Matt Ortega

CNN is running a special on the web called, “Uncovering America: The Hispanic Experience Today” for Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 — October 15. (We don’t even get our own month, in the traditional sense.)

There are the good, the bad and the ugly, but at least they are trying.

The first and obvious is the use of the word “Hispanic.”

CNN solicited letters about what it means to be “Hispanic in America” today. The responses are telling and as a Latino of mixed heritage that does not speak Spanish fluently, I can certainly sympathize with many that wrote in. Here are a few:

Yolanda Alvarez from Seattle, Washington
For me, to be Hispanic in the United States today has been both a feeling of pride and a feeling of not belonging. Even though I was born and raised in the United States I feel as though I have to be truly Mexican and learn perfect Spanish to be accepted in my community and truly American (United States) to be accepted within the community here. I will be made fun of if I don’t speak Spanish right in Mexico and the same would go if I don’t speak English correctly. I thank God and my parents for truly blessing me with the ability to speak and write fluently in Spanish.

Indeed, as a community, sometimes we do it to ourselves.

Micaela DaCosta from Columbia, Missouri
A lot of people seem to forget, or don’t even know that there are black Latinos. Our ancestors came from Africa on the slave ships but instead of coming to North America, our ancestors docked in Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba or Brazil — every country of Latin America. White people want to know how in the world we speak Spanish, and black people think we’re showing off. Latino people refuse to recognize us as “real” Latinos. What’s it like being Hispanic in America? We’ll let you know.

Lorenzo Espinox from El Paso, Texas
I have noticed that from a commercial point of view, we are invisible. You can see all kinds of commercials made that portray whites, blacks and Orientals. Hardly ever do I see brown people buying an expensive car, being a doctor, or being portrayed as a high- or medium-end consumer. This sends a strong message that everybody can notice. …

Television does not present any Hispanic heroes. We are not portrayed as successful people who have smarts and lots of initiative, imagination, creativity, and hunger for advancement. Instead we continue to be presented like drug addicts, gang members, thieves and other low-life criminals. This hurts us because our little kids do not see “people like them” as good and helping individuals others can count on to solve problems.

For a while, we had The George Lopez Show and Freddie, starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. Both on ABC. Both off the air now. (George Lopez was replaced by a show about cavemen inspired by the Geico commercials. Freddie lasted 22 episodes.)

Furthermore, the Latinos network television does put on the air, we’re either light-skinned (no less “Latino” by any means but it sends a message of rejection about dark-skinned Latinos; hell, even Spanish-language television does it, too) or the usual common criminals in Law & Order episodes and the like.

It includes a photo slideshow of twelve, count ‘em, twelve “notable Hispanics” in the U.S. On the list are:

• Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), currently a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008;
• Singer Gloria Estefan;
• Archbishop Jose Gomez, of San Antonio, Texas;
• Pablo Alvarado, organizer and head of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network;
• Senator Mel Martinez (R-Florida), general chairman of the Republican Party;
• Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez;
• Jorge Ramos, television anchor for Univisión;
• Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU);
• Lionel Sosa, CEO of Mexican Americans Thinking Together (MATT);
• Writer Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez;
• Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees third baseman;
• Astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz

Ten men and two women. I can think of a few more that deserve to be on that list.

Ruben Navarette, Jr., wrote a piece special to CNN’s section on Hispanic Heritage Month, that points out what many Latinos have known for years, and what some non-Hispanic-Americans are just now learning.

And despite efforts by nativists to keep out both legal and illegal immigrants in a desperate attempt to turn back the demographic clock, Hispanics aren’t going anywhere. Why should we? In many cases, we were here first.

And about that whole thing about assimilation that a certain presidential candidate likes to drum on and on about:

Ah, language. The great divider. More than three-fourths of Hispanics speak English or both English and Spanish, and less than a quarter speak only Spanish. Yet some Americans see a Spanish-language billboard and assume that Hispanics aren’t assimilating. Or they accuse Hispanics of sending mixed messages by claiming to value English while maintaining Spanish. And they’re convinced that the reason we have bilingual-this and bilingual-that is because Hispanics are demanding the accommodation.

They’re not. If only there wa$ $ome way to explain what the$e outreach effort$ are really about.

Navarette even tackled the issue of Latinos on television — mentioned in a letter earlier:

This week, PBS aired the first installment of “The War,” a 14½-hour documentary on World War II by Ken Burns. While most of his colleagues use color, Burns tells stories in black and white. Literally. He took care to include the experience of African-Americans but overlooked the contributions of more than 500,000 Hispanics to the war effort. That includes more than a dozen Medals of Honor recipients. When Hispanic groups pressured the film’s corporate sponsors, Burns sprinkled in 28 minutes of new interviews and photographs to tell the stories of two Hispanics and one Native American.

In an earlier commentary, I blasted Burns for his blunder. Then a reader wrote an angry e-mail blasting me. He insisted that Burns didn’t have to make a special effort to tell the stories of Hispanic veterans because they were, after all, Americans.

Awesome. Most Hispanic World War II veterans are gone now, but I’m sure they would have loved hearing those words. They were first-rate heroes who were treated like second-class citizens. And all they wanted was to be considered Americans.

Read the whole article. Navarette lays it all out there.

Speaking of glossing over history: CNN’s “Significant moments in Hispanic history” timeline starts at 1903 with a quaint sentence that summarizes the previous centuries in just one bullet point.

• Hispanic history in the U.S. dates back to the pre-Revolutionary War era

Whoo-wee! Quite the history lesson, CNN. Let me help you, while keeping with your one sentence limit — Hispanic history dates back to the Conquistador era.

Historians’ neglect of Latino contributions throughout history is nothing new. Growing up studying history as a young man, it seemed like we existed prior to the Revolutionary War period, only to be conquered by the Spaniards, occasionally popping our heads up in the 19th century as victims of expansionist powers, showing up for the Zoot Suit Riots and Bracero Program in the 1960s, and again in the 1980s for Reagan granting amnesty with IRCA in 1986. That pretty much sums up the Hispanic history I was exposed to while moving my way through the education system.