The Importance of Hispanic Heritage

Hispanics are a diverse group, uniting people from numerous ethnicities and races all under a single language: Spanish. Ever since the Spanish first colonized the Americas during the Age of Discovery, the beauty of their culture has deluged nations everywhere. Their culture is a culture rooted deep in tradition but constantly open to new ideas. Hispanic heritage is important to everyone, regardless of whether or not a person is hispanic, because hispanics have made - -and will continue to make - -numerous contributions to our society.

One of the reasons why hispanics are so significant is because they increase ethnic diversity within the United States. Hispanics are the largest minority group in America, constituting 17.6% of the total US population (US CENSUS: 2000). From coast to coast, they color neighborhoods everywhere with their music, food, and tongue. Without them, many communities would lack the richness that hispanics have worked so hard to instill.

Historically, hispanics have contributed much to the world. Famous hispanics include Severo Ochoa, Nobel Prize winner in 1959 for medicine; Tito Puente, one of the most beloved musicians of all time; Pablo Picasso, talented sculptor and painter; María Irene Fornés, a Cuban American playwright; Salvador Dalí, pioneer painter; Puerto Rican baseball player, Roberto Clemente; Celia Cruz, renowned salsa singer; and many, many, many more famous Hispanics. Without hispanics, there would be less of the poets, scientists, explorers, thinkers, and politicians that humanity needs to function.

Hispanic heritage should be important to everyone because hispanics have enriched our country and contributed so much. Hispanic heritage is important to all of us because it has helped establish the beautiful country that we live in today.