by The Rev. Omar Rodriguez De la O
Associate Priest for Community Life at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
As you read this e-news, Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close. An important month for Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. A month that also serves as a reminder to non-Hispanics of the work that still needs to be done and the ongoing challenges that the Hispanic/Latino communities face. Let us go over quickly about its origins and today’s challenges that Hispanic people face.
Hispanic Heritage Month began as a week of celebration in 1968, under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. But it wasn’t until 1988 that the United States Congress enacted legislation that expanded the celebration to a full month, from September 15 to October 15. To highlight the significant contributions that Hispanics and Latinos have made to American history and culture, such as crucial advocacy work, vivid art, and popular traditional food, among other things. Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates how Hispanics/Latinos have played an important role in American history since the War of Independence, and even before Spain invaded parts of what is now the United States hundreds of years ago. The Treaties of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Paris, signed during the Mexican-American and Spanish-American Wars, granted the United States Puerto Rico and sections of the southwest. The number of Hispanic Americans rose as a result of these populations’ relocation to the United States.
This month also has special meaning because it marks the independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Although the independence of these countries is celebrated, as a Puerto Rican, I continue to advocate for my island’s freedom and independence from US colonialism. As I already stated, the United States has owned it since the Spanish-American War. The self-determination of Puerto Rico is an issue that creates controversies with Puerto Ricans, inside and outside the island, a topic that we could address another day.
The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month represents the identity and perseverance of these Hispanic countries. But we must remember that Hispanic Heritage Month is more than just commemorating a homogenous group’s culture; it is also about acknowledging the enormous variety within the Hispanic community in the United States. That includes people from different countries of origin, each having their own language, traditions, and cultures. And just as these countries independence is celebrated during Hispanic Heritage Month, this month is also a time for us as Hispanic Latinos to highlight the struggle for our own independence of who we are with our many traditions and what we share as Hispanics within this nation and its institutions, in particular the church.
When I talk about our independence, I mean that as a Hispanic/Laino community, we have been eaten up by the dominant white culture, and in some ways, we have lost our identities and sense of uniqueness. Because we are bound by an outlook that fails to represent our realities and who we are. This happens both inside and outside of the church. But because this occurs outside the church, the church must adequately address the Hispanic and Latino communities as part of our Christian meaning.
And how will we accomplish this? We must first understand the difference between working for and with Hispanics. One of the reasons for the Hispanic ministry’s struggle and lack of growth is that the church chooses to work for them rather than with them, employing white American methods, beliefs, and programs that have proven unsuccessful. If we truly care about Hispanic communities, we need to engage with them in a new way.
As an example, include Hispanics in every effort, strategy, or plan that concerns them. Invite Latinos and Hispanics to speak at our local churches about our needs, heritage, culture, and how we worship and see God in the Hispanic community, not just during Hispanic Heritage Month, but throughout the year. Allow Hispanics/Latinos to speak for themselves. We Hispanics know ourselves better than anybody else, so let them work with their own ideas. The Church will be able to understand Hispanics better and provide unique and improved results if we let this happen.
Hispanics and Latinos are becoming a growing minority in our neighborhoods, which is shifting our demography. Is the Church ready for this demographic shift in our communities? To effectively engage this growing community in our neighborhoods where the church is located, it is crucial to consider all of this whether or not our local church has a Latino/Hispanic ministry. Let’s close out Hispanic Heritage Month by using it as the beginning of an advocacy for the struggles the Hispanic-Latino community goes through throughout the year inside and outside of the church. Let us open our doors and learn about the realities that exist outside of our ideas, acknowledging that Hispanic Latinos are also members of the church, each with their own identity. Let’s provide them their independence and release them from American stereotypes that don’t reflect their true selves. because we often approach the Hispanic/Latino community from a colonial perspective, colonizing their thoughts and ideas.
