YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION / HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH Hispanic , Latino / Latina , Latinx or none of the above ?
This conversation recently came
up in our household when I told my Honduran husband that I was going to be writing about Hispanic Heritage Month for the Docket . Being admittedly ignorant on the subject , I asked my husband why the month runs from September 15 to October 15 instead of falling during a calendar month . He noted that September 15 is the day Central Americans celebrate independence from Spain . Upon researching ( let ’ s be honest , Googling ) I learned that it started as a week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded to a month by President Ronald Reagan . But I then noticed something that paralleled what my husband had said in passing — the term Hispanic may be outdated and not entirely accurate .
Now don ’ t get me wrong , my husband is by no means the PC police . If anything , in our house I take that role and then am often told by my husband that I ’ m going too far , ensuing in a debate that usually ends in some sort of mutual compromise ( or apology ). So , did we reach a mutual agreement this time ? Sort of and not really .
As a little background , this conversation has also come up for
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YLD Board of Directors 2020 – 2021
President Sara Castro
President-Elect Patrick McArdle
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Social / Events Warren Chin , Chair
Health & Wellness Yuliya Swaim , Chair
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Education Patrick McArdle , Chair us this year when discussing if our 5-month daughter old is Hispanic , Honduran , Latina , Latinx , or some or none of the above . I informed my husband that Latinx is the new gender-inclusive term for Latinos , to which he predictably responded that this is another example of going too far and solving a non-issue . As he correctly noted , gendered terms are a normal part of all variations of the Spanish language ( Honduran or otherwise ). Also , somewhat predictably , there is an article in The Atlantic on the very same subject , discussing that the term Latinx is not catching on amongst the Latino community but mainly only with intellectuals and academics .
My daughter ’ s ethnicity and race is complicated , not fitting any of the checkboxes to be found on government forms . As a little background , my husband and I both came to this country as immigrants , me from England at 10 and him from Honduras at 12 . Our experiences differed greatly . My immigration journey included getting on an airplane with a suitcase each and enough money for a month ( but also a job waiting for my mother as a registered nurse in Florida ). His included traveling for three months in vehicles and on foot across Guatemala , Mexico , and then crossing the Rio Grande and a vast desert into the U . S . with a gallon of water in each hand amongst a group of strangers . As a short aside , if your inclination is to say his family was irresponsible for sending him ( alone , as they could only afford to pay for his passage ), please know that most of his friends and family from that village that
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Continued from Page 5 out for the fundraising campaign in support of the Richard R . Garland Diversity Scholarship . All contributions through December 31 , 2020 , will be matched up to $ 50,000 by the extremely generous donation from the H . Gladstone and Betty Pritchard McKeon Charitable Foundation and the William and Mary Muirhead Foundation . I encourage all SCBA members to support this effort if you are able . did not have the same opportunity are now dead due to the intertwined issues of poverty and gang violence .
To complicate my daughter ’ s genetic mix , I am half Guyanese ( my mother is from Guyana , South America ) and my husband is a quarter Honduran Mayan and a quarter Afro-Honduran , as well as having Spanish ancestry . So , to conclude , we did not determine what our little girl “ is ” except to say that we know we will educate her on all of her rich ancestry . We also managed to agree that the term Hispanic is probably somewhat outdated and seems to exclude indigenous and Black Central Americans .
Maybe we don ’ t need to try and
keep grouping several distinct cultures and countries together under one umbrella term and just take the effort to name the groups we ’ re referring to individually ? ( If you have any knowledge of the variety of cultures and countries that fall under this umbrella , you know they differ widely , so grouping them under one adjective is like using the term European — it doesn ’ t really identify a particular culture or country but rather a diverse group with some shared connections .) Honestly , we did not reach a conclusion in this household . If you have had similar conversations in your household , I ’ d love to hear your thoughts and conclusions . Call me an optimist , but maybe one thing we can all agree on these days is that all the forms with a race or ethnicity question need to at least throw in an “ other ” checkbox ? I know at least half of my family would check that box .
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So , here we are . We are in a place no one thought we would be , on a path that was chosen for us . But , not only have we already shown that we will survive during these times , we have shown that we will thrive . And while we don ’ t know what the coming months will bring , we will be prepared to head down whatever path we are given . I hope you ’ ll join us .
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