16 Hispanic heritage spots on public lands
*Only one-in-ten visitors to national parks is Latino. Yet many national parks preserve U.S. Latino heritage. VL
By The Wildreness Society (12 minute read)
Hispanic communities in the U.S. have grown tremendously in recent years, and now make up the nation’s largest ethnic or racial minority at 17 percent. During National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) we salute the tremendous cultural contributions made to our increasingly diverse country by those whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
One area where those contributions are not always as visible as they ought to be: America’s public lands, which are experiencing a moment in the spotlight coinciding with the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016. National parks, monuments and other sites that chronicle U.S. history and culture do not often recognize Latinos and other traditionally underrepresented groups. When public lands do recognize Hispanic history or culture, they are usually associated with Spanish colonialism, and only rarely nod at more contemporary figures and events that matter to modern communities.
This ties into another disturbing trend, as the conservation movement grapples with the fact that our public lands are not often accessible to and inclusive of communities of color (A 2011 study found that only about one in every five visitors to a national park was nonwhite, and about 1 in 10 was Latino). READ MORE
[Photo by Ruben Andrade (NPS)]
