Pandemic looms over US Latinos on famous holiday
Matilde Gomez wants her mother, Gume, to know how much she appreciates her love and sacrifices. So she’s putting her feelings into a letter. But Gume Salazar will never get to read it.
Instead, it’s going on a table in Gomez’s home in Arizona that’s dedicated to her mother, who died of Covid-19. It will sit alongside fresh flowers and Salazar’s blouse on Day of the Dead, a holiday that Salazar actually didn’t care for much.
‘‘I would think she would be OK with it,’’ Gomez said. ‘‘ She would see this as a way for me to heal.’’
Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, the annual Mexican tradition of reminiscing about departed loved ones with colourful altars, is typically celebrated on November 1-2. It will be harder this year for Latino families in the US torn apart by the coronavirus.
Some are mourning more than one relative, underscoring the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on communities of colour. Adding to the misery, people can’t gather for the holiday because of the health risks.
Gomez’s mother and uncle
died of the virus a month apart during the northern summer. The siblings, in their 50s, had no underlying health conditions. Gomez only spoke to her mother on the phone once before she died in a California hospital.
On top of that, Gomez, 41, was diagnosed with breast cancer this month. She decided to schedule her surgery after Day of the Dead,
because she wanted her mother properly.
Day of the Dead usually revolves around an altar in the home or at a graveside with photos of the dead, their important belongings, and even favourite foods. They often are adorned with marigolds, which are believed to draw the souls of the dead.
to honour
Normally, the holiday would see parades in US cities with large Latino communities, and mourners would eat, sing and share memories. Covid-19 has scuttled those plans – but it hasn’t stopped people erecting altars to enjoy online or outdoors.
Mother and daughter Chicana artists Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza have overseen the design of an altar at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles since 2013. Ofelia, 88, is a fifthgeneration altar maker, and both were cultural advisers on DisneyPixar’s Coco, a movie centred around Day of the Dead.
‘‘ There’s this heightened awareness of the losses that are occurring not just in our city but around the globe,’’ said Rosanna, whose cousin died of a suspected coronavirus infection, while four other relatives recovered.
‘‘ I just feel like there’s a heightened awareness and more of a sense of reverence for life.’’
For Sebastian Diaz Aguirre, the altar in his Brooklyn apartment with Mexican sweet bread, coffee and a shot of tequila comforts him as he mourns his father. His father didn’t die from Covid- 19, but Aguirre believes that the isolation hastened his decline at a senior living facility.
Of the more than 6.8 million Covid-19 cases recorded so far by the US Centres for Disease Control, about half noted racial identity. Of those 3.6 million- plus infections, 990,000 affected Hispanic people.
Hispanics also made up the highest percentage of confirmed deaths in children 5-17 and adults aged 40-49.
More people of colour are essential workers and live in multigenerational households, which could contribute to higher rates of infection and death, experts say.
In Mexico, authorities have mostly closed cemeteries to keep families from congregating. Most US cemeteries and funeral homes aren’t closing but have cancelled large events.
Some, like Perches Funeral Homes in El Paso, Texas, have invited people to post altar photos on Facebook. CEO Salvador Perches said that with a rise of cases in El Paso and neighbouring Juarez, Mexico, it had been hard for grieving families to avoid gathering.
‘‘ People can’t celebrate their loved ones, we can’t mourn,’’ Perches said.