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SALT LAKE CITY — Gene Hayes had zero interest in participating in any type of Hispanic heritage celebration for about a decade.
Not only did the celebrations appear inauthentic, but they also didn't seem to represent his identity.
"I'm not prideful but I am proud of my heritage. I am proud to be Mexican. I am proud of being Oaxacan. I am proud of exactly who I am," says Hayes, a senior vice president at Western Governor's University and a North Salt Lake resident.
"Many times, I thought by embracing Hispanic heritage, I am perhaps leaving my Mexican, Oaxacan heritage behind," he adds. "I think because of that, I was hesitant to throw myself in the mix of others who may be Puerto Rican, may be Dominican, may be Argentinian, may be whatever it might be."
It wasn't until this Hispanic Heritage Month, during a showcase of Hispanic music at the Utah Symphony, that Hayes had a change of heart. The 'Celebración Sinfonica' and other cultural events helped change his perspective on the month.
"It just reignited my view that yes, I can be as Oaxacan as I want to be, but I can still be a Hispanic in the U.S. who can contribute in a positive light to help the community," Hayes added.
Hispanic Heritage Month began on Sept. 15 and ends on Saturday. The mid-month start date ties into many Latin American counties' independence celebrations, and the month itself has been observed at a national level since 1988. Gov. Spencer Cox and some cities in the state, including Salt Lake City, have signed proclamations recognizing the month, which has been marked with celebrations across the state.
Hayes still has his critiques of the month — namely businesses that use it only for commercial gain, often with out-of-touch stereotypes — but now he believes it also presents a real chance for meaningful recognition.
Hispanic Heritage Month has nationally been both lauded as a celebration of Hispanic culture and contributions and condemned as an inauthentic pandering from corporations and politicians. It seems that a range of opinions is present in Utah as well, which shouldn't be surprising to anyone paying attention to the diversity within Latino and Hispanic communities.
"Latinos, we tend to disagree about all things because we are not homogeneous people, right?" said Salt Lake City Council Member Alejandro Puy, who is Argentine.
"We have different backgrounds, different experiences. And that's something that we need to remember, too: Latinos are not just one people," he continues. "We have all sorts of races within Latinos. We have also all sorts of dialects and cultural backgrounds. You have Latinos that come from Venezuela or Cuba and they're very different than Latinos from Chile and maybe Argentina — and everything in between. ... We are connected by language but we are very diverse."
Latinos, we tend to disagree about all things because we are not homogeneous people. ...We are connected by language, but we are very diverse.
–Alejandro Puy, Salt Lake City Council
For Puy, the month is an important opportunity to highlight the state's largest but often invisible minority group. However, he believes recognizing the state's half-million or so Latino and Hispanic residents should go well beyond Hispanic Heritage Month.
"It's important to highlight the community as part of that idea that when we're here, we're not invisible, and we're not just something that you think about when you're just trying to mow your lawn. It's more than that," he said. "That's something that sometimes we forget is we celebrate and we say 'Yay, we have all these amazing successes,' but then we stop right there. And that is where sometimes we fail."
Richard Jaramillo, president of Utah Coalition of La Raza and a native Utahn, is a bit more cynical in his observations about the month.
"There are certainly many authentic celebrations that take place and our community does a good job trying to put out there those opportunities for people to learn about our culture and experience our culture. And there's a lot there to celebrate," he said. "At the same time, maybe it's the cynic in me, that sees it often taken advantage of as a false, inauthentic and somewhat duplicitous way of celebrating a community for a month or a day when you then substantively don't do a damn thing for them the rest of the time."
Salvador Ceja-Monroy, a Mexican-American resident of Ogden, agrees. He believes the month is used by some corporations to "virtue signal when they do nothing to help Hispanics," which is why he thinks the way the month is celebrated in Utah can be improved in the future.
"Here it feels like we have to do it. There's no help from local or state government," he said, adding that Ogden has been an exception. "The state and local governments do not have to plan the entire events, but they should offer their support — offer up public places to host events. That way it doesn't seem like state and/or local governments are using Hispanic Heritage Month as a way to virtue signal."
Others aren't so sure the month holds any value at all.
Juan Perez, a Mexican man living in Saratoga Springs, said there is absolutely nothing he likes about the month.
"It needs to die. I am an American, (no) need to bring up where I am from or my skin color," Perez said in response to a KSL.com survey about Hispanic Heritage Month. "Hispanic heritage month is a disgrace to all Hispanics and every person of every skin color."
Despite the month's roots in Hispanic countries, the celebration is fairly U.S.-centric. Many Hispanic and Latino immigrants don't even know about the month until relocating to the United States.
María Paula García Ospina, a Columbian immigrant, for example, had never heard about Hispanic Heritage Month until about a month before the celebration started this year. Moving to the U.S. has been a bit of an identity adjustment for García.
"When I moved here, the first thing I did was look for my community," she said. "We, in Colombia, are not very proud of our Colombian roots. So when I moved here and I met many people from Colombia, they are so proud of everything. It's funny because I feel more Colombian here than I felt in my country, so having these spaces where you can celebrate that, it's been great to me."
She also contends there's a need to look at the month critically and understand the history of Latin America, as well as U.S. involvement in the region.
"This country's always promoting everything, so you go to a store and it's full of things — and it's the same for any kind of celebration," García said. "I think it's very important to know why we are celebrating, and mostly we have to really think about how to help our community. If we are celebrating, it's not just a party."
Carlos Alejandro Moreno, a Venezuelan immigrant, had also never celebrated the month until moving to the U.S. But he's since leaned into the month, organizing a celebration with his church congregation, as well an awards ceremony with Reps. Burgess Owens and Chris Stewart to recognize individuals who are making a difference in the Latino community.
He said Hispanic Heritage Month, in his opinion, helps non-Hispanic Utahns better understand the differences among different Hispanic cultures.
"It's a one-month opportunity to celebrate our heritage and highlight who we are," Moreno said. "America is the country where we have this beautiful opportunity to show who we are and to keep our heritage and also celebrate this heritage."
