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| 5/24 |
| 2004/11/24-26 [Politics/Domestic/California, Reference/Languages] UID:35066 Activity:high |
11/24 Hispanic and Latino: which term(s) are politically correct?
\_ Both are, but they refer to different things.
\_ So a Hispanic is someone with spanish ancestry and
a latino is someone who lives in a latin american country?
I'm confused. Please elucidate.
\_ I can tell you spic is not.
\_ Yes, the preferred term is 'wetback'
\_ similar questions: Latino vs. Chicano: What's the diff?
\_ chicano = mexican
\_ Both refer to the same thing, the guy who replied to you is
wrong. Latino is more PC west of the mississippi, hisapnic
on the East Coast. Dunno why, but that is just the way
it is.
\_ Uhm, no. Hispanic is someone of Spanish descent. Latino is
someone from latin america.
\_ So the only difference between these two overlapping
groups is Brazlians, who you claim can be called Latino,
and Spaniards, who you claim can be called Hispanic. Right?
Personally, I think you are wrong on both counts, but I
will ask my Brazilian and Spanish friends what they think.
Do you believe that Latin Americans of 100% native background
cannot be referred to as Hispanic? They are not of Spanish
descent, afterall.
\_ Well gosh, maybe my 30+ years as a Hispanic male have led
me wrong, what with having extended spanish speaking
family etc. Not to mention my relatives that are still
living in mexico.... Hispanic is a very general term,
what with the Spaniards having conquered half the freaking
new world. Latino is a subgroup within the domain of
Hispanicity; it's an ethnic grouping in a cultural sense
more than a racial one. As for 100% native background
people, I have no idea how they group themselves.
\_ Well gosh, maybe my 30+ years as a Hispanic male have
led me wrong, what with having extended spanish
speaking family etc, not to mention my relatives that
are still living in Mexico.... Hispanic is a general
term, what with the Spaniards having conquered half the
freaking New World. Technically, Latino is a subgroup,
though it only really covers Central and South America;
it's an ethnic grouping in a cultural sense more than a
racial one, but I suspect most Latinos would resent the
application of the Hispanic label. Chicano is the term
for an American from Mexico, though I doubt a Mexican
living in Mexico would refer to himself as 'Chicano'.
As for someone of 100% Native American background in a
Spanish speaking country, I have no idea how they group
themselves. In Argentina I suspect they'd group themselves
as 'rebels' and in Venezuela as 'normal' -- but now I'm
just being silly.
\_ Hmmm, why would people in South America refer to
themselves as "Latinos"? I thought they always
considerd themselves either as South Americans
or as people from their own country. In fact, I've
never heard someone from South American refer
to themselves as "latino" or "hispanic". I think
that these terms were produced by the U.S. to
create a false "race" of people who didn't speak
english but were for all practical purposes white
with a bit of mestizo mixed in. In fact, I've never
heard of anyone in Mexico refer to themselves as
"Latino" or "Hispanic." The only people who use
these terms are people in the U.S.
\_ *sigh* The original question was 'which is more PC'
and the proper answer has *NOTHING* to do with the
damn Mississippi. I've tried to explain what the
terms mean (not whether everyone accepts in all
geographical locations). Good luck.
\_ Well, it's pretty apparent to me that the terms
mean essentially the same thing. Trying to say
that one term artificially means A and another
term artificially means B doesn't mean that
what you say is correct. Since they're both
essentially artificial constructs to denote
people originating from people south of the
people originating from south of the
border they're both as "pc" as you are going
to get. One may as well argue whether chicken
should be called poultry or when exactly a
stream becomes a river. Completely a nonsenical
discussion.
\_ I would argue that this whole thread is a
nonsensical discussion because pc language
is all bullshit anyway. Language should be
used to communicate, not to express political
and academic trends. If you want to know what
to call someone, you should just fucking ask
them. I think the worst example of PC idiocy
I ever encountered was when I called some guys
"Chinese" because they were a bunch of Chinese
sailors on a Chinese boat who were hired in a
Chinese port, and an American told me I should
call them "Asian American." Obviously the
person who said this knew there was nothing
*American* about these guys, but once someone
starts thinking in PC speak, the brain just
turns off.
\_ For the same reason a caucasian American of
European descent probably wouldn't refer to himself
as "white" or "Germanic". All my friends who were
born in S. America identify themselves with their
countries. -John
\_ you're all wrong...
http://www.elboricua.com/latino_hispanic.html
in short: Hispanic - of Spanish heritage
Latin - from the geographic region of Latin America
Chicano - Mexican (sometimes meaning Mexican in the US)
\_ Er? I see at least 3 posters that are in agreement with you.
\_ That dude is hardly an authoritative source. |
| 5/24 |
|
| www.elboricua.com/latino_hispanic.html The word "Latin" comes to us from a tribe in ea rly Italy called the Latins. The Latins lived in Latium whose capital ci ty was Rome. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, as Rome's Empire grew their language, Latin, spread throughout the Roman Empire later evolving into several "Romance" languages; People from these countries are referred to as Latin, their language is derived from "Latin". These languages are very similar as explained by D r Lorenzo LaFarelle, a Chicano Studies professor at the University of T exas at El Paso, the word for cave in Spanish is "cueva", in Portuguese is "cova", in Italian is "cava". When the Romans invaded the Iberian peninsula they found a city already t here called Hispalis (Seville). The name Hispalis appears to be derived from Greek since Hispalus is a mythical Greek hero. Later on the Romans annexed the Iberian peninsula making it a province named Hispania. The R omans spent seven centuries in Hispania leaving a legacy not only of lan guage but of social and cultural characteristics such as family, languag e, and religion which tied Hispania to the rest of the "Latin" world for ever. The word Hispania thus refers to the people and culture of the Iberian peninsula, Spain in particular. The term Hispano (Hispanic) later was used in refe rring to Spain and its subsequent New World - New Spain, conquered terri tories which covers most of Latino America. Hispanic thus refers to peop le whose culture and heritage have ties to Spain and, in the case of sec ond and third generation Hispanic-Americans, who may or may not speak Sp anish. In the US the term Hispanic (Hispano) gained acceptance after it was pi cked up by the government and used in forms and census to identify peopl e with Spanish heritage. Hispanic is not a race but an ethnic distinctio n, Hispanics come from all races and physical traits. The term Hispanic is merely a translation of the Old World word Hispania (Latin) or Hispan o (Spanish). People from Latin America are all Latin but not all are Hispanics. Brazilians s peak Portuguese, which makes them Latin but not Hispanic. Lorenzo La Farelle explained that in the 20's and 50's the term "Latin American" be came very popular. Back then people of Mexican descent born in the Unite d States preferred to be called Latin Americans since they were not actu ally born in Mexico, they felt the term Mexican did not exactly fit them . Besides that often the term Mexican was used with a derogatory note. I n 1928 in the Corpus Christi - Laredo area a group of Hispanics spearhea ded LULAC (League of Latin American Citizens) to help combat discriminat ion and prejudice and to help Hispanics acculturate. Prior to Texas joining the Union, old Hispanic native families in Texas c alled themselves "Tejanos". After 1820 the Anglo population called thems elves Texans and the term Mexicans was used for all Hispanics whether ne wly arrived or not. The term "Chicano", is a more exclusive term used solely in reference to people of Mexican descent. Chicano was probably first used by the Conqui stadores, explained Dr. That term was changed to Mexicanos by the Spaniards and pro bably the "me" was dropped and thus the term Xicanos or Chicanos was bor n Sometime ago a popular and elite group of Mexican nationalist fighter s called themselves "Los Chicanos" and the name was picked up in the 197 0's by young militant Americans of Mexican descent to make a political s tatement. Although the term "Chicano" is an "old" word, explains Dr. LaF arelle, many elderly Hispanics of Mexican descent don't like it because the term had been used, long ago, as derogatory reference to Mexican pea sants or peons. The Tano Indians c alled their paradise Borikn, the term Boricua derives from that. We, Spanish speakers or people of Spanish heritage are Hi spanics or Hispanos. In the end it doesn't really matter much what we ca ll ourselves - Latinos or Hispanics - said Dr. LaFarelle, "somos todos p rimos" - we're all cousins anyway. We should respect our differences, en joy our close relationship and be proud of our cultural legacy. |