Hispanic Heritage Month

Annually, the United States celebrates its Hispanic people during the national Hispanic Heritage Month. Starting September 15, the same day as central American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua declared their independence from Spain in 1821, people come together to celebrate their Hispanic Heritage, learn more about it, and host fun events to honor the month.  

This year, 2025, the theme is “Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future”. In honor of the past and spreading information about Hispanic Culture, we’re going to take a walk through Hispanic history in the United States.  

History

Following the Alamo, in 1863, Texas gained independence from Mexico and was eventually annexed into the United States. The annexation of Texas, however, sparked controversy that was the Mexican-American War. This dispute arose because Mexico had not considered Texas as independent, rather, they considered Texas as a Mexican territory the US was taking away from them. The war lasted two years (1844-1846) and ended with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which allowed the United States to expand its borders to the Pacific Ocean, gaining parts of what is now: Colorado, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. This event led to the first big population boom of Hispanic people in the United States, as many of the Mexican people decided to stay in their territories and become American citizens.  

However, in the 19^th century, Americans were fueled by Manifest Destiny fervor and had an Anglo-Saxonism ideal which only fueled their racism and discrimination. Particularly towards the new Hispanic population as news of gold in California was telephoned around America. During the gold rush, Anglo people drove out Hispanic miners and population around the gold mines.  

Another big population boom happened in the heart of WW2 in 1942. Due to a national agricultural labor shortage due to the war, the United States government encouraged Mexican people (who had previously been the target of deportation) to work legally in the United States under the Bracero Program, which brought in around 5 million Braceros to work in U.S. The Bracero Program promised to protect Braceros from discrimination and low wages; however, they were still treated unjustly. The program even got banned in Texas by Mexico because of the amount of maltreatment-including lynching of Mexican people. 

Following WW2, people of Hispanic heritage joined the civil rights movement. The Chicano movement, led by Cesar Chaves, was formed to reject assimilation, unfair discrimination, and ask for rights for farm workers and their right to education. This movement gave rise to Chicano art and zoot suits, and they succeeded in their fight. In 1947, Mendez v Westminster made it to the Supreme Court and not only stopped the segregation of white and Mexican schools in California but acted as a precedent to the more well-known Brown v Board of Education. Shortly after this, a second monumental case was brought to the Supreme Court: Hernandez v Texas, in which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hernandez, thus guaranteeing equal protection to Mexican-Americans as well as all other nationality groups under the 14^th amendment.  

Nonetheless, many people of Hispanic heritage continue to face discrimination in the United States. Which is why it is ever more important to continue to support and learn about different cultures.  

Here in our community, KUMC hosts events for Hispanic and Latinx Heritage month, with a Hispanic and Latin cultural food presentation and demonstration coming up on October 4^th from 9-11:30 a.m. Additionally, a Hispanic Heritage month celebration is coming up on Wednesday October 8^th from 6-8 pm in Overland Park, held by the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center.  

• #HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
• #history
• #holidays