Hispanic and not American: Food for thought

    By now, at the age of 46, I should have a very clear sense of my own identity. Most times I do. I consider myself blessed for many reasons. One of them is being comfortable in my own skin and knowing who I am. However, it has definitely been a journey. There were times in the past in which I was a bit confused.
    The confusion began when I arrived in St. Bernard Parish during the summer of 1979. My family came to Meraux to visit my relatives on a three-week vacation, which was unexpectedly extended indefinitely. It did not take long to become familiar, thanks to the support of relatives and new friends, with our new neighborhood, school, culture, language, and many other aspects of life in the USA.
    As odd as it may seem, one issue that took some getting used to was being categorized as Hispanic instead of American. I was born in Nicaragua, and when we left on that three-week vacation, I was 14 years old. Until then, the thought of being a Hispanic and not an American never crossed my mind. I considered myself Nicaraguan, Central American, Latin American, and American but never Hispanic.
    There are different definitions for what a Hispanic is or should be. For the sake of my sharing with you, let me just say that the Hispanic concept was created in the early 1970s as an attempt to group together people residing in the U.S. who have Latin American background and speak Spanish.
    In Nicaragua I learned that that America was one continent subdivided into North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.  Over time, I realized that for most people in the U.S., I was not an American until I became a United States citizen in 1991.
    Yes, it took 12 years to go through the process of becoming a citizen. I will not go into the details of that process except that I did everything by the book, and it obviously took too long.
    Years ago I decided that I would just go with the flow and not be bothered by what category people place me in. Hispanic, Latino, American, Hispanic-American and other labels work for me. I am all of the above and more.
    The more comes from being a son of God. I feel right at home in his house. There are definitely many faces in God’s house, and to be a member of it I do not have to worry about what ethnic category I belong to.
    We all belong in his house; all are welcome.
    Martin Gutierrez is vice president of Community Services Ministry for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans and a member of the Racial Harmony Implementation Committee.