Atlas of Hispanic-American History

land, but a Salvadoran may awake with
nightmares from post-traumatic stress
disorder, the result of having witnessed
atrocities in the civil war.
Because they come from different
nations, Hispanic Americans celebrate dif-
ferent national holidays. Mexican
Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo on
May 5. In July many Colombian Ameri-
cans celebrate Colombian Independence
Day. One spot on the calendar unites all
Hispanic Americans: National Hispanic
American Heritage Month, from
September 15 to October 15, a period
that includes Columbus Day, which many
Hispanics call El Día de la Raza.

Common Strands

Despite their varied backgrounds, nearly
all Hispanic Americans share some tradi-
tions. One is the importance of family, la
familia, which includes not only the
nuclear family itself but also the extended
one of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and
cousins. Another is the institution of com-
padrazgo, in which close friends become
virtual members of the family, serving as
compadres (literally coparents) to the fam-
ily’s children. Often compadres act as god-
parents to the child, sponsoring the child
at baptism as well as helping out as need-
ed as the child grows up.

Another common feature of

Hispanic-American culture is the concept

of machismo, or manhood, whose broad

dimensions non-Hispanics often fail to

grasp. To be macho is to be responsible,

upright, brave, strong, and able to provide

for one’s family. The concept of machismo

also implies superiority to women and

paternalistic dominance over the family,

though those notions are regularly under-

mined in the United States, with its doc-

trine of equality between the sexes and its

widespread phenomenon of women as

joint or even primary wage earners.

As immigrants or near-descendants of

immigrants, many Hispanic Americans

share basic immigrant experiences, like

saving money every week to send remesas,

or remittances of money, home to their

families in the old country. They tend to

be fluent in Spanglish, a mix of Spanish

and English handy for communication

between people whose grasp of one lan-

guage or the other may be limited, or who

simply prefer to think in two languages.

Latinos share a common experience

of encountering prejudice and misunder-

standing on the part of non-Hispanics.

Like other recent immigrant groups,

Hispanics know all the pejorative names

used to insult them and are aware of the

stereotypes used to demean them:

Colombians as drug dealers; Puerto

Ricans as knife fighters; and Hispanics in

HISPANIC AMERICA TODAY 241

Traditional dancers in Arizona celebrate the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo. (The Viesti

Collection)