Should i say hispanic or latino

Their goal was to find a single term that encompassed the burgeoning Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican populations in US states. After much deliberation, they landed on Hispanic. The term caught on, and thanks in part to a boost in popularity from ads aired on Univision and during Spanish-language TV shows, Hispanic became a more broadly acceptable label.

The form Latina refers to a Latin American woman. The reason for the inclusion of Latino? Portuguese, the primary language of Brazil, may not be Spanish, but it is also a Romance language—that is, it evolved from Latin, hence the term Latin America. Latin America is the part of the American continents south of the United States in which Spanish, Portuguese, or French is officially spoken as a result of European colonialism. Latinx emerged in the early s and has since spread as a gender-neutral or nonbinary way to refer to a person of Latin American descent.

The character x has been used to replace the gendered inflections -o and -a. The spelling Latinx has been embraced by groups that wish to include members whose gender identities are nonbinary. The term Latinx has been used since the early s, particularly online, with other early uses found in scholarly and academic works.

But the term has received criticism because the Spanish language, as some detractors point out , nouns in Spanish are gendered. For example, there is nothing particularly female about a library la biblioteca , or male about a museum el museo , but as you can see, the nouns end with the gendered -o or -a. When nouns and the words that modify them refer to people, the gender inflection reflects the sex of the person described. The final vowels distinguish between the smart boy el chico listo and the smart girl la chica lista.

So Latinx has been viewed by some as an imperialistic effort originating in the US that breaks the rules of the Spanish language. An important—and perhaps surprising—note on Latinx : according to one poll , the vast majority of Hispanic and Latin Americans say they do not identify with the word.

Learn more about Latinx at our extensive and informative Historical Usage Note at our entry for Latinx. Online searches for the term among the general U. But the first substantial rise in searches relative to all online searches appeared in June following a shooting at Pulse nightclub , an LGBTQ dance club in Orlando, Florida, that was hosting its Latin Night on the date of the attack. In addition, some academic centers at community colleges , public universities and Ivy League universities are replacing Latino program names that were established in previous decades with new Latinx-focused names.

In more than 15 years of polling by Pew Research Center , half of Americans who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking Latin America and Spain have consistently said they have no preference for either Hispanic or Latino as a term to describe the group. And when one term is chosen over another, the term Hispanic has been preferred to Latino. Importantly, the same surveys show, country of origin labels such as Mexican or Cuban or Ecuadorian are preferred to these pan-ethnic terms among the population they are meant to describe.

The relative popularity of Latinx in online searches in the U. Among these terms, Latina has shown the highest popularity, though its share of searches has been falling relative to its peak in June While some Hispanics say Latinx should be used as a pan-ethnic term, few say they prefer it over others.

The terms Latino and Latina are very limiting for certain people. Other responses from the open-ended question offer other descriptions of Latinx and reactions to it. Say "Alexa, enable the Pew Research Center flash briefing".

It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

Pew Research Center now uses as the last birth year for Millennials in our work. President Michael Dimock explains why. The census is used by the government to study aspects of the population. During the s, there was a common theme of poverty and discrimination among Mexican Americans in the southwest and Puerto Ricans on the east coast of the United States. While the government initially saw these as regional issues, the joining of the Latino communities across the nation to address these issues led to a new perspective and a new method of categorization.

Respondents could also identify their race e. The term Latino first appeared on the census as an option for ethnicity. Later, these terms were also introduced to forms of identification such as driver's licenses, birth certificates, and school registration forms.

In this way, the use of these labels serves the purpose of allowing the government to accurately categorize the changing population and to identify trends by shared cultures. Popular culture and the media have helped to connect the Hispanic and Latino communities and further popularize these groupings based on their shared experiences. Spanish-language media such as commercials, television shows, magazines, websites, news stations, and social media accounts reflect this understanding.

In general, the media appears to prefer the term Latino, likely because Hispanic tends to refer only to language, while Latino is broader and refers to people, music, and culture, etc.

Moreover, it's possible that in the media, the term Latino feels more inclusive. However, statistics suggest that many people still prefer to use Latino. According to Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Hispanic people feel that their Hispanic background is part of their racial background. This suggests that those who identify as Hispanic or Latino have a different conceptualization of race or ethnicity than others.

Further, within the Hispanic or Latino community, there are also differences in how people self-identify. This helps to distinguish themselves from those who share their race but have different cultural backgrounds. How do you know when to use which term? While it's true that the terms Hispanic and Latino can engender a sense of community and common history for those who self-identify, imposing one of these labels on another person is unhelpful.

Instead, it's best to respect whatever label a person gives themselves or to avoid labels altogether if that is their preference. In general practice, it's best never to ask someone about their ethnicity unless they bring it up. For some, this implies that they are a foreigner when they might have lived in the United States their whole life.

By the same token, if someone is trying to place a label on you that feels uncomfortable, you are free to choose your own identity. While Hispanic and Latino are sometimes used interchangeably, they have different meanings. Hispanic refers to individuals who are Spanish-speaking or have a background in a Spanish-speaking country.

Latino refers to those who are from or have a background in a Latin American country. These terms encompass culture, ethnicity, and identity and are rooted in shared cultures and not racial categories. Ultimately, Pew Research sums up the U. Census bureau's approach to determining whether someone is Hispanic as follows: "Who is Hispanic? Anyone who says they are. For more ways to live your best life plus all things Oprah, sign up for our newsletter! Your Best Life. Type keyword s to search.

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