Next week starts Hispanic heritage celebration
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- September
- 6
Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15 and runs through Oct. 15.
For the estimated 44.3 million Hispanics living across the nation, it will be a time of celebration.
Hispanics in Rockland mark the month with great enthusiasm, particularly since the period encompasses the independence anniversaries of several Spanish-speaking nations.
In fact, the federal government selected the date for Hispanic Heritage Month in order to coincide with those independence celebrations.
Five Latin American countries  Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica  observe their independence on Sept. 15. And Independence Day is Sept. 16 in Mexico, and Sept. 18 in Chile.
Congress declared a week for Hispanic Heritage commemoration in 1968. Twenty years later, the observance was expanded to one month.
If you want to know more, read on for some quick facts about Hispanics in our area and around the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau:
• Rockland’s population is almost 13 percent Hispanic  or about 38,000 people of the estimated county 295,000 total  according to figures released by the Census Bureau last month.
• Hispanics now account for more than 18 percent of Westchester’s almost one million residents, a 22 percent spike since the 2000 Census. Putnam’s Hispanic population is almost 10 percent of its total estimated 100,000 people.
• About half of the people added to the nation’s population between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, were Hispanic. The population grew by 1.4 million Hispanics over the period.
• There was a 3.4 percent increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group in the nation.
• The Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050 is projected to be 102.6 million, or about one-quarter of the nation’s population by then.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 4:16 pm by Suzan Clarke.
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a whole month? to be fair does any other nationality get a whole month? Italians? French? Germans? Let me see.. there’s 12 months in a year therefore we could only do 12 nationalities per month. But Oh wait, there’s Black History month , so that’s one month that can’t be used. I think a month is way too long. as far as Hispanic or anything. Lets try to be humans and americans. You are where you are born. If you are born here you are american. and most likely are more than just spanish/italian/french/german. Its good to be in touch with all cultures and sooner or later we will all be mutts. which is the proper way to be, a little of everything.
This is no longer the time to be xenophobic and think in terms of racial purity. Most coastal races haven’t been pure since the first boats were made and landed on coastal waters. Yes, its important to know your heritage and pick one you are proud of, but home is where the hearth is and you should concentrate on the hearth.
Just my 3 cents.
What about the blog above that says “Hispanic Scholarships”?
Is this not discrimination? There is way to much of this ethnic garbage going on. If we don’t come together as one
people which made this country great we are all doomed.
Do away with heritage months and celebrate it on your own time. The Irish have one day. Scholarships should be for those who earned them not by race. This is totally racist.
What do you think Suzan? Matt Davies answers his blogs what about you?
A common language and goal unifies a nation. we have yet to have either. No one says you have to forget your “root” language. But if you live/work here you need to communicate.
not look at someone and expect them to speak in your language.
I guess you two won’t be celebrating. (Also, “Hispanic” is more of a racial term. It isn’t confined to a single nationality.)
Are we rabble-rousing here? Ok, let me try: Hey, why did The Man make February, the shortest month, Black History Month?
Anyway, to possibly add something “constructive” to this conversation… I hate the label Asian- or whatever-American. To me, it implies that your Americanism is somehow qualified.
I agree with you Richard. No more hyphenated Americans. I
believe we should have one day a year for each nationality
or heritage to celebrate and the rest is all American. It’s
the only way we can come together as one. As far as celebrating Hispanic heritage month if it were just a day I
would. A whole month is over kill. I wonder if hispanics
celebrate St. Patricks day or Columbus Day? I really don’t know. How about you Richard?
Feel free to jump in here Suzan.
1 day or 2 days or even a week maybe fine. specially if a school is going to learn something about the culture. But a whole month?
if you are born here or a citizen you are American. Period.
your ethnic heritage is a totally different story.
St. Patrick’s Day? “Kiss me, I’m Irish!”
As for Columbus Day, I’ll start celebrating when I get the day off. Until then, it might as well be Canadian Thanksgiving.
Want to start your private office arms race right now?
I just got my own USB rocket launcher
Awsome thing.
Plug into your computer and you got a remote controlled office missile launcher with 360 degrees horizontal and 45 degree vertival rotation with a range of more than 6 meters – which gives you a coverage of 113 square meters round your workplace.
You can get the gadget here: http://tinyurl.com/2qul3c
Check out the video they have on the page.
Cheers
Marko Fando
I’ve got an Amazon gift certificate burning holes in my pocket,
and I want to get the most bang for my buck.
Enter the Secret Amazon Web Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/38sojf
This is where you’re going to find the “latest sales, rebates, and limited-time offers” from
Amazon, and you can score some pretty deep discounts if you’re a savvy shopper.
Next, there’s the special Sale link. This is open every Friday, and ONLY on Fridays.
You can find the same good discounts here as you would in hidden Deals, although some
Fridays you can really get lucky and make off like an Amazon bandit – I’ve seen discounts
there as low as 75% off sticker price.
There’s one special secret Sale link on Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/2r7ldr
This is open every Friday and ONLY on Fridays!
You can find very good discounts here, although some Fridays you can really get
lucky and make off like an Amazon bandit – I´ve seen discounts there as low as 75%
off sticker Price.