Preserving Hispanic heritage
CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (USTCNS) --- Maintaining a strong emphasis on education and ensuring children remain bilingual to preserve their heritage were two key thoughts of retired Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Parsons during a Hispanic Heritage luncheon here.
A member of the Governor's Committee for Hispanic Affairs, Parsons, who spent most of his 28-year Air Force career in recruiting and supply, currently works as a district sales manager for a financial company.
Parsons cites four essentials in rearing children to honor their heritage, "We need to teach them about the supreme being; provide them love and security at home; ensure they carry a last name that they can be proud of and give them a good education."
Defined by Parsons, Hispanics are those people from Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Latin and Central America. Hispanic is not a race, but an ethnicity according to Parsons.
Hispanics soon will make up the largest minority group in the United States. "According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics comprised approximately 10.3 percent of the population in 1995, and today they already comprise 11.8 percent. In five years, Hispanics have grown from 27 million to 32 million people."
Master Sgt. Edison Velez Jr., organizer of the luncheon and a loadmaster in the 14th Airlift Squadron, explains that these events help people to better understand their culture and heritage. "For my 22 years in the Air Force, I've always been involved in these types of events. We need to share our cultural experience with others to show our diversity and how we contribute to society."
Parsons worries that more and more Hispanic families will abandon teaching Spanish to their children and said that is a tragic mistake. Citing an old proverb on the importance of teaching children to be bilingual: "success speaks many languages," he also said that bilingual ability allows your children to stay better attuned to their heritage and may even make them more employable.
"As Hispanics, we have strong cultural ties and prefer to speak in our own language, just like any other group of people. We prefer to do business with people we have something in common with, but many of our children have not learned Spanish. We need to look at the opportunities that are being lost." (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
A member of the Governor's Committee for Hispanic Affairs, Parsons, who spent most of his 28-year Air Force career in recruiting and supply, currently works as a district sales manager for a financial company.
Parsons cites four essentials in rearing children to honor their heritage, "We need to teach them about the supreme being; provide them love and security at home; ensure they carry a last name that they can be proud of and give them a good education."
Defined by Parsons, Hispanics are those people from Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Latin and Central America. Hispanic is not a race, but an ethnicity according to Parsons.
Hispanics soon will make up the largest minority group in the United States. "According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics comprised approximately 10.3 percent of the population in 1995, and today they already comprise 11.8 percent. In five years, Hispanics have grown from 27 million to 32 million people."
Master Sgt. Edison Velez Jr., organizer of the luncheon and a loadmaster in the 14th Airlift Squadron, explains that these events help people to better understand their culture and heritage. "For my 22 years in the Air Force, I've always been involved in these types of events. We need to share our cultural experience with others to show our diversity and how we contribute to society."
Parsons worries that more and more Hispanic families will abandon teaching Spanish to their children and said that is a tragic mistake. Citing an old proverb on the importance of teaching children to be bilingual: "success speaks many languages," he also said that bilingual ability allows your children to stay better attuned to their heritage and may even make them more employable.
"As Hispanics, we have strong cultural ties and prefer to speak in our own language, just like any other group of people. We prefer to do business with people we have something in common with, but many of our children have not learned Spanish. We need to look at the opportunities that are being lost." (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
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