I never knew Hispanic Heritage Month existed until college tells me that it definitely doesn’t matter as much as it should in our country. Months centered on the history and culture of minority groups were designed to increase the knowledge and respect within our country. Looking around today it is easy to see that this hasn’t been completely successful.

But we as mothers can change that.

Here are some facts you can share with your children about what it is and why Hispanic Heritage Month should matter:

Hispanic Heritage celebrates the first Europeans in the New World.

It celebrates citizens descended from Spanish colonists that dominated North and South America. Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 through October 15. This was done intentionally to being on or around the Independence Day Celebrations of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Chile. It also encompasses Columbus Day since it marks the beginning of Spain’s presence in the New World (yup they were first). The Spanish dominated colonization in the Americas over 100 years before the English showed up…technically making Spanish our country’s first European language….

Hispanics are the largest minority group in America.

Individuals of Spanish descent make up 17% of America’s population. They are also the fastest growing minority group in our country. You may have already known that but you may not have known that the majority of people of Spanish descent are not immigrants. Their ancestors did not cross a border, the border crossed them in a war future president Abraham Lincoln argued was unnecessary and unprovoked. Those ancestors also often found themselves forcibly removed from their property and cheated by contracts in a language they did not know.

The Hispanic American Civil Rights Movement led the way

The Hispanic American Civil Rights Movement began in earnest during the Great Depression with the creation of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in 1929 and made major strides in the 1940s. Laws known as “Juan Crow” were also in place across the south and west United States that discriminated against Hispanic Americans and prevented them from voting.  Lyndon B Johnson, the president who signed into the law both the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, spoke of how his experience teaching at the Welhausen Mexican School in Cotulla, Texas and witnessing prejudice inspired him in his famous “We Shall Overcome” speech.

Hispanic Heritage is American Heritage

This isn’t a story of people from somewhere else. Spanish colonists were settled in what is now America over fifty years before any other European country. Hispanics impacted every war in our nation’s history beginning with people such as Bernardo de Galvez who protected American ships in the port of New Orleans and helped transport war supplies during our Revolution. Over half of the America on the map today was a part of Spain and then Mexico from 1565 until 1848. Since them the incredible impact of people such as Hector P. Garcia, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Octaviano Larrazolo, Ruben Salazar, and Sonia Sotomayor can not be overstated.

In a truly perfect world we would not have or need months devoted to recognizing the impact of minority groups or the injustices that have befallen them over time in our country. Perhaps one day we won’t and our education standards (usually set by the states) will be completely inclusive of our American heritage, and everyone that was a part of it.