Hispanic or latin@/latinx

Disclaimer: this is a revised and updated repost from an old blog I use to write in called Viks Picks.

Living in California, I constantly find different terms to refer to the Spanish-speaking population living in this region. The immigration of people of different nationalities and regions makes it difficult to define a single name for all those who speak Spanish. Thus, the terms Hispanic or Latino(and it's recent form Latinx) have come to light and are often used interchangeably. But what are the origins and implications of using these terms? There are a lot of definitions for each of these words so let's start form their historic roots and make our way to their contemporary use.

Hispanic

The term "Hispanic" can find its beginnings in ancient Rome. The Romans called all the territory in the iberic peninsula, Hispania from as far back as the first century BCE by Latin writers as an alternative to the use of the term, Iberia. However, the word itself is not of Latin origin. Hispania comes from Phoenician and can be dated back to about the second millennium BCE. Since neither Spain nor Portugal existed in this time, all inhabitants of this land were residents of Hispania.  

The term became significant to the U.S. in 1970 when it was integrated to the U.S. census. It was used as another racial category that quickly had to be broadened to more of a cultural identification encompassing ethnicity, language and race. Thanks to America's idiosyncrasies, the attempt to group such a large mix of people under a single umbrella term resulted in a lot of confusion and controversy.

According to the RAE, arguably the most important dictionary of the Spanish language, Hispanic is defined as: inhabitants of the ancient Hispania Romana, as well as, the citizens of Hispanoamerica including Spain and all Spanish speaking people residing in any country but who are originally from a Spanish speaking country. However, in the United States, those from the Philippines, Guam and Spanish speaking Jews are not considered part of this definition. 


Latin, Latin@, Latinx

The term Latin finds its root in Latin (not surprisingly). Its use derives from the cultural differences of European countries that speak romance languages such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Romania(Latin Europe) with countries of more Germanic influence in central and northwestern Europe and the Slavic influences of eastern Europe.

The term Latin America is credited to a french ambassador of the XIX century who wanted to sever the emotional ties that the newly independent countries had with Spain in order to further France's interests in the region. This idea was accepted and promoted enthusiastically by intellectuals and political leaders in Latin America at the time who no longer looked to Spain and Portugal as a cultural model and started favoring France instead.

In the United States, The term Latin@ was officially adopted in 1997 as an alternative to the word Hispanic. However, the word is still a cultural reference, and not a racial one, which depends very much on how one decides to be identified.

Furthermore, this term has been updated recently to Latinx in response to gender inclusiveness and identification.


Confusion/Controversy in the U.S.

Because of their ambiguity, these two words have found themselves at the center of much debate, especially in the United States. The insistence on categorizing such a large group has proven very difficult for this country. So, if we assume that Hispanics are those who are or have roots in a Spanish speaking country, then we exclude Brazil and the territories of France and England in the Americas. If we use Latin@/Latinx, in terms of Latin America, then we exclude Spain and Portugal. But if we use the broader sense of the word Latin, then we include all of Latin Europe as well as their territories and any countries influenced by them.

The debate is expanded even further by different movements within these communities and in Ethnic studies and Chicano studies departments in academia. New definitions and perspectives are always emerging both to clarify or to further obfuscate. 

The reality is that these terms have a lot to do with political motivations as well as cultural identification. The elasticity of these words can serve to separate many people or to unify them, not only in the United States, but abroad as well. It is important to understand their reasons for being as well as their use or misuse.