Hispanic heritage month:

Starting Sept. 15 and going through Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, which started back in 1968, a month of significance for the largest minority in the U.S.

As a part of the aforementioned minority, it would be natural that I join in the festivities and celebration of a very bright and diverse culture.
But I don’t.

I honestly didn’t find out about Hispanic Heritage Month until last year. It was never a priority for me because I’ve hardly ever identified as Hispanic. Or Latino. Or even Mexican. Yet, I am all of those things.

You see, I’m half Mexican and half Sicilian and I was not raised in what one might consider a typical Mexican-American upbringing. I never spoke Spanish, either at home or at school, because English is my first and, currently, only language.

My mother, who is the second generation of our family to be born in the U.S., brought me up in what anyone would consider to be typical white middle class suburbia. My friends, who were almost all white, would refer to me as

“whitewashed” because I fit none of the stereotypes of Mexicans. For all intents and purposes, I’m white with a nice year-round olive tan.

To celebrate what little festivity I feel towards my heritage, I generally: look at paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera, listen to The Mars Volta and watch “La Bamba”. These pinpoints of culture hold value to me because they showcase the brighter points of Hispanics in the last couple of hundred years.

I also make a habit of seeking out the best Mexican food I can. No Taco Bell or Del Taco here, I’m talking taking a leap of faith and eating at the mobile taco trucks. It’s definitely a risk, but the food tastes great. Once a year, I’ll also make a pilgrimage to the waterfront during Cinco de Mayo, but I do my upmost to get my authentic food and split.

But with all the stereotyping and passive discrimination I’ve heard heaped on Mexicans, while at times holding a kernel of truth, has always made me uncomfortable; partly because I’m part Mexican and many of the people who’ve said disparaging things about Mexicans seem to forget that. Also because I sometimes agree with them.

I think it is important for immigrants to speak English, to make an effort to learn the customs and to incorporate American culture into their own. Not to strip away their identity, but to make life easier for them and their families in a new country.

My point to all this personal rambling? Diversity increasingly comes in new and, dare I say, diverse forms. I may be ethnically different from the majority of people, yet the way I act is in line with the ethnic majority, the white folks. Growing up, I wasn’t aware that I was any different.

Yet, as I became older and more aware, I noticed differences. I noted that while walking down the street, holding hands with a white girl, I would get sidelong, almost disapproving, glances from some people. Nothing was ever said, but hey, actions speak louder than words.

But the stereotypes go both ways. When running a register at work, I would have Mexicans form up in my line expecting me to speak Spanish to them. And when I didn’t, they were confused or upset. But I could still understand what they were saying, not all of it nice.

To bring it back around to my original point, diversity is important to recognize, but it’s equally important to recognize that diversity is not just looking different. It’s about the culture you live and the lifestyle you choose.

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