End Heritage Months; They Disrupt and Distract

By Joe Guzzardi
September 28, 2010

Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15, may be the best example of multiculturalism gone too far.

The Hispanic celebratory month started innocuously in 1968 when President Lyndon Johnson approved the idea. Ronald Reagan eventually expanded it to a 30-day period.

If you live in California, Hispanic Heritage Month festivities can overwhelm the social and cultural landscape. School bulletin boards, classrooms, libraries and extra-curricular activities center on Hispanic themes.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation that concluded: “I join all Californians in honoring the ways in which California’s Latino population makes our state a terrific place to live. I commend our Hispanic citizens for keeping the traditions of ancestry and culture alive, and for enriching California with their diverse and venerable heritage.”

Although some Californians would prefer it if Hispanics subordinated their ancestral traditions in favor of assimilation, no one challenges Schwarzenegger’s statement.

But what about the rest of us—the non-Hispanics who also come from a “venerable heritage” and have “enriched California”? Where’s our proclamation?

I’m a third generation Californian of Italian ancestry. My family has worked, paid taxes and obeyed the law. Some have served in the military.

I’m want Schwarzenegger to acknowledge, with similar effusiveness, that October is also Italian Heritage Month.

We California Italians have plenty to recommend us.

One of the main driving forces behind California’s growth and prosperity was Amadeo Pietro Giannini, founder of the Bank of Italy which became the Bank of America. Under Gianninni’s guidance, the bank financed the Golden Gate Bridge as well as the film, aerospace and agriculture industries, all essential to California’s economic health.

St. Helena’s Robert Mondavi, a Stanford University graduate, is an outstanding example of an innovative entrepreneur who introduced California wines to an international market and got the world to acknowledge them as among the finest.

With the proceeds of his success, he opened the Mondavi Center at the University of California at Davis and founded America’s Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa. With his wife Margrit, Mondavi also helped restore the Lincoln Theater in Yountville and the Cantor Arts Center in Palo Alto.

One of the most famous baseball players in history, Joe DiMaggio, was the son of Sicilian immigrants. Born in Martinez, Di Maggio and his two brothers Dominic and Vince patrolled center field flawlessly for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.

I don’t have anything against people knowing and understanding their heritage. At the same time, I’m fiercely opposed to ethnic separatism.

Creating divisions among nationalities leads to trouble, as Schwarzengger knows as well as anyone.

A few years back, at the California State Fair, different cultures had special days that featured food and entertainment specific to that nationality.

But each year, gang violence that pitted one group against another disrupted the fair and spoiled it for every one.

In a long standing tradition, the fair’s final day was Black Culture Day. Invariably, when the sun set, trouble began.

Finally, fair officials headed by Schwarzenegger acknowledged the obvious. Multicultural days were a headache and a risk to safety and security. The fair no longer offers them and everyone is happier.

The same logic should prevail for the special “awareness” months and diversity celebrations, many of which are conducted on the public dime.

Anyone who wants to embrace his culture is free to do so in the privacy of his own home. But what binds us is, or should be, that we are all Americans, first, last and always.

Joe Guzzardi has written editorial columns—mostly about immigration and related social issues – since 1990. He is a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and his columns have frequently been syndicated in various U.S. newspapers and websites. He can be reached at [email protected].