Hispanic

referring to people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Spanish-speaking countries of Caribbean, Central and South America, and Spanish descent, the term "Hispanic" dates from a Nixon-administration attempt to refine its census classifications. Concise and useful, "Hispanic" is preferred by some of those so designated but considered unacceptable by others. "No one was brought up being told, 'You are Hispanic,'" says Lorenzo Cano, associate director for the Mexican-American studies program at the University of Houston. "That's just a term bureaucracies have used for filing and government purposes. Hispanic is offensive to some; no one wants to be associated with Spain and its history of colonization and oppression in the Americas; Hispanic is too broad and offers the perfect excuse for not exploring the diversity among people who are referred to by that term." Author Sandra Cisneros refuses to have her writings included in any anthology that uses the word "Hispanic." Critics of the term argue that it indifferently categorizes and thereby effectively camouflages the cultural, ethnic, class, religious, and historical realities of some 59 million Americans (according to the 2017 U.S. Census) who share little more than varieties of the Spanish language, and sometimes not even that (the label can include Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, Europeans from Spain and Portugal who have settled in this country, French-speaking and English-speaking immigrants from Caribbean countries, and immigrant speakers of indigenous, South American Indian languages). However, Herman Badillo, a member of Congress from New York and a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said that the move to "Hispanic" was cheered among the nation's various affected communities because they stood to gain more political representation and government services as a result of the designation. Chicana activist Elizabeth "Betita" Martínez (in Teaching Tolerance), who prefers the term "La Raza," believes "that the advertising industry had a lot to do with 'Hispanic' becoming so established because of its desire to create a market that would encompass a single population. I don't use 'Hispanic' because it is Eurocentric and denies the fact that the people being labeled are not just of Spanish origin. Nor do they all speak Spanish. 'Hispanic' denies our indigenous or Indian roots. It also denies our African roots, from the thousands of slaves that were brought to Latin America." Those who do self-identify as Hispanics tend to be politically conservative business or political leaders or professionals integrating themselves into the mainstream and corporate cultures; "Hispanic" is a term of pride for those who claim it and current usage tends to be fairly evenly divided between "Latina/Latino/Latinx" and "Hispanic." Before using "Hispanic," (1) make sure it is the term of choice of those you are describing; (2) if it is not, use the term preferred by the individual or group (Latina/Latino/Latinx, Mexican American, Chicana/Chicano/Chicanx); (3) or list all the specific groups being referred to ("Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto Rican Americans"). See also Chicano/Chicano/Chicanx, Latina/Latino/Latinx, Mexican American, La Raza, Spanish.