Helen Marshall sent us this piece:
[The op-ed piece in the Times the other day] appears to argue that El Paso does not have any problem just building a Hispanic Cultural Center (whatever that means, it is never defined, except by asserting what it is NOT) because by virtue of moving here everyone becomes Hispanic, unless you consciously opt-out. All you need is a strong preference for red or green sauce (I thought that was New Mexico’s motto…).
The current kerfuffle over the Hispanic cultural center is based on two misunderstandings: Culture is not race and a cultural center is not a history museum.
In the United States, people are assigned a race at birth. Usually this is done based on skin color.
Culture is developed by each individual over the course of a lifetime based on experiences, associations, and personal tastes.
Hispanics are as güera as Shakira and as dark as Nolan Richardson.
The Hispanic racial umbrella is based on the concept of mestizaje, the notion of an infinite horizon of hybridity. As the Mexican-American comedian Louis C.K. says, “Mexico is just like America — it’s made up of some white people, some black people, and some brown people.”
But Hispanic culture is not color bound. Anyone who lives in a Hispanic environment and adopts some of its customs becomes Hispanic.
This defines almost everyone in our city. If it doesn’t it’s not because they have been excluded, but because they have consciously decided not to participate.
If you have a strong preference for red or green enchilada sauce, you might be Hispanic.
If you think that “The House on Mango Street” or “The Last of the Menu Girls” speaks to your understanding of the world, you are definitely Hispanic.
But there is more than one way to be Hispanic.
Our musicians include Vicente Fernandez, Dinah Shore, Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, and Fergie.
Hispanic visual artists are just as varied. Frieda Kahlo is important. But so are Hal Marcus, Luis Jimenez, Gaspar Enriquez, and the endless interpreters of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Everyone who has settled in El Paso has contributed to the ongoing process of creating our unique Hispanic culture.
This includes the Buffalo soldiers who remained in our city after their enlistments and often married Mexican women, beginning the Blaxican culture of our community. It also includes recent arrivals who quickly learn that we don’t wear sombreros, but we appreciate a pair of Lucchese boots as much as a pair of Nikes.
It is the role of cultural centers to celebrate the contributions of everyone who has created that culture while acknowledging their races or previous cultural backgrounds.
A Hispanic cultural center should be designed to bring us together by examining the thousands of threads that weave our social fabric into a unique El Paso Hispanic tapestry.
Many of the desires of the proposed center’s critics are historic in nature.
Hopefully, Donald Williams and Bernie Sargent will address their legitimate concerns to the El Paso History Museum whose mission is to preserve and tell the story of El Paso’s past.
They should also visit a few other institutions before insisting that the proposed Hispanic cultural center become another history museum.
Mexico City’s anthropological museum is a good model for us.
It uses history to illuminate the origins of Mexico’s multiple cultures, but its chief focus is on the how the ongoing hybridizing process of culture creation is making Mexico a vibrant country today.
Juan Sybert-Coronado is a longtime El Paso educator.
elpasospeak 
Sybert-Coronado wants to make everyone feel good about naming it a Hispanic Cultural Center. His way of doing that is to convince us that we are all Hispanic. His comment about chile preference or Lucchese cowboy boots making someone Hispanic proves the absurdity of his argument.
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Just finished reading Juan Sybert-Coronado’s column from the El Paso Times…twice. For the first time in quite a while, I’m not sure what to say. Is this yet one more thinly veiled attempt at the quiet revolution wherby Mexico takes over the United States without firing a shot? I think it’s a great thing to be proud of your heritage if you are Hispanic or otherwise. I also think that it’s a great thing to be able to celibrate so many different cultures here in El Paso. Maybe, if we must have a “cultural center” it should be named The El Paso Global Cutural Center. Not because I’ve conciously decided not to participate but because people don’t automatically become Hispanic and our city’s cultural fabric is woven from a myriad of cultures from all around the world.
Longtime El Paso educator? Really? That’s a bit frightening.
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Blaxican culture of our community? never heard of it in my life.
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Instead of calling it an Hispanic center, why not just name it after a local Hispanic whose accomplishments are notable?
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That îs undoubtedly the worst comments. I have ever read. Chas and reality are on point.
When people move to El Paso or along the border, they are suppose assimilate. Thus becoming Texans or Americans. Nothing wrong with keeping your heritage, but if you miss it that much, why move here?
The name of the cultural center should be El Paso Culture or Multiculture center.
That is so outrageous that eating burroritos makes you a Mexican. I suppose I should my intake of spaghetti, lest I start singing opera !
Hispanic center, it doesn’t include Cubans, Puerto Rican, South Americans, etc. Those people aren’t accepted by Mexicans, but they’re Hispanics. So essentially, what is being asked is for a Mexican culture center. Heck, I see a Mexican in the mirror every morning and as I go about town I see Mexicans everywhere except for a few sprinkles of other ethic groups. When I get pulled over by the police, I see a Mexican in the rear view mirror. But, I need a culture center to remind me ?
Based on the educator’s comments, I can understand why the schools are producing low achieving graduates.
Oh sola mio !🔖🎶 Hay, whad did I tell ya! Too much spaghetti.
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Don’t we already have more than one cultural center in this town? Why, exactly, do we even need another? And, why does it have to single out one culture, rather than simply having to do with the culture of El Paso, which is indeed unique? Is it because we no longer have a City Hall?
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