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Topic 139 -- Latinos & the Quincentennial
jillaine IGC NetNews 6:09 pm Oct 2, 1992
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Latinos and the Quincentennial
by Carlos Munoz, Jr.
As Latinos, we must prepare a critical response to the Quincentenial.
We cannot and should not deny the historical reality that Spanish
culture and language are part of us. But, collectively, we must
remember from where the vast majority of us came, in terms of our
indigenous racial and cultural origins. An important response to the
Columbian Quincentenary is to reject the Hispanic identity label that
was imposed on us in the 1970's by Latino and white 'burrocrats' in
Washington. It is an identity promoted by those committed to politics
of assimilation and accommodation.
Many Latinos have also accepted the Hispanic identity label as a means
of protection from the racism that comes when one is identified as
nonwhite. Others truly believe, they are white, not people of color.
Government, educational and private agencies identify us as 'Hispanic
white.' In California, Mexican American newborns are automatically
identified as 'white' on their birth certificates. Hispanic identity is
rooted in the old melting-pot theory of assimilation that was first
applied to white European ethnics. It underscores the white European
culture of Spain at the expense of the non-white cultures that have
profoundly shaped the experiences of all Latinos.
According to the dictionary definition, Hispanics are "lovers of Spain
or Spanish culture." Hispana was the term given to the Iberian
peninsula, which came to be known as Spain. No mention is made of the
nonwhite indigenous cultures of the Americas, Africa and Asia which
historically have produced multicultural and multiracial peoples in all
of the Americas.
What we should do in 1992--instead of celebrating the 'Columbian
Quincentenary' and thereby the conquest of our indigenous ancestors--is
to strengthen our respective Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and
Latin American identities. We should celebrate our respective unique
cultures and strive for political unity with other people of color on
the common ground of racial, gender and class inequality.
Carlos Munoz, Jr., Ph.D., teaches politics and history in the Department
of Ethnic Studies, University of California at Berkeley. He is the
author of Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement (Rutledge,
Chapman and Hall, New York City).