There are many terms used to describe folx who were either born in or are descendants of family members who were born in Latin America. The common terminology up for debate has typically been between the words Hispanic and Latino, but what if we add Latinx
and Latine into the mix? Gasp! Which one do we use? Below is a breakdown of the history of each of these words and their meanings, followed by some guidelines you can follow when deciding which term to use.
Hispanic
First used in the US census in 1970, the word Hispanicoriginates from the Spanish word “Hispano” which refers to a person whose cultural traditions are from Spain. That being said, Hispanic is a language-based identity term meaning from a country that primarily speaks Spanish. This includes the European country that colonized most
of Latin America, Spain. Today, Hispanic is still a widely used and accepted term by those within and outside of the community.
Pros:
Gender inclusive Widely accepted and used by those who share the identity in the US.
Cons:
Excludes non-Spanish speaking Latin American countries (e.g., Brazil). Highlights Spanish colonialism. Underemphasizes indigenous
history, culture, and civilizations.
Latino
A shortening of the Spanish word “latinoamericano”, Latinocame about in the 19th century as Latin American countries
began to declare their independence. Hence, Latino means from Latin America. In Spanish, mixed-gender groups are automatically addressed using the masculine
form of the noun or adjective. Therefore, the word Latino is interpreted as including everyone. Recently, alternatives to using latino include latino/a or latin@ to be more gender inclusive, however, these terms only refer to people who identify within the gender binary. The term Latino was first included in the 2000 census with the question “Is this person Spanish/Hispanic/Latino?” and is widely used and accepted today.
Pros:
Includes non-Spanish speaking Latin American countries. Widely accepted and used by those who share the identity in the US and Latin America. Centers independence from Spain.
Cons:
Not gender inclusive
Latinx
While it has been largely used in English-speaking academic spaces, Latinx has been around for about 20 years and originated among Spanish-speaking LGBTQ+ communities in the US. It gained popularity after many news outlets and headlines used Latinx to
report on the Pulse nightclub shooting as a term inclusive of the many identities outside of the gender binary. In English, the “x”, has been used to signal inclusivity like in the words “folx” and “womxn.” As such, the word Latinx has been criticized since it anglicizes the Spanish language and is not easily pronounceable by Spanish speakers. Latinx has not been popularized outside of online and academic settings, as only 3% of Latinos in the US use it regularly.
Pros:
Gender inclusive
Cons:
Not widely used and accepted by Spanish speakers. Anglicizes the Spanish language. Difficult to pronounce and pluralize in Spanish.
Latine
Originating alongside Latinx, Latine can be more easily pronounced in Spanish. The “-e” ending can be used as a gender-inclusive substitution of the “-o” and “-a” endings of many Spanish nouns and adjectives (e.g., “Latine orgullose” meaning “proud Latine”). It can also be pronounced and pluralized in English more easily (e.g., “Latines” vs “Latinxs”). Despite this, some within the community call the use of the words Latinx and Latine cultural imperialism, where US culture is having an unreciprocated influence on Latin American cultures.
Pros:
Gender inclusive Grammatically flows in both Spanish and English languages. Easy to pronounce and pluralize in Spanish.
Cons:
Considered cultural imperialism by some. Not widely used and accepted.
We are currently in an era where all these terms are used and accepted differently by people in various places of the world. If you are from or have roots in Latin America, call yourself what feels best for you. If this means you want your nationality
to be centered rather than the all-encompassing terms described above, go for it! You might also feel like you need to use different terms based on where you are or with whom and in what language you are speaking. That is A-OK.
If you are speaking to or about someone from or with roots in Latin America, ask how they self-identify. No, this doesn’t mean that you should ask the basic microaggression “where are you from?” to every person you meet in the US who you assume has ancestors
from Latin America (that’s a blog post for another day). If someone’s ethnicity is not relevant to the conversation being had, it probably doesn’t need to be brought up.
Lastly, if you are writing about this group, check out NPR’s journalism guide on steps you should take to determine how to identify
people.
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Gender inclusive
Excludes non-Spanish speaking Latin American countries (e.g., Brazil).