COLUMBIA, S.C. — This week kicked off National Hispanic Heritage Month, a month recognized nationwide to celebrate Hispanic and Latino history, culture and contributions to their communities.
“This time is really important for us. It’s something heavily celebrated in our countries. It’s something that’s part of our roots,” Joel Gonzalez, a community member, said.
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
“We strive during this 30 days of September into October, to kind of focus on the contributing factors that we bring to the to the area, especially economically, through our school districts, through the work plans that we have, and, of course, through the services that we provide free to our community members,” Tonya Rodriguez-Hodges said.
Rodriguez-Hodges is the executive director of Latino Community Development, a group that serves the community by focusing on affordable housing, language services and food insecurity.
“September and October just allows us to honor ourselves, our heritage, our parents, our great grandparents. For those of us that are maybe second and third generation, it highlights all that we have to bring. It's such a wonderful diaspora of food and music and culture, and I think that we make the midlands better because we're a part of it, and we've been welcomed so humbly by the community,” she said.
The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs says the Hispanic population in South Carolina has changed throughout the years.
“Since 2000 the population has grown from 96,000 to around 350,000 that's a 366% increase,” Alex Tovar, with the commission, said. “We see an increase in, a higher rate of college admissions folks that are going to higher education institutions.”
According to the commission, the Hispanic population has an economic impact on the state as well, with more than 30,000 small business owners identifying as Hispanic.
“This population is going to, you know, it's exploded already, and it's just going to keep growing. We are going to see more Hispanic faces in organizations and and hopefully get more awareness for the Hispanic community in general,” Tovar said.