Latino Issues

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Rodriguez on January 30, 2009 at 6:31am

Fernando: what is your definition of "Latino"?

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Permalink Reply by Fernando A Camacho on February 3, 2009 at 3:41pm

The point here is to see how we can identify ourselves better, hispano or latino...

I don't have any preference, but a focus group we did in the past, the results were very impressive, most of the people from latinamerica in the ast cost wants to be identified as latino while in the southwest they would like more to be identified as hispanics.

Even though that the first time that the term hispanc was introduced in the United States was during the 60s when the federal government would like to classify certain individual living in this country, since then, the government and businesses here in the USA have used more and more the term hispanic.

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Rodriguez on February 3, 2009 at 5:02pm

..and what would be your take on the definition of latino? Who is included?

Fernando A Camacho said:

The point here is to see how we can identify ourselves better, hispano or latino...

I don't have any preference, but a focus group we did in the past, the results were very impressive, most of the people from latinamerica in the ast cost wants to be identified as latino while in the southwest they would like more to be identified as hispanics.

Even though that the first time that the term hispanc was introduced in the United States was during the 60s when the federal government would like to classify certain individual living in this country, since then, the government and businesses here in the USA have used more and more the term hispanic.

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Permalink Reply by Claudia Halfpenny on February 4, 2009 at 3:51pm

I think you guys have two different questions here. One is who is latino/hispanic and the other, what are the issues faced. Personally, I don't need to distinguish who is or not latino to answer this question. It's latino whoever feels that way for different reasons. According to my experience the issues are mainly social. Some social traits within the american society come very easy to americans but somehow make it harder for foreign people - all foreign people - to integrate. I am not saying we should all act the same way, and matter of fact, I believe in it being more fun when we're different but not in the professional arena, that doesn't seem to work very well. Corporations advocate for "vive la difference" but the bottom line is they want their employees to be predictable. Coming from different backgrounds that sounds a bit unrealistic to a certain point? What does everybody think? As for the first question - who's latino, hispanic and why I say it's a different string altogether. Post it if you want to discuss, I promise to put in my two cents if anyone wants to hear about it!

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Permalink Reply by Fernando A Camacho on February 6, 2009 at 3:03pm

This for example is part ot the Mercuarial blog talking about this isse:

Thats why is important for marketing purposes to identify how we can identify ourselves.

In a foucs group we did in the six major markets from the west to the east coast in this country we got interestings findings: The most important one, immigrants from Latin America no matter what country living in the east coast don't want to be called Hispanics, while people on the west prefer to be called Latinos

So this is part of that blog posted on Mercurial:

Latino vs Hispanic

Have you ever wondered whether to use the term Hispanic or the much more musical Latino?

This has troubled other people as well. Laura Luisa Negron Pagan, a Puerto Rican living in Texas, considers this concept and the exclusivity with which each of the Latinoamerican cultures experience each other, particularly in Texas, where Mexican culture seems to obliterate all the other ones. And she points to a yahoo definition of Hispanic:

A more important distinction concerns the sociopolitical rift that has opened between Latino and Hispanic in American usage. For a certain segment of the Spanish-speaking population, Latino is a term of ethnic pride and Hispanic a label that borders on the offensive. According to this view, Hispanic lacks the authenticity and cultural resonance of Latino, with its Spanish sound and its ability to show the feminine form Latina when used of women. Furthermore, Hispanic—the term used by the U.S. Census Bureau and other government agencies—is said to bear the stamp of an Anglo establishment far removed from the concerns of the Spanish-speaking community.

The Hispanic term is insulting, and it is the result of political agreements and the desire of some to be seen as pure, Spanish, as opposed to Latinoamericanos. On the celebration of the 500 years of the Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the emphasis was placed on what Europe, and particularly Spain, had brought to the new continent, America (No, America is the whole continent, not just the country north of Mexico), while minimizing the huge cultural contributions, disregarding the history and forgetting the genocide that said "conquest" meant.
And now, we all get listen to political groups trying to identify themselves with Hispanics, while ignoring the potential insult that such a word carries, and the negation of all that is from America, the continent.

Last Saturday, for example, we had our Hispanic Fiesta downtown, organized by the same group that throws their annual Spanish Nite. All good and nice, but the thing is that they try to represent and help immigrants from Latinoamerican countries. Insulting, definitely, and that is reflected in the general skepticism with which the immigrant community regards them, as totally separated from their daily experience. I am not Hispanic, because although part of my culture comes from Spain, it has been thoroughly transformed and modified by 500 years of a different, vibrant, live continent. I am not Hispanic, because my ancestors are indians, and blacks, and germans, and spaniards that came here looking for adventure and possibility.

I am the result of history, with my own beliefs and culture, as are all the other 300 million Latinoamericans, as are the other 35 million Latinos living in the USA.

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Rodriguez on February 9, 2009 at 12:20pm

I will ask my question a different way: there are five languages (lenguas romances) and sub-cultures derived from Latin; they are: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. All these are, by definition, latin laguages/sub-cultures and none more 'latin' than the other. Now, when you use the term Latino, are you including all these folks?

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Permalink Reply by Fabian on February 15, 2009 at 3:16am

Miguel: You have not answer Fernando's question. Chicano, Latino, Hispano, etc... Why to we have to categorize ourselves and fit in one box. What about the word Americans? Is that a term only for U.S. citizens or for the people in the America continent.

Job security and immigration is some of the major issues affecting our community. For example, the construction industry is laying off hundreds of Latinos/Hispanos/Chicanos/Americans/immigrants. Besides the standard consequences in home, Mexico, Central America, and South America are obtaining less "remezas" and less money is slowing their economies.

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Rodriguez on February 16, 2009 at 10:12am

That is precesely the question behind my question... Why do we tend to 'label' ourselves therefore, by definiiton becoming sectarian? What do we gain with that? Who do we want to leave out? Why?

Fabian said:

Miguel: You have not answer Fernando's question. Chicano, Latino, Hispano, etc... Why to we have to categorize ourselves and fit in one box. What about the word Americans? Is that a term only for U.S. citizens or for the people in the America continent.

Job security and immigration is some of the major issues affecting our community. For example, the construction industry is laying off hundreds of Latinos/Hispanos/Chicanos/Americans/immigrants. Besides the standard consequences in home, Mexico, Central America, and South America are obtaining less "remezas" and less money is slowing their economies.

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Permalink Reply by LANYON on February 16, 2009 at 7:22pm

Regarding our identity.... HIspanic or Latino? Blame the government and their politically correct emphasis, and to make the census process easier; now they have 17 different classifications. From the Hispanic Pew Center:
The word Hispanic is a generic term derived from the word España, which is the Spanish word for Spain. People of any race who trace their family origin to a Spanish-speaking country are Hispanic. Hispanic people can be of any race. They constitute a pluralistic society of many national origins.
Latino - because I am from Latin America.
Hispanic - Only because the U.S. Census Bureau created a new ‘category’ named "Hispanic".
Spanish – because I speak Spanish or am from Spanish ancestors.
Chicano - Describes the new mix of Mexican-American population.

I would rather that all this would go away and not be politically correct...... when you ask anyone what is their identity, the answer is Colombiano, Venezolana, Mejicano, Chileno, Argentina, etc. Only second, third generations are identified by Latino or Hispanic, mostly when dealing with governmental issues.

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Permalink Reply by Martha B. Gallegos on June 26, 2009 at 3:06pm

Latino is anyone whose culture is derivative of those countries which speak a Romance Language. Hispanic is anyone whose culture originated in HISPANIA, i. e. the Iberian Peninsula. Historically, los hispanos somos aquéllos que hablamos los idiomas de Hispania, como fue llamada por los romanos. Yo no creo ni en las categorias ni en las nacionalidades pero para propósito de este país qué remedio? pero no todos los hispanos somos latinos, si?

LANYON said:

Regarding our identity.... HIspanic or Latino? Blame the government and their politically correct emphasis, and to make the census process easier; now they have 17 different classifications. From the Hispanic Pew Center:
The word Hispanic is a generic term derived from the word España, which is the Spanish word for Spain. People of any race who trace their family origin to a Spanish-speaking country are Hispanic. Hispanic people can be of any race. They constitute a pluralistic society of many national origins. Latino - because I am from Latin America. Hispanic - Only because the U.S. Census Bureau created a new ‘category’ named "Hispanic".
Spanish – because I speak Spanish or am from Spanish ancestors.
Chicano - Describes the new mix of Mexican-American population.

I would rather that all this would go away and not be politically correct...... when you ask anyone what is their identity, the answer is Colombiano, Venezolana, Mejicano, Chileno, Argentina, etc. Only second, third generations are identified by Latino or Hispanic, mostly when dealing with governmental issues.

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Permalink Reply by Cesar A. Cisneros on June 30, 2009 at 8:17pm

As a person of Latin American heritage, I consider myself an American by all definitions. I do not accept or agree to be pigeon holed by people who do not know me or know about my background and customs, and I feel that people who coin labels to identify every one else but themselves, should also include themselves into the labeling game. After all, who ever gave any one particular group of people the exclusive right to call themselves absolute owners or inhabitants of the american continent ? The Northern Europeans who arrived at the shores of America nearly 200 years after the land had been discovered and populated by Spain, have somewhat assumed that they are americans and that the rest of us are not.
I am an American, I was born in America therefore I am a son of America the beautiful. Spanish was the first language spoken in america, and Spanish customs along with their advanced educational system were implemented and in full existence before any other Northern European country's was.
So to answer your question: As a person born in a Central American republic, I am an American whose first language is Spanish. An American with Indigenous and Spanish roots deeply imbeded in American soil.

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