This month, we celebrate the achievements of the United States' largest ethnic minority group. And it may just surprise you which group holds the title.
This month was established to extol the virtues and great contributions of Hispanics to American culture.
Only recently did Hispanics earn the largest minority status; today the estimated 42.7 million Hispanics in the United States make up 14 percent of our population, according to 2005 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Hispanics have always had a presence in what is today the southern United States, beginning with the Spanish settlers and conquistadors of the Colonial Age. In recent decades, immigrants from countries in Latin America have been flocking to the land of opportunity in search of unhindered opportunities and better living conditions for their family. One out of every two people added to our population today is Hispanic, which will lead the Hispanic population in this country to top 100 million by the year 2050.
So it is during this month that we should make an effort to know our Hispanic brothers and sisters so that we may better understand the great conglomeration that is the United States.
Hispanic Heritage Month is not like other celebrations that are restricted to just one calendar month, even though the celebration lasts 31 days. The holiday begins on September 15, which is the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile also celebrate their independence shortly after, on September 16 and 18, respectively.
Many great Hispanic Americans have made significant contributions to American life in the fields of science, literature and labor relations, among others.
Nobel Prize winning physicist Walter Alvarez, along with his father Luis, was one of the first scientists to discover Iridium-rich clay in the geological boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. Naturally, Earth has very little Iridium, but asteroids have a lot, so Alvarez postulated that the brittle, silvery Iridium was deposited by a magnificent asteroid impact that wiped out 85 percent of life on the planet at the time, including dinosaurs. The theory is widely accepted today.
Gabriel Garc+
17 Archives
Chris Yonker
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