HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.
By Amparo
Jaramillo-Restrepo
Why did we come here?
The first European settlers came to America looking for
religious freedom. Columbus for a shorter route to get the spices, and
riches from India ; adventure and greed moved Spaniards Conquistadors
later, along with their crusade to convert the infidels to
Catholicism and expand the Spanish empire, even if it took destroying
among others the Inca, Maya and Aztec cultures. That’s old History.
At this time
in History we are confronted with new immigrant waves. And though there
is probably a remnant of an adventurous spirit in some immigrants, the
hope that the “grass is greener” on the other side of the road, most
immigrants come escaping from oppression, violence, or poverty, as was
the case with the Europeans during and after the World Wars. The same is
true for many Latin Americans today. After all, looking for a better
future for your family is a valid motive to leave your home, friends and
language, even if the cost is to live forever in a kind of “limbo”.
What
seems to bother some people, however, is our skin color, although
Hispanics are not a race and we come in every shape and shade. Few
Americans are complaining about Russians, the second largest group of
immigrants to New York a few years ago.
Unfortunately while the U S A continues its policy toward Latin America
, offering our countries the stick instead of the carrot, the Hispanic
immigration will continue to grow. At this very moment, to cite only a
case, many Mexican farmers are abandoning their parcels enable to
compete with the American subsidized agricultural products. The same is
true for Colombian factories and farms, as violence wasn’t enough to
drive people away. The truth is that the monster called “globalization”
is ruining our economies from México to Argentina
Everybody
worries also about bad apples, especially after 9/ll. Ironically,
Florida businesses looked the other way when the Colombian drug lords
came to Miami to deposit their dirty money and buy houses, planes,
boats, weapons etc. They are also thrilled with the wave of rich
Latinos, mainly from Colombia and Venezuela , who are bringing their
money to escape economic instability.
The outcry, however, is against poor immigrants. Those who are the main
victims of politically corrupt systems, our foreign policy or natural
disasters like the Hurricane Hugo. There is still another complain: that
the USA will loose its sacred English language by the attack of what
they perceive as a lesser one: Spanish. But experience proves that once
the members of the new generations go to school and are exposed to
American television and culture, their language of choice will always be
English. However, with 35 million Hispanics living in USA today, and the
numbers growing even as we speak, Spanish will continue to be our second
language. It’s time for us to wake up. Remember that Canada has two
official languages and Belgium almost five.
I know
this is just a brief overview of some of the forces that move human
beings, Hispanics in this case, to emigrate. I fully understand that it
is easier to take the rich and famous rather than the displaced people
from around the world. Only that traditionally, our leaders are so blind
that instead of creating jobs and promoting peace abroad, they are
fueling chaos abroad.
Thus, we are left many times with “THE TIRED, THE POOR, AND THE HUDDLED
MASSES YEARNING TO BE FREE….”
That is our curse, but also our challenge.
