In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) is highlighting its core value of being Inclusive: “by honoring our differences and similarities, we strengthen institutional and community connections.” President Nielsen, in a recent statement on values, said “we are stronger as a University and as a community because we value inclusion.” In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the University looks to recognize and highlight the significant contributions of Hispanic heritage within healthcare through the experiences of our students and staff.
National Hispanic Heritage Month, first introduced into law in 1968 by US President Lyndon Johnson as Hispanic Heritage Week, was expanded from one week to one month in 1988, running from September 15 to October 15. The month-long celebration coincides with independence day celebrations of several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Chile, Nicaragua, and Belize. In 1989, Michigan Representative Dale Kildee recognized the Hispanic-American contributions to US culture and said, “we are also commemorating the growth of our Nation’s culture, vastly broadened and enriched by its Hispanic citizens.”
RMUoHP’s Institutional Equity Office, Ray Rodriguez, MPH, MCHES, shares his thoughts and experiences on Hispanic Heritage Month.
We are in the midst of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a celebration of Hispanic cultures and peoples. Every year, Americans both within and adjacent to the Hispanic populations in the US have proudly displayed our cultures. Hispanic communities and lives affect the US in many ways, both socially and economically, and positively influencing daily life in American towns and cities.
“Hispanic” is a broad term that means culture and practices relating to Spanish-speaking countries and communities. While this is often used with the word “Latino,” this second word means from Latin America. This means that one can be both Hispanic and Latino, including me, because my family comes from those countries that speak Spanish and are in Latin America, but it’s quite possible to be Hispanic and not Latino (as persons from European Spain are) or Latino but not Hispanic (because most of Brazil, while in Latin America, speaks Portuguese). Regardless, the cultures of many Latin and Hispanic cultures do have similarities, and during National Hispanic Heritage Month, we encourage all of the RMUoHP community to join us in our celebration, regardless of whether or not you’re Hispanic, Latino, both, or simply supportive of our cultures!
When I say “our cultures,” it’s important to remember that while we are often lumped together, we are all part of many individual cultures that come from our countries and regions of origin. In my case, my mother’s Mexican culture and my father’s Puerto Rican culture are fairly different, even including how they speak Spanish. My parents often ended up speaking English to each other because their own Spanish dialects were difficult for the other to understand. If that sounds odd, consider how some forms of English from around the world sound strange to us! Our foods were different, how we practiced faith had differences, even the way we addressed our family members were distinct between these two cultures. And that’s just the two I was brought up in!
I grew up quite aware of the differences in my life from others in the US. As I mentioned, the language in my home was a combination of Spanish and English, the former used solely by my parents and extended family. My parents came to the mainland US in the 1940s, and it was clearly stated to them that assimilation was the key way to succeed in America. As a result, I wasn’t taught Spanish and was actively discouraged from learning it. To this day, I have extreme difficulty speaking any Spanish at all, as on some level I’m certain my mother is behind me to remind me to not speak it. As times have changed, new immigrants to the US have much higher preservation of language within families, but assimilation is still a big deal. My daughter was taught Spanish in high school (along with Japanese—she liked the dichotomy, so she says) and she and my father communicated much more in Spanish than I ever did with him. But everything from the way I dress to the respect I have for elders to the faith I have and the family I create with my community is an extension of my Hispanic heritage.
Every member of the Hispanic community has a different experience. As healthcare professionals, the more we understand these differences and learn from others’ experiences, the better we can empathize and provide patient-centered care. The Office of Minority Health within the US Department of Health and Human Services provides resources for providers to better provide care to a wide range of diverse populations. I encourage you to seek out people’s stories, ask us questions, and celebrate with us during this month. For more, check out the National Hispanic Heritage Month website.
