'Soup and Substance' discusses interracial marriage
Luncheon occurs for Hispanic Heritage Month
Management faculty member Luis Perez-Batres speaks on a panel about interracial marriage on Sept. 26 in the Bovee University Center.
What do Cardi B, Bruno Mars and Jeff Bezos have in common?
All three have Hispanic or Latino relations, according to the Office of Diversity Education.
This was one tidbit of Hispanic trivia presented to attendees of the "Soup and Substance" luncheon on Sept. 26.
Honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, the theme of the event was "Life Through the Eyes of the Other: A Conversation On Interracial Marriage."
The luncheon featured a panel of Central Michigan University staff members who are in interracial marriages. Patricia Young, associate director of Admissions and Multicultural Recruitment, and Luis Perez-Batres, department of management chairperson, each brought unique perspectives to the table as they addressed the opportunities and challenges brought by their interracial marriages.
"I grew up only embracing my Mexican culture," Young said. "My husband is African American, and we tried hard to embrace our ethnicities and cultures and religions."
For Young and her husband, their wedding was the biggest test on embracing both cultures.
"I grew up in a very religious Mexican-Catholic family, and my husband grew up Black-Baptist," she said. "We tried very hard to incorporate his family, who was not catholic, into our traditions."
Though Perez-Batres and his wife were both born in Mexico, many assume they are a couple of different ethnicities because they have different accents.
"My wife, whenever we go to a store, people usually think she is from Europe," he said.
Though coming from different backgrounds can sometimes place a strain on interracial marriages, overcoming those challenges is enriching, Young said.
"We struggle every day with how we will raise our children, what kind of cultures and traditions and religion we will teach them," she said. "It’s just overcoming and embracing each day and challenges. It’s rewarding when you overcome that."
As of the Spring 2018, CMU had 825 Hispanic-American students, according to the Office of Diversity Education. CMU's total on-campus percentage of Hispanic students is 3.65 percent.
Hispanic Heritage Month at CMU is celebrated annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. For a full list of Hispanic Heritage month events, visit the Multicultural Academic Student Services website.
