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As we enter the middle of October, those of us who are meant to be celebrated during Hispanic Heritage Month are beginning to feel a sense of relief. We are finally approaching the end of Syracuse University’s month-long performative representation of its diverse student population. This, of course, will only last until the next minority’s month, when they will also be publicly commended for their cultural, social and economic contributions.

There is no denying that this is a cycle created by a continuous theme of inclusion politics utilized on behalf of SU to establish itself as a liberal and inclusive institution. The university uses diversity to distance itself from its complicity in the subjugation of students of color on campus and in the surrounding community.

SIf the university is not actually interested in creating an inclusive and equitable environment on campus, then why allocate funds to celebrating these culturally themed months?

I think the answer lies behind what SU has to gain by celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. When we celebrate “Hispanics” or “Latinos” with no critical analysis of how these terms came to be applied to diverse groups of people, we are simply enabling the further marginalization of these groups. Mainstream media portrays the default Hispanic or Latine person as light skin mestizos, such as JLo or Bad Bunny. Latinidad will be celebrated by institutions as long as it deviates far enough from Indigeneity and Blackness.

The term Hispanic is within itself reminiscent of Latinidad’s connections to Spanish colonization. Latinos are primarily identified by their place of origin and their language. I find two issues with this. The first is that Latines have been classified as a group in mainstream social contexts according to a common European ancestry. The second is that Spanish is the only language associated with Latinidad.

We are very aware that “Hispanic/Latino” is not a race and therefore Latines can fall under any racial category and under multiple ethnic categories. We also understand that Spanish is a language of colonization and that Latinidad has enabled it to undermine the Indigenous languages of many families with Inca, Maya, Aztec or Taino ancestors.

So the question then becomes: Do we stop celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month? I think that those of us who identify as non-Indigenous or Black Latines have to be aware of the space we take up, especially when our social positionalities enable us to hold a privilege that can very well be complicit in silencing others.

SU students need to understand who benefits from the socially constructed identities they often feel so comfortable inhabiting and must continue to be critical of whose voices are not being represented.

Angie Mederos, Class of 2024

Published on October 13, 2022 at 12:13 am