Preferable Identities

A few days ago, a friend of mine asked me what was the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino. I quite frankly didn’t know how to answer. After all I use both terms interchangeably.

I do, however, acknowledge that I use the term Latino more often than Hispanic.

The answer to this question is more complicated than what it seems like. After being caught up with a question I thought I should have known and after doing some research, I came up with a not so inspirational answer, but here it is: It depends.

Using Latino or Hispanic has to do more with a self-identification, which means it’s up to an individual’s preferable identification. Some identify with the term Hispanic, others identify with Latino and others use other terms: Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Chicanos, Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and so on. Once again, it depends on what you identify yourself with.

People living in Latin America identify themselves as Latin Americans. I came to the United States when I was almost 16 years old. Back there, I never thought of myself as anything but hondureña (Honduran). Back here I am still Honduran, but I’m also Latina or Hispanic. However, it is not something that keeps me from sleeping though.

The use of the terms also has to do with a geographic location and how one grew up with, especially here in the United States.

“Often it depends on where in the country one live – SF [San Francisco] leans more towards Latino, Texas towards Hispanic,” said Cristina Azocar, a professor at San Francisco State University, who teaches cultural diversity.

According to Raza Studies Professor Carlos Cordova, the term Hispanic was created by the U.S. Census Bureau around the 1980s to identify people from Spanish-speaking countries, which includes Spain.

"Hispanic is more like a symbol of colonization and that many people don’t identify themselves with it," said Cordova.

Latino relates more to Latin American countries and “Latinos” from these countries relate more to it because the label Hispanic is more imposed to them, rather than a choice. In addition, Latino emphasizes gender. Latino refers to a male and Latina to a female.

Cordova who was raised in San Francisco, identifies himself first as Salvadoran; second as Central American; third as Latino and last as a human being. He said he deals a lot with these kinds of questions in his "acculturation issues of Raza" class at SF State.

“In New York people use the term Puerto Ricans and in Miami, Cubans,” added Cordova. “Mexicans don’t use Hispanic, they don’t like it.”

After all we are an ethnicity, not a race. We are very diverse in culture and color. We are dark-skinned and white-skinned, blue-eyed and blonde. Yet, we do have to mark an X in the non-white Hispanic category in government forms.

There isn’t a definitive answer for the proper use of the terms Hispanic and Latino. In the end it's not about what terms we use to identify ourselves or what labels the U.S. Census Bureau places us into, it’s about knowing where we come from. That's what makes the difference.