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[00:01.96]Celebrations across the United States

[00:04.80]are taking place to mark

[00:07.04]National Hispanic Heritage Month.

[00:10.16]It is a yearly tradition that honors the diversity

[00:13.80]and culture of Hispanic people.

[00:17.80]The month-long period is a chance

[00:20.00]for many in the U.S. to learn about

[00:22.48]what Hispanics have given to American culture.

[00:26.20]It is celebrated each year

[00:28.16]from September 15 to October 15.

[00:32.24]The group includes people

[00:33.96]whose ancestors come from Spain,

[00:36.24]Mexico, the Caribbean

[00:38.84]and Central and South America.

[00:42.24]The latest census estimates

[00:44.24]there are more than 65 million people

[00:47.52]identified as ethnically Hispanic in the U.S.

[00:52.28]Before there was National Hispanic Heritage Month,

[00:55.40]there was Hispanic Heritage Week.

[00:58.80]President Lyndon B. Johnson

[01:01.12]signed the law in 1968.

[01:04.64]The U.S. Library of Congress

[01:06.72]says every president since Johnson

[01:09.68]has issued a proclamation

[01:11.28]for National Hispanic Heritage Month.

[01:14.60]On September 13, President Joe Biden

[01:17.68]issued a proclamation recognizing September 15

[01:21.72]through October 15,

[01:23.36]as National Hispanic Heritage Month.

[01:26.96]Rachel Gonzalez-Martin

[01:28.88]is an associate professor

[01:30.72]of Mexican American and Latino Studies

[01:34.08]at the University of Texas at Austin.

[01:37.76]She said the celebration has grown over the past 10 years

[01:41.80]because of the larger number of Latinos in the U.S.

[01:46.08]She noted that Hispanic Heritage Month

[01:48.68]was an official recognition of belonging

[01:51.68]"that became really powerful."

[01:54.80]September 15 is the date when some

[01:57.56]Latin American countries

[01:59.16]mark their independence days.

[02:02.20]The Central American nations of Guatemala,

[02:04.92]Honduras, El Salvador,

[02:07.60]Nicaragua, and Costa Rica

[02:10.28]celebrate their independence on September 15.

[02:15.52]Mexico marks its national day on September 16.

[02:20.44]Also, during National Hispanic Heritage Month,

[02:24.00]the South American nation of Chile

[02:26.64]observes its independence day on September 18.

[02:31.16]Alberto Lammers is director of communications

[02:35.48]at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.

[02:41.12]He said, "It became a chance

[02:43.24]for people to know Hispanic cultures,

[02:45.68]for Latinos to get to know a community better

[02:49.08]and for the American public to understand a little better

[02:53.32]the long history of Latinos in the U.S."

[02:57.08]Lammers said the four-week period

[02:59.92]is about honoring the way Hispanic populations

[03:03.24]have shaped the U.S. in the past and present.

[03:07.36]"It gives us a chance to acknowledge

[03:09.44]how Latinos have been part of this nation

[03:11.88]for so many centuries," Lammers said.

[03:15.92]"I think that's what is great about this.

[03:18.76]It has allowed us to really dig deeper

[03:21.40]and a chance to tell our stories."

[03:24.92]Hispanic is a pre-existing term

[03:27.64]the federal government began using in the 1970s

[03:31.52]for people whose ancestors came

[03:33.48]from Spanish-speaking cultures.

[03:36.36]But some people do not like the term "Hispanic."

[03:40.04]They use other terms like "Latino" or "Latinx"

[03:44.00]which mean different things to different groups.

[03:47.92]Events marking National Hispanic Heritage Month

[03:51.48]are planned in places from California to New York.

[03:54.84]I'm Jill Robbins.

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Words in This Story

census –n. an official count of a country's population

diversity – n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization