The Importance of Hispanic Heritage Month

Alex Fidanovski '21, Staff Writer

From September 15th to October 15, the United States of America honors the Hispanic community as it explores the language, culture, historical figures, and traditions from areas all over the world. This yearly celebration dates back to 1968 when Congress created Hispanic Heritage week but in the year 1988, the week expanded to a month.

There are certain things to pay attention to this month as we dive into the historical and current events of these cultures. For one, the Hispanic population has increased by nearly ten million, making that a 2% increase from 2015-2019. Now the Hispanic population in the United States stands at roughly 18% of the population. In addition to population, the education rate has dramatically increased over the years. Hispanic adults from ages 25 and older have received more educational opportunities in the past years and have graduated with higher degrees.

As the years progress and education becomes more readily available to the LatinX community, communities are learning how to speak English more proficiently. Fluent speakers have increased from 59% in 2000 to 71% in 2018. This increase is extremely dramatic as 37% of Latinx immigrants spoke Spanish in 1980. In recent years, four in five Latins are citizens of the United States of America, making them eligible voters. From the year 2016 to 2020 the number of eligible Latinx voters has increased considerably from 27.3 million to 32 million.

Today, there are roughly 7.5 Latinx immigrants who have become eligible voters. These are some of the most recent and prevalent accomplishments of Latinos in the United States of America. However, during this month, it is important to remind oneself of the history, traditions, and culture behind each individual community. This month is dedicated to highlighting particular achievements that have shown importance over the last few years but let’s not forget the historical significance of Hispanic culture.