National Hispanic Heritage month: what to know and celebrate

Huge celebrations across the U.S. are expected to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, an annual tradition that showcases the awe-inspiring diversity and culture of Hispanic people.
National Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, honors the experiences, cultures and essential contributions of Hispanic Americans in U.S. history. Texas history is inseparable from Hispanic history.
The month actually began as a week. Hispanic Heritage Week was established in 1968 under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and it was expanded to 30 days in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan.
The month is a way for Hispanics to showcase their diversity and culture with the support of the government, Rachel Gonzalez-Martin, an associate professor of Mexican American and Latino Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Associated Press.
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“It was clustered around big celebrations for the community,” Alberto Lammers, director of communications at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, told the AP. “It became a chance for people to know Hispanic cultures, for Latinos to get to know a community better and for the American public to understand a little better the long history of Latinos in the U.S.”
Hispanics’ presence in what is now the United States extends to before Spain arrived and has helped shape the U.S. since the Revolutionary War.
“Through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Treaty of Paris that followed the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars, the United States gained territories in the Southwest and Puerto Rico,” according to the National Museum of the American Latino. “This incorporated the people of this area into the United States and further expanded the presence of Hispanic Americans.”
Hispanics and Latinos continue to contribute today as business owners, artists, politicians, teachers, activists, scientists, astronauts and much more.
Many Central American countries celebrate their independence during that span, according to the National Hispanic Heritage Month website.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which some people observe in place of Columbus Day, is observed in the U.S. on the second Monday of October.
Over the past decade, the month has grown due to the larger Latino consumer base in the U.S., Gonzalez-Martin said. Gonzalez-Martin said visible support from the federal government, including celebrations at the White House, has also made it easier for Hispanics to celebrate.
“Hispanic Heritage Month was a way in which to be Hispanic and Latino but with official blessing,” Gonzalez-Martin said. “It was a recognition of belonging and that became really powerful.”
The four-week period is about honoring the way Hispanic populations have shaped the U.S. in the past and present, Lammers said.
“It gives us a chance to acknowledge how Latinos have been part of this nation for so many centuries,” Lammers said. “I think that’s what is great about this. It has allowed us to really dig deeper and a chance to tell our stories.”
The terms Hispanic and Latino are not interchangeable. “Hispanic” refers to people from Spanish-speaking countries. “Latino” refers to people from Latin America. For example, a person from Brazil is not Hispanic because the official language of Brazil is Portuguese.
Mexican Americans who grew up during the 1960s Civil Rights era may identify as Chicano. Others may go by their family’s nation of origin such as Colombian American or Salvadoran American.
“There are a lot of connections between Latino and Hispanic American identity in the US, so National Hispanic American Heritage Month celebrations often include Latino Americans as well,” according to the National Park Service website.
The National Park Service’s theme for this year’s National Hispanic Heritage month is “Todos Somos, Somos Uno: We Are All, We Are One” to celebrate “the many unique roots of our individual identities as well as our unity and shared identity.”
Hispanics are the second largest ethnic group in the U.S. behind white, at 65.2 million or 19.5% of the population, as of July 1, 2023. That’s up from 62.1 million people in 2020.
According to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data, one in every four children in the United States is Hispanic or Latino.
In Texas, they are also the second largest ethnic group in Texas, but the percentage more than doubles to 39.3%, just behind white with 39.7%, according to U.S. census data.
In Dallas County, Latinos and Hispanics make up 40.5% of the population, according to census data.
In the city of Dallas, that rises slightly to 42%. Spanish is the primary language in 36.5% of homes, according to city of Dallas data.
Across North Texas, festivals, art shows, plays, ballet folklorico performances, food festivals and more will celebrate the contributions and diversity of the Hispanic and Latino community in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The city of Dallas kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month in front of City Hall on Saturday with a festival featuring arts and crafts, Mexican street food, mariachis and bands.
Check out other events that will mark National Hispanic Heritage Month and Diez y Seis de Septiembre (Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day) at dallasnews.com.
Staff writer Carol Taylor and the Associated Press contributed to this report.