EQUITY COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHT
21 Things You Didn’t Know About Hispanic Heritage Month BY CATHY GARZA HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH GENERALLY 1. National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 and started as Hispanic Heritage Week.
2. Representative Edward Roybal of Los Angeles sponsored legislation to establish Hispanic Heritage Week, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. Cathy Garza is an associate at Eversheds Sutherland. She advises clients on commercial and regulatory litigation matters before state and federal courts and the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Garza is a member of the Austin Bar Equity Committee's leadership team and the AYLA Board of Directors.
Every other month, space normally used for the Austin Bar President’s Column will be dedicated to content chosen by the Austin Bar’s Equity Committee.
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ispanic Heritage Month is a national celebration to honor the history, culture, and overall contributions Hispanics have made to the United States.
3. In 1988, legislation expanding the week into a month was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. 4. Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Sept. 15 because it is the anniversary of the independence of five Hispanic countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua—which declared their independence in 1821. 5. Mexico celebrates its independence day on Sept. 16 (not Cinco de Mayo!), and Chile’s independence day is on Sept. 18. HISPANIC/LATINO(A)/ LATINX 6. While many people use Hispanic or Latino(a)
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2019, the Hispanic population constitutes the largest ethnic or racial minority in the United States, making up 18% of the nation’s population. interchangeably, the terms have different meanings. 7. Hispanic is a linguistic division and includes people who speak Spanish or whose ancestors come from a Spanish-speaking country. 8. Latino(a) is a geographic division and includes people from or whose ancestors come from Latin America. For example, Brazilians would be considered Latinos, but not Hispanics, because they speak Portuguese. 9. Latinx is a gender-neutral alternative to Latino(a). HISPANIC POPULATION TODAY 10. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2019, the Hispanic population constitutes the largest ethnic or racial minority in the United States, making up 18% of the nation’s population.
11. As of 2019, there are 12 states with a population of 1 million or more Hispanic residents: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. 12. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States. MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR (1846–1848) 13. On May 13, 1846, at President James Polk's request, Congress voted to declare war on Mexico in a territorial dispute over Texas.
14. The Mexican-American War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on Feb. 2, 1848. 15. The treaty added 525,000 square miles to the United States, including land that
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