The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is approaching in the United States.

From September 15 to October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month will be celebrated in the USA, Latin culture, also known as Latin X or Latiné… huh?

Hispanic Community was the first way to refer to the population that is not native to the United States or Canada, but that lives on the American continent.

However, other communities that do not speak Spanish were technically outside of this group. To integrate them, the term Latin came up, thus integrating people from Brazil and Haiti.

However, indigenous communities and the third root were left out; the third root is African culture, without it there would be no salsa, cumbia or son jarocho. By the way, the majority of inhabitants of the Latin American continent are mixed, the indigenous and African heritages are vast and robust, despite the extermination they have faced for many centuries.

Nowadays, in Latin America the term Latiné is more accepted, its pronunciation is simpler in Spanish, and it was created by Spanish speakers, unlike the term latinx which is a term born in the Anglo-Saxon language and is easy to pronounce in English.

Latino, Latina, Hispano are the popular terms within the community, Latinx and Latiné are used in academic circles and in general by a smaller population in the Latiné community.

The Latiné population is somehow alien to the conversation about whether to use Latino, Hispanic, or Latin X, just as it is somewhat alien to the celebration.

These celebrations are promoted by institutions, schools, and non-profit organizations. 

We do not need special occasions to practice our culture. At every quinceañera and every wedding, we celebrate our music and our food. We do not need permission to dance salsa, corrido, or cumbia. Latinos do not need permission to wear sombreros and huaraches all year round, and thus preserve the traditions and culture that was inherited to us.

Unfortunately, many people think that somehow this harms their own culture and tell us, in America we speak English when they hear us speak Spanish in public. Even though the United States is one of the countries with the largest Spanish-speaking population on the planet, even though half of the United States territory once belonged to Mexico, even though the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, some Americans continue to believe that there is no place for Spanish speakers in USA and they think that we do not have the right to celebrate our culture.

Even despite the rejection of our culture, the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is approaching, people all over the country will have the opportunity to enjoy colorful dances, music and food that reflects the Lainté diaspora and makes America beautiful again.

~ Beto Cacao