BY MICHELLE SENCION
My family is from the Dominican Republic and since I was little I have always been “Spanish” or “Hispanic”. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that this was not only wrong, but really different. Even if my family and I speak Spanish, it does not mean we are “Spanish”. Even though the people of Latin America and of Latin American-descent speak Spanish, we are very different from Spanish people. The terms Hispanic and Latino have their own discourse as far as which term people use to identify themselves. Spanish, Hispanic, and Latino are all different terms that mean very different things to many people.
This article from Feminist Culture elaborates on this topic:
Spanish vs. Hispanic vs. Latinx: What’s The Difference?
By Lizabeth M.
There have been numerous times in my life where I was called “Spanish” or told it was the same thing as Hispanic or Latino, even though I am not Spanish. Although the majority of people grouped under the terms Hispanic and Latino speak Spanish, they are typically very different from actual Spanish people. People like to use the terms Spanish, Hispanic, and Latino interchangeably, even though each of those terms means something different.
Although Spanish is a language as well as a nationality, its origins are in Spain. Being Spanish means you are from Spain, which is obviously quite different than being from Central or South America. Someone who is Spanish is white. According to the Google definition, Hispanic means, “of or relating to Spain or to Spanish-speaking countries, especially those of Latin America.” or “a Spanish-speaking person living in the US, especially one of Latin American descent.” This is just a simple definition. Although Hispanic could pertain to being Spanish, considering it’s “[related] to Spain,” it’s typically used to refer to people from Latin America. However, Hispanic is not always interchangeable with Latino. Hispanic refers to someone from a Spanish-speaking country, which typically refers to Latin America (excluding countries like Brazil since its language is Portuguese). Someone from Brazil would be Latino, but not Hispanic. This brings me into the next term – Latino. Google defines Latino as, “(in North America) a person of Latin American origin or descent, especially a man or boy.” Latinos, or Latinx (the gender neutral term) just refer to people who have origins in Central or South America. This is different from Spanish, which means from Spain, and different from Hispanic, because not all Latinos are Hispanic.
However, Hispanic and Latino are very controversial terms that a lot of people placed under those labels do not like being called and choose not to identify with. The term “Hispanic” came from the Nixon administration in an attempt to clump all Spanish-speaking people together under one name. “Hispania” comes from the old name for Spain. Ultimately, this term connects us with our white colonizers, which many people with indigenous roots dislike and for that reason choose not to identify as Hispanic. Latino derives from the term Latin. According to www.nas.org, “in Spanish, it means someone belonging to the people of ancient Latium, in Italy, whose language was Latin; so the Romans of course were latinos. Another and related meaning of latino in Spanish refers to someone who belongs to the cultures of the Romance Languages, that is, those peoples whose language, and to a varying extent, whose culture, too, derive from the language and civilization of Rome, which was latin.” So basically, it also connects us to our white colonizers. To disassociate us from our white colonizers and to embrace indigenous roots, terms like Chicanx, or xicanx, and Nican Tlaca have been invented.
Chicano refers to someone who is Mexican-American, while Xicanx goes a little bit deeper into that. According to web.utah.edu, Ana Castillo, inventor of the term Xicanisma, “deliberately uses the ‘x’ in the spelling to pay homage to her indigenous roots by incorporating the Nahuatl language of the Mexica and their usage of ‘x’ in their language.” This term is used to accentuate individuality as Mexicans and acknowledge indigenous roots. Another term used to decolonize is Nican Tlaca. Mexica-movement.org defines Nican Tlaca as, “all of the people of our Indigenous race in the Western Hemisphere.” Nican Tlaca means people indigenous to Cemanahuac, which encompasses North and South America. When talking about a group of people, always ask them first before automatically referring to them as Hispanic or Latino, as these are terms a lot of people indigenous to Cemanahuac do not identify with.
This article from Feminist Culture elaborates on this topic:
Spanish vs. Hispanic vs. Latinx: What’s The Difference?
By Lizabeth M.
There have been numerous times in my life where I was called “Spanish” or told it was the same thing as Hispanic or Latino, even though I am not Spanish. Although the majority of people grouped under the terms Hispanic and Latino speak Spanish, they are typically very different from actual Spanish people. People like to use the terms Spanish, Hispanic, and Latino interchangeably, even though each of those terms means something different.
Although Spanish is a language as well as a nationality, its origins are in Spain. Being Spanish means you are from Spain, which is obviously quite different than being from Central or South America. Someone who is Spanish is white. According to the Google definition, Hispanic means, “of or relating to Spain or to Spanish-speaking countries, especially those of Latin America.” or “a Spanish-speaking person living in the US, especially one of Latin American descent.” This is just a simple definition. Although Hispanic could pertain to being Spanish, considering it’s “[related] to Spain,” it’s typically used to refer to people from Latin America. However, Hispanic is not always interchangeable with Latino. Hispanic refers to someone from a Spanish-speaking country, which typically refers to Latin America (excluding countries like Brazil since its language is Portuguese). Someone from Brazil would be Latino, but not Hispanic. This brings me into the next term – Latino. Google defines Latino as, “(in North America) a person of Latin American origin or descent, especially a man or boy.” Latinos, or Latinx (the gender neutral term) just refer to people who have origins in Central or South America. This is different from Spanish, which means from Spain, and different from Hispanic, because not all Latinos are Hispanic.
However, Hispanic and Latino are very controversial terms that a lot of people placed under those labels do not like being called and choose not to identify with. The term “Hispanic” came from the Nixon administration in an attempt to clump all Spanish-speaking people together under one name. “Hispania” comes from the old name for Spain. Ultimately, this term connects us with our white colonizers, which many people with indigenous roots dislike and for that reason choose not to identify as Hispanic. Latino derives from the term Latin. According to www.nas.org, “in Spanish, it means someone belonging to the people of ancient Latium, in Italy, whose language was Latin; so the Romans of course were latinos. Another and related meaning of latino in Spanish refers to someone who belongs to the cultures of the Romance Languages, that is, those peoples whose language, and to a varying extent, whose culture, too, derive from the language and civilization of Rome, which was latin.” So basically, it also connects us to our white colonizers. To disassociate us from our white colonizers and to embrace indigenous roots, terms like Chicanx, or xicanx, and Nican Tlaca have been invented.
Chicano refers to someone who is Mexican-American, while Xicanx goes a little bit deeper into that. According to web.utah.edu, Ana Castillo, inventor of the term Xicanisma, “deliberately uses the ‘x’ in the spelling to pay homage to her indigenous roots by incorporating the Nahuatl language of the Mexica and their usage of ‘x’ in their language.” This term is used to accentuate individuality as Mexicans and acknowledge indigenous roots. Another term used to decolonize is Nican Tlaca. Mexica-movement.org defines Nican Tlaca as, “all of the people of our Indigenous race in the Western Hemisphere.” Nican Tlaca means people indigenous to Cemanahuac, which encompasses North and South America. When talking about a group of people, always ask them first before automatically referring to them as Hispanic or Latino, as these are terms a lot of people indigenous to Cemanahuac do not identify with.