Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It's Hispanic Heritage Month; you didn't notice? Good; that's the way it should be in America

I don't care for Hispanic Heritage Month. I don't care for Black Heritage Month. Anything that separates our common American history into a series of special recognitions is wrong.

I am an American first. I also have a Mexican heritage. But America is my country, and that's why I fly our nation's flag out front each month. Sept. 15, Mexican Independence Day, means little to me. American Independence Day was the time of big celebration and fireworks in my childhood home.

It was the same with my cousin Ana in Topeka, Kan., and her mom and dad and brothers and sisters. Her father was a patriotic veteran of the Pacific Theater in WWII. When he came back home and despite the bigotry he faced, he remained an American. And no one had better say anything ill about his country or they'd get a punch in the face. Such is patriotism. Such is my heritage, and I am most proud of Ana's father.

So don't feel like you have to genuflect to Hispanic Heritage Month or whatever heritage month. Our fight must be to get our American history mixed in with everyone else's American history. A heritage month is a sad second prize that only ensures the people it recognizes a secondary spot in the past, present and future of the United States of America.

1 comment:

John Lamb said...

What distinguishes your position from Lou Dobbs' similar statements, in which he suggests that even St. Patrick's Day celebrations are out of place in America?

See relevant transcripts here and here.