Why Italians Can Also Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, And Vice Versa

National Italian American Heritage Month (October 1st-31) overlaps with Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th-October 15th), and perhaps rightfully so, because Italian Americans and Latin Americans have so much in common, in some cases even DNA. 

Note: For purposes of this article, we will routinely refer to Hispanic Heritage Month as Latino or Latin American Heritage Month since so many countries south of the US-Mexico border have many different racial groups and speak languages other than Spanish. Brazil, for example, is a Portuguese-speaking nation.

Why have a "....Heritage Month" to begin with? Are we all not just Americans? Why segregate ourselves? The concept of the "Heritage Month" in the United States was originally simply a way to bring wider awareness to the history and culture of certain ethnic or racial groups that have made America what it is and are proud to be Americans, yet still got overlooked and even outright ignored in our school history textbooks and in pop culture for a number of decades. It is not meant to segregate Americans or give preference to certain racial or ethnic groups at the expense of others. In recent years, however, this has not always been the case some cultural groups, like the Irish and Italians among them, have felt left out and demanded one for them as well. Today, every month is dedicated to some ethnic or cultural heritage, be it Irish, Italian, German, Jewish, Hispanic, Black, Asian, and on and on...again, we are all fellow Americans and proud of it, we just simply want our history respected and shared.

One could argue that Italians and Italian Americans can celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and Hispanics can claim Italian Heritage Month, for the historical fact that without Italians, Latin America may very well not exist. It was Italian navigator Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus in English, Cristobal Colon in Spanish) that "discovered" the Americas for Europeans after all (not ignoring the fact that the Indigenous population have been here for millennias before that) and thus paved the way for the Spanish and Portuguese to colonize it and make it "Hispanic" or "Latino", and that both continents, North and South, were named after an Italian, Amerigo Vespucci. However, lets delve deeper; Latin America is racially and culturally diverse, Sao Paolo alone has the largest Asian community outside of Asia and the largest Italian community after New York City and Italy itself, yet we as Americans, or more correctly, our American government, decided to lump all of these different peoples into one simple if not incorrect label: Latino or Latin American when it includes Brazil (because they speak Portuguese), and/or Hispanic when speaking of everyone else from south of the US-Mexico border (definition  being "anyone from a Spanish-speaking country.") This article, as this website, does not discount the great heritage and contributions of Latin America's Indigenous populations and of its Spanish and Portuguese conquerors and colonizers, however, this website is looking at everything from an Italian-American perspective so that is why we are discussing Italians in regard to Latin America and Latin American Heritage Month, and  is why you will soon read and discover that some Italian Americans can celebrate it too. And why some "Hispanics" can celebrate Italian American Heritage Month. Notwithstanding the fact that the Italians once ruled Spain (through the Romans) and the Spanish once ruled Italy (through the Hapsburgs and Bourbons.) But you'll read about that soon enough.  

In the United States today there is a narrative played out that I find mind boggling: many Italian Americans and Latin Americans/Latinos/Hispanics look at each other as being members of different races and cultures. And yes, while few in number, there still are today racist Italian Americans who are prejudiced against our neighbors from south of the border. Why is this mind boggling to me? Well, for several reasons. Number one: As mentioned above, HISPANIC IS NOT A RACE. There are actually many races and cultures in Latin America. Two: Some Latin Americans are White Caucasians, particularly if they are of full-blooded Spanish or Portuguese descent (Spaniards are Caucasians) And three: Not only do Italian Americans and Latin Americans have a lot in common superficially, like our language, cuisines, religion, family values, and more, but there are millions of Italians in Latin America. 

Treatment in the United States

Like Hispanics today, Italian immigrants of the late 1800s/early 1900s faced much of the same harsh treatment and suspicion. Before the majority of their American-born descendants integrated into the larger American culture and society, Italians were seen as "the other," "foreigners," even "undesirables." Media of the time routinely portrayed Italians as "swarthy", prone to crime, to carrying knives, not fighting fairly, and being very clannish. Sound familiar? The victims of the largest mass lynching in American history were Italians, thanks in no small part to these media stereotypes. Also notable, that before the Civil Rights Movement, Italians were considered "Latins" here and Italian neighborhoods would routinely be also referred to as "Latin Quarters." Remember Rudolph Valentino, the "Latin lover"? Yet now when I go out and declare myself "Latin," as a very White-skinned Italian American I get laughed at, even by Hispanics and by my fellow Italians! I asked two friends of mine, both Italian Americans who know and are very proud of their Italian ancestry, where the Latins came from? One answered Spain and the other said Mexico! At least the one who answered Spain got the continent right!

Our large, closeknit families, our Catholic religion, our cuisine, even our language is similar.... we have so much in common that I was watching a TV drama about a Hispanic drug cartel and the only difference between it and The Godfather was that the main character was speaking Spanish as opposed to Italian!

Europe

Like all human beings on the planet, Italians and Latin Americans are related genetically if you go back far enough into ancient history, but more recently we can look at the Roman Empire. At its peak, of course, the Roman Empire spanned the entire Mediterranean and most of Europe, from Morocco, Libya and other North African nations to Turkey and Israel, all the way up to Great Britain. And of course, to the Iberian Peninsula where Spain and Portugal are today. Some Romans went to Spain, and some Spaniards went to Rome. In fact, some Roman Emperors were Spaniards, notably Trajan (98-117 CE) and Hadrian (117-138 CE).  

Who we today refer to as "Romans" were originally called Latins before the founding of Rome, thus the name of their language being "Latin," and they spread their Latin language and culture throughout the Empire, including to Spain. To this day, any group of people that speak a "Romance language" like Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Romanian are speaking languages derived from Latin and could be labeled as "Latins." Italians are definitely Latins being that the Latin tribe who started the whole thing came from Italy! But I digress....

Later, through the Hapsburgs and Bourbons, Spain ruled, directly and indirectly, parts of today's Italy for centuries and some Spaniards did migrate to it within that time.

Latin America

Coming back to even more modern times, since Italy as we know it today did not exist at the time Spain was conquering and colonizing the Americas, many of the missionaries, explorers, colonizers and even Conquistadors were of what we can now call Italian descent. (Columbus? Fr Eusebio Kino? Etc...) 

Yet even later, into the 1800s and 1900s, Italians immigrated from the newly formed nation of Italy to parts of Latin America. They went to almost every nation there, but Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay received the majority. More: Imigrantes Italianos and ORIUNDI.net

Brazil

website of a city in Brazil: Berço da Imigração Italiana - Experimente Farroupilha

According to Connect Brazil: The Brazilian Minute, sponsored by the Consulate General of Brazil in Chicago, 

"Just like the United States, Brazil is a melting pot nation for immigrants. Especially for Italians, who began flocking to Brazil in the late 1800s. They came to grow coffee but were successful in business, the arts, and politics, too.

Today about 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent influence daily life everywhere. Like Brazilian pizza and wine. Sao Paulo’s famed soccer club ‘Palmeiras’ was founded by Italian-Brazilians. And even that traditional Brazilian ‘goodbye’ tchao has that Italian flair.

Famous Brazilians like singer Marisa Monte, Brazilian American actress Morena Baccarin (The Endgame, NBC), and Chicago Bears field goal kicker Cairo Santos all have Italian roots.

More Italian descendants live in Brazil than in any other county outside of Italy. That’s why Sao Paulo’s ‘Italian Immigrants Day’ on February 21st is always a special occasion. " Read more here.

More resources.

Brazil Culture

Argentina

According to "Italians & La Dolce Vita in Argentina" on WanderArgentina.com, "With several waves of immigrants arriving from the boot-shaped nation since Argentina won independence from Spain, it seems every second person here has an Italian surname, and of those who don’t, most will have an uncle or a grandmother hailing from Genoa, Sicily, Friuli or thereabouts.

An estimated 30 million Argentines out of the population of 45 million have at least one Italian ancestor. Visitors will notice the family resemblance as they try to avoid the flailing arms of an animated conversation on any of the narrow sidewalks of downtown Buenos Aires.

These Italian descendants refer to themselves proudly as ‘tanos,’ Lunfardo slang for Italians.

Even Argentina’s beloved Pope Frances’ father was from Italy and he grew up speaking Italian.

Argentina may have been colonized by the Spanish originally, but it is fair to say that the Italians had an equal, if not even greater influence, over many areas of Argentine life, such as politics, food, fashion and language.." Read more here.

And according to Italian-Argentinean culture: that’s amore! on SouthAmericaWineGuide.com, "There’s no other South American country that is quite so… Italian. Clorrie Yeomans explores the Italian connection in Argentina, and discovers how Italian culture has influenced the language, cuisine and customs of Argentina.

"If you have been to Argentina, then you might have wondered, ‘Why do Argentineans eat so much pizza and pasta?’ Or ‘Why are there so many Argentinean words which don’t exist in standard Spanish?’ Argentina is commonly considered to be the most European country in Latin America, due to mass immigration during the late 19th and 20th century. However, there is a common preconception that Argentinean culture is primarily influenced by Spanish culture. In reality, if you visit Argentina, then you will notice that there is a huge Italian influence which has enriched their national identity." Read more here.

More resources.

Mexico and the American Southwest

Fr. Eusebio Kino Statue in Tijuana

Fr. Eusebio Kino statue in Tucson, AZ

As said above, many of the explorers, missionaries, and colonizers of the Americas were of Italian descent, though they worked under the flags of other nations, most notably France and Spain. One was Fr Eusebio Kino, a priest born in modern day Trentino-Alto-Adige that set up missions across northern Mexico and what is now Arizona. He is famous for defending the Indigenous peoples from being enslaved in the Spanish mines. There are statues of Fr. Kino in Washington, DC, Tucson, Arizona, and Tijuana, Mexico. Not to mention in other parts of Mexico and back in Italy itself. You can learn more about Fr. Eusebio Kino in the following links:

• tucson.com
• DesertUSA
• Kino Heritage Society

In California, there were Italians in Los Angeles even when it was a Spanish colony. Like Giovanni Battista Leandri who owned Rancho Los Coyotes in present-day Buena Park, and the neighboring Rancho Cañada de la Habra, and married Maria Francesca Uribe, the daughter of a prominent Californio family. (The Californios were Spanish-speaking people of Latin American ancestry who were born in California during the era of Mexican and Spanish rule. During this era, Italians and Mexicans intermarried more frequently than any other group, according to the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles at IAMLA.org and at their permanent online exhibit here.) Leandri changed his name to Juan Leandry to better fit in among the Californios.

Pepino and The Mexican Revolution

To be continued....