Correa seeks to honor Mexican Americans with Chicano-Chicana Heritage Month
While September marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, one California lawmaker is starting the celebration with recognition of the most populous segement of American folks of Hispanic descent.
Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., will file a resolution to establish August as Chicano-Chicana Heritage Month, which would recognize and celebrate the significant contributions of Mexican Americans, who make up 61.4% of Hispanics in the United States.
“We are not a monolith. America, in my opinion, is a great social experiment, something that has not been seen in this world before,” Correa, who represents portions of Southern California's Orange County, said in an interview with Spectrum News. “We've got people from all over the world coming to this country to celebrate, to make the country strong and great. And by us remembering who we are, in our heritage, it only adds to the strength of this country.”
According to a release from Correa's office, the largest share of Orange County's population is Hispanic, and a near-majority of Mexican descent. While he said he would like to take credit for the resolution, he said he has to credit local Orange County leaders for bringing it to his attention.
“I had a council member from Santa Ana [Jonathan Hernandez] and one from Anaheim [Natalie Rubalcava] that said we need to do this, and that's why I'm doing it at their behest,” said Correa. “These are what I would call the new generation of elected officials, leaders so to speak, and it really touched my heart because these folks didn't grow up in the '60s in the '70s the way I did.”
The resolution would officially recognize the month of August as Chicano-Chicana Heritage Month, to promote the significant contributions of Mexican Americans in United States history. The term “Chicano” was once used with a derogatory term for Mexican-Americans, but that changed during the 1960s.
By:
Cassie Semyon
Source:
Spectrum News1
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