Many Latinos refuse to celebrate Halloween and enjoy the day by doing other activities.
With the end of October comes the spookiest holiday of the year — Halloween. For some, this is a time to celebrate all things creepy, such as putting up Halloween decorations around the house and dressing up as a serial killer to collect candy. While this may sound like a fun time, for many Latinos, October 31 is best spent not celebrating Halloween.
For this group, this decision does not come out of nowhere, as their refusal to celebrate Halloween comes from a commitment that stems from personal choices. What that reason is varies from person to person.
“Now that I’m older, I really don’t celebrate it, nor does my family,” said Diego Evangelista, a 20-year-old student at the College of DuPage. “Honestly, this holiday just doesn’t interest me anymore. Around the time I got into high school, I stopped celebrating it.”
For Daniel Erazo, a student at the University of Illinois Chicago, his choice was grounded in his religious faith.
“I do not celebrate Halloween due to my religious beliefs when it comes to the holiday’s origins and traditions,” Erazo said.
Many Latinos choose to sit out Halloween, with varying factors swaying their decision not to celebrate.
However, for one Latino, he wasn’t able to choose, as tragedy pushed him away from celebrating the holiday.
“I was a freshman in high school, and I went to a Halloween party, and it got shot up,” said Valente Guzman, a 21-year-old student at DePaul University. “I witnessed two people die.”
“From there on, I realized this is not a joke anymore. I know I want something better.”
Many Latinos have valid reasons as to why they do not celebrate Halloween. While some of them treat the day as any other and go about their daily routines, many Latinos take advantage of the day to celebrate and have fun in other ways.
“On Halloween, I usually enjoy a movie with my parents,” Guzman said. “We watch a movie called Coco.”
As a mother of two kids and a kindergarten teacher, Claudia Hernandez would spend October 31 away from school with friends and family.
“We would get together with other families, and we would do activities with the kids,” Hernandez said. “We would do crafts and go to the movie theater.”
Halloween is such a huge staple in the United States that people forget that not everybody celebrates the holiday. If you aren’t celebrating Halloween, that doesn’t mean you are wasting the day for no reason. It is important to stress that people have genuine reasons not to celebrate Halloween, and they must be respected. It is also important to note that they can have just as much fun on October 31 as those who celebrate the holiday.
Header Image by Steph McClintic
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