Latino (demonym)

This article deals with the use of the term Latino. For the peoples covered by the term, see Hispanic and Brazilian American.

For the singer known as Latino, see Latino (singer).

A Latino (and often Latina for females), is a person of Latin-american descent, either an immigrant or Native to any other country.

Usage

Although, for example, an American of Irish descent is an Irish American and an American of Middle Eastern descent is a Middle Eastern American, an American of Latin American descent is not known as a Latin American American (sic). The word Latino has come to be used instead. It is perhaps borrowed from Spanish latino, shortened from latinoamericano.(wikt:latino, m-w)

Latino refers strictly to any American (U.S.) having Latin American background. Although people from Spain self-categorize as latinos in the Spanish language, that translates as "Latin", as the Spanish, along with the French, Italians, et al, are members of the Latin peoples, the Romance-speaking nations of Europe.

Though Latino is often taken to be a synonym with "Hispanic", these two terms are not actually identical (more on this below). Neither term is the name of a racial group.

Inhabitants of the U.S. having a background in countries of the Western Hemisphere where other Romance languages are widespread (such as Aruba or Haiti) are usually thought of as "Caribbean" or "West Indian" rather than "Latino," since they neither speak Spanish or Portuguese nor share in the Spanish or Portuguese culture. Inhabitants of French Guiana and the French West Indies, for example, are often thought of as having more in common culturally with their English-speaking Caribbean neighbours than they do with residents of Mexico and Central and South America.

The English language does not usually distinguish between the male and female genders. This leads many native English speakers to say "Latino" when referring to a woman. Some see this as incorrect since, in Spanish, the form Latino is male. Some speakers, especially those with knowledge of Spanish, use the Spanish form Latina when referring to a female.

Comparison with related terms

The term Latin is sometimes used and defined as though it were synonymous with Latino or Latin American ([1]), e.g. Latin jazz, "Latin music"; the Latin Grammy Awards is an event in which many 'Latins,' including Brazilians and Spaniards, Puerto Ricans, etc, participate. However, although these terms overlap in meaning, they are not synonymous. "Latin" most properly refers to the Latin peoples (Romance-speaking Europeans) and also (at least) to those tracing most of their ancestry to them, which includes scores of millions of Latin Americans and millions of Latinos, but not all the members of either group.

A "Latin American" is an inhabitant of Latin America. Although "Latino" is sometimes used instead of "Latin American," it is Latin American immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants who are officially known as Latinos in the U.S.

The terms "Hispanic" and "Latino" are not interchangeable, either. The latter applies to any American with origins in a Latin American country, including Brazilian Americans, although not all the latter accept the designation. Official use of the term Hispanic has its origins in the Census Bureau in the 1970s. Hispanics are people with origins in Spain or Hispanic America (the Spanish-speaking American countries). Also included may be people with origins elsewhere but who are of Spanish ancestry. That is, "Hispanic" does not include Brazilians or any other population not of Spanish heritage. (There are other senses of the term Hispanic that apply to both the Portuguese and the Spanish. See Hispania) Hispanics of Hispanic American origin are included under "Latino," whereas Hispanics with origin elsewhere are not, as their countries are not located in Latin America; for example, those with origin directly from Spain — i.e. not via Latin America — are Spanish/Spaniards or Spanish Americans, and Latins.

The Hispanic American countries are cultural descendants of Spain; Brazil is a cultural descendant of Portugal. Generally speaking, when in doubt, "Latino" is the term to go with in reference to Americans with Latin American origin, as it is usually understood to apply both to Hispanics and Brazilian Americans.

Analysis and critique of the term

There has long been debate about the use of the term Latin in the name Latin America and by extension about the term Latino. But the use of the word Latin evokes the geographical and historical commonality of Latin American peoples, whereas a racial or linguistic definition might exclude millions of descendants of the Native Americans, African slaves, Asian immigrants, and probably others.

Latino activist groups in the U.S. such as MEChA, Crusade for Justice, Brown Berets, Black Berets, and the Young Lords often preferred "Latino" because they felt it is more inclusive of the broad range of peoples of Latin American origin. Other groups such as the Mexica Movement reject it and describe it as a racist term that denies indigenous identities. The group states that "Latino" falsely lumps together people of different races merely because their ancestors were colonized by Spanish Europeans.

Others prefer to use "Latin," e.g. the "Latin Kings." Some claim that use of "Latin" instead of "Latino" is increasing as Latinos become more integrated in the American way of life and English becomes the primary language of younger Latinos. They further claim that the change is already taking place within the public school systems.

The Latino group is typically contrasted with other U.S. groups, e.g. European American and African American. It is often incorrectly given racial connotations. However, the group does not correspond to a race, but to a group of people who have much in common but are often racially unrelated to each other.

Perhaps due mostly to the fact that "Latino" is generally recognized, incorrectly, by the average American as a synonym of "Hispanic", some Brazilian Americans (Brazil is Portuguese-speaking), when included under the Latino definition may or may not feel comfortable, but the latter seems to be the most common occurrence. Other non-Spanish speaking people originating from other Latin American countries may feel similarly, due to the perceived negation of their language and diverse ethnic heritage by the generalization of the term.

Related terms in other languages

Latino in some of the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, literally means a person from the Lazio (ancient name: Latium) region in Italy, as well as a member of any of the modern European Romance-speaking nations or peoples (Latin peoples).

It must be emphasized that "Latino" in English and "Latino/latino" in other languages, though related, have different meanings and are of course different words (except that in U.S. Spanish Latino is mostly used in the same sense as the English term). The Spanish adjective latino (feminine: latina) directly translates to English as "Latin", not "Latino". The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines ten meanings for latino, which can refer to Lazio in Italy, the Latin language, and any of the Romance-speaking countries and peoples in Europe or America (Latin America).[2] Spaniards view themselves as being Latins, the same as Italians, Romanians, French, and the Portuguese. It is also worth mentioning that in Spanish, latino, just like any other gentilic, is by convention not capitalized as it is in English.

Most people in Latin America consider Latinness to be a culture or a lifestyle to some degree, in Brazil as well as in Spanish-speaking countries in the region. Many Latin Americans therefore describe themselves as Latin whether they are of white, black, Amerindian, Asian, or mixed descent (Mestizo, Mulatto, Zambo, etc).

See also

• Boricua
• Chicano
• Hispanic America
• Ibero-America
• Isleños
• Ladino
• Latin America
• Latino Australian
• Latino Canadian
• La raza
• List of U.S. cities with Hispanic majority populations
• Mexican American
• Tejano

Europe

• Ancient Rome
• Latin
• Latin Europe
• Latin peoples
• Latin Union
• Latium
• Spaniards
• Latin American British

External links

• Latino History
• Mexica Movement Indigenous rights and education organization that aggressively challenges the application of the Hispanic and Latino labels toward people of Mexican and Central American descent. The groups states that the US government's usage of the term "Hispanic" is a top-down method of ethnically cleansing their indigenous identities.
• PBS 'A Cultural Identity' Examines the creation of the Hispanic label by Richard Nixon.
• Latino USA The Radio Journal of Latino news and Culture.
• Soy-latino.de Latin Community People in Germany.
• Latino Issues Forum Nonprofit Public Policy and Advocacy Institute
• Latino Sports Legends
• Latin America Network Information Center
• What's In A Name?
• Latin Dictionary and Grammar
• Latinomigrante.com: Latino Community Portal in US,Canada
• National Young Lords