WEBVTT - What's the Difference Between Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.840 Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.840 Lauren bold Bomb here here. In the United States, Hispanic 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.920 Heritage Month runs from September fifteen through October. It's a 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.160 time to honor and celebrate all of the amazing contributions 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:22.200 of Hispanic Americans to our country and culture. But it's 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.920 also a time when some people in the media stumble 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.600 over the differences between the terms Hispanic, Latino, and newer 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.800 gender neutral terms like latin X sometimes pronounced latin X. 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.200 The confusion is real because the dictionary definitions of Hispanic 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.080 and Latino don't always jibe with the way that the 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:44.480 terms are understood and used in the real world. Let's 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.680 start with the main difference between the official definitions of 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:52.159 Hispanic and Latino. The term Hispanic was traditionally used by 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.640 the U s. Census Bureau to cover anyone from his 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.840 Spanish speaking country or their descendants. By that definition, you'd 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.000 be considered Hispanic if you or your ancestors are from 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.880 one of more than twenty primarily Spanish speaking countries around 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:10.000 the world. That list includes Spain and countries in Latin America, 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.800 which consists of South and Central America, plus some islands 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:17.759 in the Caribbean. The term Latino, on the other hand, 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:22.840 traditionally referred to people from Latin America, which includes people 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:28.319 from non primarily Spanish speaking countries. So by these definitions, 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.920 someone from Brazil whose main language is Portuguese or from 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.440 Surinam whose main language is Dutch would be considered Latino, 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:41.679 but not Hispanic. However, both of those terms are loaded 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.160 with their own history and politics. The U S Census 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.160 officially began using the word Hispanic in nineteen eighty as 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:52.120 an umbrella term for Americans with origins in Spanish speaking countries, 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:56.880 but not everybody was comfortable with that term. We spoke 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.600 with Rolando Romero, who's the chair of the Department of 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.640 Latino a slash Latino Studies at the University of Illinois 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:06.680 at Urbana Champaigne. Romero was born in Mexico and immigrated 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.399 to the United States at thirteen years old. For him 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.480 and many others, the word Hispanic is too tied to 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.200 Spain and doesn't reflect the lived experience of so called 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.320 Hispanic communities in America, many of which have ties to 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:25.360 Latin America rather than Spain. Romero prefers Latino, but believes 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.120 it should only be used to describe Latin Americans in 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:31.520 the United States, not people living in Latin American countries, 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.840 and even then, he thinks that the word Latino falls 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.480 short of describing most applicable people's self identity. He says 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.240 that if you ask a Latin American person about their background, 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:46.880 most won't say I'm Latino. They'll say I'm Mexican American, 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.880 I'm Puerto Rican, I'm Cuban. Romero said, if you go 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:54.240 to the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago, you'll see Cuban food, 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.320 you'll see Colombian food, you'll see Salveldoran food, but you'll 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:01.320 never see Latino food. Latino has become the umbrella term 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.600 in the United States to refer to all those groups, 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:08.400 but it's hardly ever used in real life, and Romero's 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.799 impression is backed by survey data from the Pew Research Center, 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.760 which found in the half of all Hispanic and Latino 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:20.040 Americans had no particular preference for either term. When asked 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.440 how they would describe themselves, said that they would use 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:28.480 an origin term like Mexican or Dominican, simply said American, 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.560 and only used an umbrella term like Hispanic or Latino. 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.960 When describing himself, Romero uses Chicano, which is a term 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:40.760 for Mexican Americans that arose during the Civil Rights Movement 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.960 and still carries a note of pride and political defiance. 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.960 We also spoke with historian Paul Ortiz, professor at the 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.480 University of Florida. He explained, back in the day, in 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:56.240 the fifties or earlier, generally the term Chicano was actually 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.480 a term of derision. If you walked up to me 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.520 and called me that term, there could be in trouble. 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:03.520 It becomes a term of pride with the rise of 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.720 the farm workers movement, the Mexican student movement in California 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.320 and Washington, and so people began using that term Takano 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.119 as a term of pride, as a term of self respect. 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:17.080 Ortiz was born in nineteen sixty four and raised in 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.080 California and Washington State. He said, where I grew up, 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.279 Hispanic was not very popular. My elders would say Hispanic 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.760 is something that the government tries to call us. That's 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.560 not who we are. It's a census term. It's an 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.240 official term that the government has for people like us. 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.960 But he also said that those attitudes vary in different 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.159 communities around the country, and here is where I must 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.839 impress upon you that if there's any question at all 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:47.000 in your mind, it's always best to ask an individual 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.320 how they would prefer to be identified. This is also 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.120 where the term latin X or latin X comes in. 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.760 This term was born of the l g B t 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.760 Q plus movement and of a desire to create a 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:03.640 more inclusive term outside of the gender binary Latino being 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:09.560 masculine or Latina being feminine. Romero worries that it's impossible 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.440 to read the Spanish language of gendered words, though, and 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:17.920 that latin X is confusing two native Spanish speakers. However, 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:22.680 Maria are Charonne del Rio, counseling professor at Brooklyn College, disagrees, 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.320 seeing the new word as a way of reaching out 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.240 to people who haven't always been embraced by Latin American 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:32.920 immigrant communities. She told NBC News. By using latin X, 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.039 nobody is telling you how to identify. It's up to 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.680 you if you want to be latin X, Latino or 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:42.120 something else. It's really a way to be inclusive for 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:46.279 people who are traditionally marginalized. That millisecond of politeness and 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.919 recognition towards someone who is gender queer, tells them that 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:54.440 you see them, that you're an ally. Ortiz published a 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.560 book called An African American and Latin X History of 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:02.240 the United States. In he said, the title was really 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.640 picked by my students. At one point, I was going 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.200 to use the term Latina, but they said, you know, 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.560 professor Ortiz, we would really prefer you use the term 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:14.279 latin X. We know among your generation it's still not 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.800 too popular, but the world is changing. The cool thing 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.000 is they're not using the term as just a term 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.040 of self definition. They're using the term to try to 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:28.520 create bridges of understanding between say Mexican students, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Haitians. 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:33.400 It's kind of a bridge building term. Indeed, some people 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.799 seem to be using the term latin X to refer 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:40.200 to both Hispanic and Latin American people. The word latine 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.880 has also been put forth as a gender neutral term 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:47.360 that's a little easier to pronounce. Language is fluid, and 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.920 according to an August twenty survey by the Pew Research Center, 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.520 the term latin X has a long way before it 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.799 catches on. The survey found that only about a quarter 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.600 of Hispanic Americans have even heard of the term Latin X, 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.760 and only about three percent use it, with those who 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.280 are using the term tending to be younger, born in 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:13.920 the United States and predominantly English speaking. Today's episode was 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.280 written by Dave Rus and John Donovan and produced by 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.560 Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.640 curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Grain Stuff 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:23.960 is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts for 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:26.760 my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:28.520 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.