanic celebrity, they
would probably name Modern
Family’s Sofia Vergara before nam
ing someone like Zoe Saldana,
who identifies as Afro-Latina.
Hispanics are entirely too
multifaceted to be pushed into
one box, united by a multitude of
ethnicities rather than race. His
panic Heritage Month is a time for
Hispanics and Latinos to not have
to worry about the mold the rest
of the United States is trying to fit
them in. Rather, it’s a time for His
panics to celebrate their ethnicity
and national identity.
HISPANIC
CAMPUS VOICES-SPAIN
Hispanic Heritage Month: A time of reflection and celebrai
ENGLISH
ESPANOL
Diana Prieto
Viiias
Assistant Director of
the Spanish Center in
the CREDE
@elonnewsnetwnrk
Hispanic Heritage Month begins
each year on Sept. 15. celebrating
the anniversary of independence of
Costa Rica, El Salvador. Guatemala.
Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexi
co, Chile and Belize also celebrate
their independence days during
the month. This annual obser
vance is a time for reflection and
honor the generations of Latinx/
Hispanics who have positively
influenced, shaped and enriched
this nation and society. This year,
the Elon Community will have the
opportunity to explore and im
merse themselves into the Latinx/
Hispanic cultures and identities
through panel discussions, films,
lectures, music, art, cuisine, sports
and much more.
Over the last few years, Hispanic
Heritage Months events at Elon
University have moved from con
sideration of the historical to the
contemporary, from the way things
were to the way things are now and
shifting to the way things could
be. Hence, we are all challenged to
seize the opportunities we have as
members of our campus commu
nity to get the conversation going,
to learn about cultures other than
our own and to learn about the
contributions of those who share a
different skin color than ours.
It is important to celebrate
Hispanic Heritage Month at Elon
to learn about other cultures that
will help us expands our horizons
and will allow us to better under
stand those who are around us. We
do this because our increasingly
diverse community shows us the
importance of how to communi
cate with each other in a respectful
way.
Furthermore, celebrating His
panic Heritage Month makes a pos
itive impact not only in all the Elon
student population but specially
in our Latinx/Hispanic students.
Why? In the same way that learning
about the founders of this country
instills pride in American students,
learning about the contributions
of Hispanic ancestors increases
our Hispanic/Latinx student’s
identity development by mak
ing them proud of the role their
cultural heritage has played in the
formation of this country. Latinx/
Hispanic students need to see their
own faces reflected in the history
of this country because it creates a
connection between them and the
past, and it motivates them to start
thinking about how they can also
contribute and make a difference
themselves.
Hispanic heritage is American
heritage and we need to find a path
that includes all people of every
background on the journey to a
more inclusive country. Thus, let’s
use this month as an opportunity
to become more educated about
Hispanic heritage and how it is
reflected within America.
El Mes de la Herencia Hispana
empieza cada ano el 15 de septiem-
bre, celebrando el aniversario de
la independencia de los palses de
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras y Nicaragua. Mexico,
Chile y Belice tambien celebran sus
dias de independencia durante este
mes.
Esta conmemoracion anual es un
momento de reflexion y honor a las
generaciones de hispanos y latinos
que han formado, influenciado
positivamente y enriquecido a esta
nacion y sociedad. Este ano, la co-
munidad de Elon University tendra
la oportunidad de explorar y sum-
ergirse en las culturas e identidades
de los hispanos y latinos a traves de
paneles de dialogo, peliculas, con-
ferencias, musica, arte, gastronomla,
deportesymucho mas.
En los ultimos anos, los eventos
que han tenido lugar en Elon han
pasado de ser un reconocimiento de
lo historico a lo contemporaneo. For
eso, todos nosotros tenemos el reto
de aprovechar las oportunidades que
tenemos como miembros de esta
universidad para educarnos sobre
las contribuciones de aquellos que
comparten un color de piel diferente
al nuestro.
Es importante celebrar el Mes de
a Herencia Hispana en Elon para
aprender sobre otras culturas que
nos ayudaran a expandir nuestros
horizontes y nos permitiran entend-
er mejor a aquellos que nos rodean.
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en nuestra comunidadnos®
la importancia de comocoi®
aros entre nosotros deiuiac
respetuosa.
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Herencia Hispana tieneunfc
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la diferencia. . .
La herencia hispana es
americana y necesitafflosen
un camino que incluyaa
personas de diferentes con
un viaje hacia un pais mas
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como todo ello esta
propia America.