Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren bold Bomb here here. In the United States, Hispanic
Speaker 1: Heritage Month runs from September fifteen through October. It's a
Speaker 1: time to honor and celebrate all of the amazing contributions
Speaker 1: of Hispanic Americans to our country and culture. But it's
Speaker 1: also a time when some people in the media stumble
Speaker 1: over the differences between the terms Hispanic, Latino, and newer
Speaker 1: gender neutral terms like latin X sometimes pronounced latin X.
Speaker 1: The confusion is real because the dictionary definitions of Hispanic
Speaker 1: and Latino don't always jibe with the way that the
Speaker 1: terms are understood and used in the real world. Let's
Speaker 1: start with the main difference between the official definitions of
Speaker 1: Hispanic and Latino. The term Hispanic was traditionally used by
Speaker 1: the U s. Census Bureau to cover anyone from his
Speaker 1: Spanish speaking country or their descendants. By that definition, you'd
Speaker 1: be considered Hispanic if you or your ancestors are from
Speaker 1: one of more than twenty primarily Spanish speaking countries around
Speaker 1: the world. That list includes Spain and countries in Latin America,
Speaker 1: which consists of South and Central America, plus some islands
Speaker 1: in the Caribbean. The term Latino, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: traditionally referred to people from Latin America, which includes people
Speaker 1: from non primarily Spanish speaking countries. So by these definitions,
Speaker 1: someone from Brazil whose main language is Portuguese or from
Speaker 1: Surinam whose main language is Dutch would be considered Latino,
Speaker 1: but not Hispanic. However, both of those terms are loaded
Speaker 1: with their own history and politics. The U S Census
Speaker 1: officially began using the word Hispanic in nineteen eighty as
Speaker 1: an umbrella term for Americans with origins in Spanish speaking countries,
Speaker 1: but not everybody was comfortable with that term. We spoke
Speaker 1: with Rolando Romero, who's the chair of the Department of
Speaker 1: Latino a slash Latino Studies at the University of Illinois
Speaker 1: at Urbana Champaigne. Romero was born in Mexico and immigrated
Speaker 1: to the United States at thirteen years old. For him
Speaker 1: and many others, the word Hispanic is too tied to
Speaker 1: Spain and doesn't reflect the lived experience of so called
Speaker 1: Hispanic communities in America, many of which have ties to
Speaker 1: Latin America rather than Spain. Romero prefers Latino, but believes
Speaker 1: it should only be used to describe Latin Americans in
Speaker 1: the United States, not people living in Latin American countries,
Speaker 1: and even then, he thinks that the word Latino falls
Speaker 1: short of describing most applicable people's self identity. He says
Speaker 1: that if you ask a Latin American person about their background,
Speaker 1: most won't say I'm Latino. They'll say I'm Mexican American,
Speaker 1: I'm Puerto Rican, I'm Cuban. Romero said, if you go
Speaker 1: to the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago, you'll see Cuban food,
Speaker 1: you'll see Colombian food, you'll see Salveldoran food, but you'll
Speaker 1: never see Latino food. Latino has become the umbrella term
Speaker 1: in the United States to refer to all those groups,
Speaker 1: but it's hardly ever used in real life, and Romero's
Speaker 1: impression is backed by survey data from the Pew Research Center,
Speaker 1: which found in the half of all Hispanic and Latino
Speaker 1: Americans had no particular preference for either term. When asked
Speaker 1: how they would describe themselves, said that they would use
Speaker 1: an origin term like Mexican or Dominican, simply said American,
Speaker 1: and only used an umbrella term like Hispanic or Latino.
Speaker 1: When describing himself, Romero uses Chicano, which is a term
Speaker 1: for Mexican Americans that arose during the Civil Rights Movement
Speaker 1: and still carries a note of pride and political defiance.
Speaker 1: We also spoke with historian Paul Ortiz, professor at the
Speaker 1: University of Florida. He explained, back in the day, in
Speaker 1: the fifties or earlier, generally the term Chicano was actually
Speaker 1: a term of derision. If you walked up to me
Speaker 1: and called me that term, there could be in trouble.
Speaker 1: It becomes a term of pride with the rise of
Speaker 1: the farm workers movement, the Mexican student movement in California
Speaker 1: and Washington, and so people began using that term Takano
Speaker 1: as a term of pride, as a term of self respect.
Speaker 1: Ortiz was born in nineteen sixty four and raised in
Speaker 1: California and Washington State. He said, where I grew up,
Speaker 1: Hispanic was not very popular. My elders would say Hispanic
Speaker 1: is something that the government tries to call us. That's
Speaker 1: not who we are. It's a census term. It's an
Speaker 1: official term that the government has for people like us.
Speaker 1: But he also said that those attitudes vary in different
Speaker 1: communities around the country, and here is where I must
Speaker 1: impress upon you that if there's any question at all
Speaker 1: in your mind, it's always best to ask an individual
Speaker 1: how they would prefer to be identified. This is also
Speaker 1: where the term latin X or latin X comes in.
Speaker 1: This term was born of the l g B t
Speaker 1: Q plus movement and of a desire to create a
Speaker 1: more inclusive term outside of the gender binary Latino being
Speaker 1: masculine or Latina being feminine. Romero worries that it's impossible
Speaker 1: to read the Spanish language of gendered words, though, and
Speaker 1: that latin X is confusing two native Spanish speakers. However,
Speaker 1: Maria are Charonne del Rio, counseling professor at Brooklyn College, disagrees,
Speaker 1: seeing the new word as a way of reaching out
Speaker 1: to people who haven't always been embraced by Latin American
Speaker 1: immigrant communities. She told NBC News. By using latin X,
Speaker 1: nobody is telling you how to identify. It's up to
Speaker 1: you if you want to be latin X, Latino or
Speaker 1: something else. It's really a way to be inclusive for
Speaker 1: people who are traditionally marginalized. That millisecond of politeness and
Speaker 1: recognition towards someone who is gender queer, tells them that
Speaker 1: you see them, that you're an ally. Ortiz published a
Speaker 1: book called An African American and Latin X History of
Speaker 1: the United States. In he said, the title was really
Speaker 1: picked by my students. At one point, I was going
Speaker 1: to use the term Latina, but they said, you know,
Speaker 1: professor Ortiz, we would really prefer you use the term
Speaker 1: latin X. We know among your generation it's still not
Speaker 1: too popular, but the world is changing. The cool thing
Speaker 1: is they're not using the term as just a term
Speaker 1: of self definition. They're using the term to try to
Speaker 1: create bridges of understanding between say Mexican students, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Haitians.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a bridge building term. Indeed, some people
Speaker 1: seem to be using the term latin X to refer
Speaker 1: to both Hispanic and Latin American people. The word latine
Speaker 1: has also been put forth as a gender neutral term
Speaker 1: that's a little easier to pronounce. Language is fluid, and
Speaker 1: according to an August twenty survey by the Pew Research Center,
Speaker 1: the term latin X has a long way before it
Speaker 1: catches on. The survey found that only about a quarter
Speaker 1: of Hispanic Americans have even heard of the term Latin X,
Speaker 1: and only about three percent use it, with those who
Speaker 1: are using the term tending to be younger, born in
Speaker 1: the United States and predominantly English speaking. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Dave Rus and John Donovan and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other
Speaker 1: curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Grain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts for
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