Some people assume he is Mexican. Others think he is from Southeast Asia. With his black hair, smooth dark eyes and tawny complexion, IU sophomore Melvin Tejada doesn't blame them. \n"I'm dark," he said. "I've had some people in my life think I'm Indian."\nYet Tejada's ethnic background is neither Mexican nor Indian -- his parents actually emigrated to the United States from El Salvador 30 years ago. \nTejada is Latino. At first glance, it can be easy to misidentify a person belonging to this group.\n"Every single Latin American and Caribbean country has different types of people within that country," Tejada said. "El Salvador has dark, dark people, and light-skinned, blue eyed people, and then people like me in the middle."
Mistaken Identity\nSalvadorans, along with people with roots in other Spanish-speaking nations of the world, are all categorized in the United States under the term "Hispanic" or "Latino."\n"The term 'Latino' says more about my heritage and culture," Tejada said. "'Hispanic,' to me, closes off the other cultures that have greatly influenced what Latino people are today." \nThis term makes for a group with a great deal of internal diversity. It encompasses many races and countries of origin, making it difficult to point out a Latino at sight. \nSometimes these internal differences cause divisions within ethnic or racial Latino groups. But for Tejada, unity among Latinos is important. He seeks to maintain his Salvadoran heritage, while also uniting the IU Latino community by forming a fraternity, he said.\nTejada said he isn't insulted when he's mistakenly called Mexican. The assumption is easy to make since approximately 60 percent of Latinos have a Mexican background, according to the U.S. Census. He simply reminds people that his cultural heritage is from El Salvador, a separate country with different people, culture and traditions. \n \nMelting Pot\nAll Latin countries have undeniably experienced a mixing of many different cultural influences.\n"All the different Latin American countries have been colonized by a European country, whether it was Portugal or Spain, and have gone through very similar experiences in that colonization," said Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa, IU's Latino Cultural Center.\nThis experience brought the indigenous communities conquered by the Europeans together with foreign peoples introduced to the Americas either through slavery, like the Africans, or people fleeing from European wars, she said.\nEileen Diaz McConnell, contractor with the Census Bureau and visiting professor of Latino Studies at IU, agreed there are similarities within Latinos but warned of the problems with the common terminology.\n"There are a lot of similarities among Latinos, and a lot of the same kinds of issues affect every single group," McConnell said. "I think that the terms (Hispanic or Latino) are useful. But I do think at the same time we shouldn't ignore the diversity within Latinos."
Minority of a Minority\nAccording to the U.S. census, Latinos represent just 2.5 percent of the Bloomington population. IU's Latino population is even less -- only about 2 percent of students on campus are Latino. \nWhat this means for IU Latinos is they can't afford to be divided.\n"I think in general, students on campus who are Latino are going to see a lot more unification than division," McConnell said. "I think when you are a small population differences like that might be less important."\nBut when Tejada transferred to IU after his freshman year at DePaul University, he found a Latino community that lacked unity, he said. He sensed division within the Latino students, even at the Latino Cultural Center.\n"You kind of see the same people at La Casa all the time," Tejada said. "There are definitely new faces coming around, but there's always a core group."\nIn fact, a girl Tejada spoke with said she was "repulsed by the idea of La Casa." She went to high school with many of the students that hang out there and wished they would meet new people instead of clinging to past relationships, he said. This feeling of internal hostility and separation gave Tejada a desire to reach out to other students and help create unity within this diverse community.\nFor Tejada, the answer was starting a fraternity. After meeting girls from one of IU's two Latina sororities who were giving Salsa dancing lessons at La Casa, Tejada said he realized there was no similar group for Latino men. Earlier attempts had been made at starting Latino fraternities, but none lasted. Tejada became determined to create a successful organization and after some research, sent out an interest survey for Latino men on his idea.\nBy spring of 2002, Tejada had assembled a core group of six men committed to the same ideals he was. They began communicating with national and University officials in order to become an official chapter of the Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity.\nFor now, their status is set as an "interest group," but they have already started to function as the fraternity they will become, sponsoring events, building relationships and getting involved in community service. \nThe men recently showed their commitment to the community by holding a multicultural open house at IU for students from all over Indiana. They ate breakfast and lunch with students and their parents, participated in panel discussions, gave them campus tours, walked them to academic sessions and answered their questions, hoping to convey a sense of kinship between Latinos in Bloomington. \nTejada's determination and personal vision has turned the fraternity into a committed group of eight that not only participates in events but attends movies and parties together on the weekends. They will begin pledging in the spring. \nFor Tejada, the group brings much-needed unity to the diverse Latino community.\n"The fraternity will bring unity not only among the members themselves," he said. "One of the fraternity's goals is Latino awareness and culture awareness, and by holding events and bringing speakers to campus and sponsoring events with other organizations, that will include the entire campus and the Latino community."
Exploring their Roots\nFor many Latinos, acknowledging diversity comes by holding onto their unique ethnic heritage. As well as being Latino, they come from distinct countries with different cultures and customs.\nFor Tejada, his connection with his family helps him stay in touch with his Salvadoran roots. Whether it's a story about his grandmother's life during El Salvador's Civil War, a lesson from his mother about the Salvadoran national anthem or a traditional meal including pastelitos -- fried dough filled with meat -- Tejada and his five older siblings grew up observing Salvadoran traditions. \nEven though he has never been to El Salvador, Tejada said he feels it is an integral part of who he is.\n"It doesn't mean anything that I haven't been to El Salvador," he said. "I was raised in that culture, and it's something I've always been a part of." \nCasillas said ethnic heritage is important to developing a sense of identity.\n"The strength of your identity is very much rooted in what you see as your past and your ancestors," she said. "Identifying your ethnic heritage has to do with your own self esteem -- knowing who you are and where you fit."\nEmbracing this unique heritage can cause divisions among Latinos.
Ethnic Tensions\nIU's Latino Studies Program Director, Jorge Chapa, grew up in Chicago and witnessed tension between the Puerto Rican community and the Mexican community. Since Puerto Ricans are considered U.S. citizens, it was easier for them to be active politically than for Mexicans, he said. The Mexicans, however, made up the majority of the Latino population in the area, and in turn felt underrepresented.\nTejada, who is from Chicago as well, feels the same tension between the Mexicans and the Puerto Ricans there, he said. Since there are a smaller number of Salvadorians, he hasn't experienced much hostility towards his nationality. But areas with large concentrations of Latinos are often breeding grounds for tension,Tejada said, especially New York, where the Puerto Ricans and the Dominicans are at odds.\n"People wear the Puerto Rican flag as a T-shirt, on a bandanna, on their gym shoes or on their pants," Tejada said. "I think people feel the need to show (their national pride) because they feel like they need to prove something to the U.S. That causes a segregation that could cause tension within the different groups."
A Community United\nInter-Latino unity has a broader impact as well. It provides political power for Latinos, McConnell said, which is necessary since few politicians are Latino. Unity is important for Latinos in the same way that the NAACP is important for African Americans, McConnell said -- to give them a voice.\nSo even though the "Hispanic" category was imposed upon Latinos by the government, there are benefits to associating oneself under this term. Latinos can band together politically and make more of an impact than if they had associated only in national origin groups, Ye Le Espiritu wrote in his essay "Theories of Ethnicity: An Overview and Assessment."\n"Although it originated in the minds of outsiders, (a term like Hispanic) is a political resource for insiders, a basis on which to mobilize diverse peoples and to force others to be more responsive to their grievances and agendas," Espiritu wrote. \nFor now, Tejada strives for unity on the local level and keeps busy organizing his fraternity and participating in various campus Latino organizations. And he always makes an extra effort to reach out to students who seek connection in the Latino community. When a classmate recently revealed to him he lived across the hall from a student from Venezuela, Tejada was quick to invite the student to hang out with him and other Latinos.\n"A lot of times people have no idea that we're all there," Tejada said. "I just try to get the word out." \nNo matter what a student's ethnicity or race -- Mexican, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, light-skinned, dark-skinned -- Tejada said he sees past these differences and has a bigger picture in mind.\n"Latinos are a really small minority here," Tejada said. "If we separate by ethnicity and country of origin, we are going to be our own worst enemies. We need to be united if we're going to get anything done"
