A Chicano Heritage Month? Yes and here's why, this legislator says

As a child growing up in California, Rep. Lou Correa watched as his Mexican American neighbors returned from having served in the Vietnam War and still had to fight against discrimination, poverty and segregation.

That period crystallized his identity as a Chicano, a term for Mexican Americans that was once considered derogatory but then became synonymous with ethnic pride during the Civil Rights Movement.

Correa, a Democrat, sees nothing wrong with celebrating all the different Latino heritages in the United States but says there is a need to spotlight the historical and cultural significance of Mexican Americans, who account for 61% of U.S. Latinos.

Correa, who represents a Southern California district that includes cities such as Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange, Stanton and Fullerton, has reintroduced a proposed resolution recognizing August as Chicano/Chicana Heritage Month. More than 60 members of Congress have sponsored the resolution.

Although Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually in September, the proposed resolution seeks to place Mexican Americans at the forefront — recognizing them a month before.

“Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates Hispanics in the United States — absolutely important,” Correa said in an interview, but added, “Is the Cuban struggle the same as the Mexican American struggle? Probably not. We have similarities, but it’s not the same.”

Mexican American history, as Correa noted, is tied to the history of the Southwest, the farmworker movement, legal rulings such as the fight for desegregation, and activism such as against the Vietnam War and for civil rights.

“Even a lot of us don’t remember,” Correa said. “This stuff is kind of in the rearview mirror and we want to make sure it’s in the front mirror, so to speak, so people can see it and say, ‘This is who I am’ — and remember why things are the way they are. It’s because of the history, and they can be proud.”

The term Chicano shifted during the Chicano Movement, or El Movimiento, which focused on civil rights for Mexican Americans centered on fair wages, education and housing.

A major highlight of the movement took place during the National Chicano Moratorium of 1970. More than 20,000 demonstrators organized in the streets of East Los Angeles in protest of the Vietnam War as Mexican Americans were dying at twice the rate of any other group. Demonstrators protested disparities in public education, systematic exclusion and high unemployment rates among Mexican Americans.

Yet despite gains, Correa noted Mexican Americans continue to face disproportionate representation in both the private and public sectors and still grapple with prejudice against the community as seen in the 2019 attack on Latino shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that left 23 people dead.

Correa and the co-sponsors argue that the rhetoric around Chicanos must be turned positive, considering the diverse contributions they bring to the country and culture.

He noted the resurgence in recent years of younger generations taking ownership in Chicano and Chicana identity. Santa Ana became the first major U.S. city to declare August as Chicano Heritage Month in 2021 and Anaheim designated August as Chicano/Chicana Heritage Month this year.

The backdrop for the resurgence in Chicanismo is in California, where Latinos, the majority of them Mexican American, are now 39 percent of the population and represent the state's largest racial or ethnic group.

The resolution also seeks to celebrate Chicano figures like labor movement leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chávez, along with Selena (Quintanilla-Pérez, known as the Queen of Tejano), and the landmark Mendez v. Westminster, which made school segregation of Mexican Americans illegal.

The Chicano/Chicana Month resolution co-sponsors include Latino legislators from California, Texas, New York and Illinois, including Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas; Yadira Caraveo of Colorado; Andrea Salinas of Oregon; Chuy García of Illinois; and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, among others.

“What we’re trying to do with our Chicano/Chicana Heritage Month is remind people — just telling our story,” Correa said.

The resolution is the latest push for increased Chicano and Latino representation. A group of California-based lawmakers led by Sen. Alex Padilla and Reps. Linda Sanchez, Judy Chu and Tony Cárdenas introduced a resolution in June to honor Gloria Molina, the first Latina elected to California's state Assembly and the first to serve in the Los Angeles City Council, among other offices.

There's also been a decadeslong push by Latino legislators for a national Latino museum, but funding has recently stalled amid pushback from Republicans.

“The Latino Museum is needed now more than ever,” Correa said, adding that it "would remind people of the contributions of Latinos to this great nation and why we have also built this great country."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com