10/15/2003 - Opinion

Flores:Hispanic Heritage Month should be recognized

by Lucas Flores
October 14, 2003

I was given an assignment to write a pa-per about the history of my family, and I began thinking about my Hispanic heritage.

Then, I read that Hispanic Heritage Month was every year from Sept. 15 until Oct. 15.


I wondered why I had never really learned about Hispanic culture or history except from stories my grandparents had told me.


Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chávez, Ellen Ochoa, Severo Ochoa, Rita Moreno and Dr. Carlos Finlay are just a few names you have probably never heard in your life, right?


You may be thinking, those names sound Spanish?


And, you would be right.


We should be celebrating these and other Hispanics like them right now, since it is Hispanic Heritage Month.


Now do not get me wrong, this is not an attack on Black History Month, which is very celebrated every February.


If you can remember high school and even elementary school, you would probably remember every February we learned about Eli Whitney and Martin Luther King Jr., but do you remember ever learning about Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez or Dr. Carlos Finlay?


It is very strange how much you never learn in school.


For instance, you learn about segregation and how blacks were treated, but my grandparents, and even my parents, have told me about how they and other "Mexicans," as they were called had to sit at the back of classrooms.


In fact my mother and her sisters were not allowed to enroll at a certain school in Lubbock because of their race.


My grandparents fought to allow their children to attend the same schools as the children around them.


Cesar Chavez was one of the most famous Hispanic leaders of protest. With his friend and colleague Dolores Huerta, he founded the United Farm Workers of America. Together they led farm workers in protests and boycotts so that these same farm workers would be treated fairly and have better working conditions.


Some people even compare their struggles to those of Martin Luther King Jr.


Many Hispanic accomplishments have gone unnoticed.


Today we should recognize these many accomplishments.


For example, Dr. Carlos Finlay was the first person to solve the mystery of what caused yellow fever, but no one would believe him that mosquitoes carried the disease because he could not prove it.


Hispanic heritage became lost in the mix. Hispanics did not fit in to the visible spectrum.


We are not black or white and are generally forgotten. Race relations have been like the television -- multi-color came into the mix after a long period of purely black and white.


Our struggles and accomplishments were not as publicized as others, but they are just as important.


Hispanics have contributed a lot, and some time this month you should see what we have done for us all.


If anyone takes a little time to learn about Hispanic heritage, then Hispanic Heritage Month has served its purpose to make everyone more aware of Hispanic contributions.

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