Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Statement on Hispanic Heritage Month

October 2024

On behalf of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, we would like to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from September 15 to October 15 and honors the cultures, histories, contributions, and traditions of Hispanic communities. This is a month intended to celebrate the achievements of Hispanics and Latines and to reflect on the political, economic, and social issues impacting their communities.

The origin story of the term “Hispanic” illustrates the unique struggles confronting Latine advocacy efforts throughout US history. The federal government did not recognize Latines as a distinct ethnic group for most of the 20th century, resulting in their forced categorization as “white” in Census Bureau data for decades. This had disastrous consequences on Latine communities, depriving governments of critical information about the disproportionate rates of socioeconomic issues affecting Latines. Advocates from Latine communities across the nation organized and lobbied the federal government throughout the 1960s and 1970s for national recognition. Extensive debates ensued over the category name for Latines, with the federal government eschewing proposals such as “Latin” and “Brown” for “Hispanic”, a term considered more palatable to the American audience. This decades-long struggle for recognition culminated in 1980, when the Hispanic category appeared for the first time on the Census form delivered to all American households.¹

While the term Hispanic technically refers to people and cultures related to Spanish-speaking countries, the Latine identity transcends strictly defined racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic delineations.² Many Latines do not speak Spanish or identify as Hispanic, nor are they universally tied to the immigrant experience.³ The racial self-identity of Latines is informed by their ethnic, racial, and local contexts,⁴ and many struggle to identify with the racial categories demarcated by government entities.⁵ Just as Hispanic Heritage Month traverses from one month into another, Latine communities embody a rich mosaic of intersecting identities.

During Hispanic Heritage month, we celebrate the achievements of Latines throughout history who have advanced the political, social, and economic causes of their communities. To name just a few: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Justice in the United States; Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress; Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, founders of the United Farm Workers; Sylvia Rivera, one of the founding mothers of the queer rights movement; and culturemakers like Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla and Afro-Puerto Rican artist Sylvia Del Villard.

Despite these achievements, Latines – who make up 20% of our nation – are consistently among the most underrepresented minorities in professional occupations. In the legal community, only six percent of attorneys identify as Latine.⁶ These realities continue to frustrate the socioeconomic mobility of Latines, particularly Latina women. Latinas are the most underpaid demographic in the nation, making about 57 cents for each dollar earned by white males.⁷ According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Latinas will not achieve pay equity for another 175 years.⁸

As a civil rights law firm dedicated to making our world more just, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight is proud to advocate for the rights of Latines in the workplace. In the spirit of this year’s theme for Hispanic Heritage Month, “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together”, we are committed to effecting change and building a more equitable future for Latines.

We encourage you to spend time elevating Latine voices and celebrating their contributions to our country. Please find below a list of suggested reading items in honor of this special month.

Suggested Reading:

• Lola Mendez, A Brief Explainer on Latine and Latinx, Hispanic Executive (June 5, 2023),
  https://hispanicexecutive.com/latinx-latine-explainer/.
• Jill Lynch Cruz, Still Too Few and Far Between: The Status of Latina Lawyers in the U.S.,
  Race, Racism and the Law (July 26, 2024), https://racism.org/articles/law-and-justice/practiceof-law/12162-stilltoo#:~:text=Paradoxically%2C%20Latinas’%20presence%20in%20the,identified%20as%20Latina%20in%202023.
• Celebrating Selena: The Queen of Tejano>, Texas Monthly, https://www.texasmonthly.com/artsentertainment/celebrating-selena/.
• Samantha Bustillos, Lynching of Ethnic Mexicans Research Guide, Univ. of Texas – Rio
  Grande Valley, https://utrgv.libguides.com/SCA/lynching.
• Marlon Bishop and Camilo Vargas, The Invention of Hispanics, Latino USA (May 2, 2014),
  https://www.latinousa.org/2014/05/02/invention-hispanics/.
• Makaylah Chavez, Generations share their favorite Hispanic superstitions and the meaning
  behind them, KRIS 6 News (Oct. 6, 2024), https://www.kristv.com/news/hispanicheritage/generations-share-their-favorite-hispanic-superstitions-and-the-meaning-behind-them.
• Mark Hugo Lopez, Jens Manuel Krogstad, and Jeffrey S. Passel, Who is Hispanic?, Pew
  Research Center (Sept. 12, 2024), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/12/whois-hispanic/.

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¹ Check out Univision’s 1980 Census Ad Campaign seeking to raise awareness about the new Hispanic category: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viyPQ1WnrFc.

² National Museum of the American Latino, How Do Latinos Self-Identify?, https://latino.si.edu/exhibitions/presente/latino-identity/how-do-latinos-self-identify#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20half%20of%20Latinos,Latino%20was%20used%20by%2023%25.

³ Xochitl Gonzalez, Selena Didn’t Know Spanish Either, The Atlantic (Sept. 15, 2022), https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/selena-didnt-know-spanish-either/676607/.

⁴ D’Vera Cohn, Census History: Counting Hispanics, Census History: Counting Hispanics (Mar. 3, 2010), https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2010/03/03/census-history-counting-hispanics-2/.

⁵ Mary E. Campbell and Christabel L. Rogalin, Categorical Imperatives: The Interaction of Latino and Racial Identification, Social Science Quarterly (Dec. 2006), https://www.jstor.org/stable/42956593.

⁶ American Bar Association, Growth of the legal profession, https://www.abalegalprofile.com/demographics.html.

⁷ Ingrid Cruz, Latinas are still the lowest paid group in the U.S., Wash. Post (Oct. 20, 2021),
https://www.washingtonpost.com/gender-identity/latinas-are-still-the-lowest-paid-group-in-the-us-experts-have-tips-forcombating-the-inequity/.

⁸ Institute for Women’s Policy Research, It Will Take Nearly 175 Years Until Latina Women Reach Pay Equity,
https://iwpr.org/it-will-take-nearly-175-years-until-latina-women-reach-pay-equity/.