EAST MOLINE, Ill. — September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. Throughout the month, celebrations will be thrown all across the country, to mark the culture, diversity and contributions of Hispanic people.
There are more than 65 million people identified as ethnically Hispanic in the U.S., according to the latest census estimates. In Iowa, Latinos make up about 7% of the state's population at about 220,000 people. By the year 2060, that number is expected to grow to nearly 518,000.
Hispanic Heritage Month is a chance for many in America to learn about and celebrate the country's fastest-growing racial or ethnic minority, according to the census. The group includes people whose ancestors come from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Locally, LULAC Council 5285 in Moline held the 15th annual Independence Day Parade and Fiesta on September 15 to mark Mexico's independence day. The event celebrated diversity and community, passed out Mexican-themed candy and raised money for a scholarship fund.
On the other side of the river, LULAC Council 10 in Davenport is planning a Veteran Salute and end of Hispanic Heritage Month celebration around mid-October.
And on Sunday, October 13, the Figge Art Museum will host the Free Family Day Fiesta: Día De Los Muertos from noon to 5 p.m. The public is invited to honor the Day of the Dead and memories of loved ones through music, dancing, food and community.
News 8 spoke with Daniel Salazar, the previous LULAC Iowa State Director about why the month is celebrated.
"Technically, it celebrates the many contributions that have been made to U.S. culture, to America and to the world, from those Latinos that live in the United States," Salazar said.
He went on to explain that, similar to Black History Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the modern holiday was born out of years of repression and of pushback against a new culture that wasn't Anglo Saxon. For many Latinos in the U.S., it was decades of feeling as though being "American" was out of their reach.
"So this is kind of a way to try to say, 'Hey, you are as American as apple pie, and you are part of this world,'" Salazar said. "It's really just trying to recognize something that has really been pushed down for so long."
He went on to explain the importance of entire communities celebrating Latino culture and contributions, especially in schools.
"I think that's what Heritage Month is supposed to be. It's supposed to be something for, a little boy in their class, a little girl, looking up and saying, 'Oh, I can be an astronaut, just like that Latin American. Or, you know, you know, maybe I can be president,'" Salazar said. "It's an ever growing population, not just in the United States, but in our schools. So why not offer people that look like those students as role models, right? So that's really the wonderful thing that it's supposed to be doing."
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