Is ‘Hispanic’ the right word? Wisconsin Latinos discuss how they describe their heritage
Each Hispanic Heritage Month, the conversation of what “Hispanic” means and whether people identify with it resurfaces.
When Ruth Orellana is asked her ethnicity, she says either “Guatemalteca” — Spanish for “Guatemalan” — or “Latina.” Never “Hispanic,” she said.
Like many others from Latin America or the Caribbean, she feels the term “Hispanic” centers the people, culture and language of Spain. It’s important to Orellana to use terms that include her Guatemalan and Mayan roots.
“I am from Latin America and Spain is in Europe,” Orellana, 58, said. “I am 100% more Latina than Hispanic.”
Each year, National Hispanic Heritage Month resurfaces a complicated conversation about what being “Hispanic” means and whether people identify with it.
In the 20th century, “Hispanic” became the makeshift umbrella term to describe the people from Latin American and Caribbean countries that were colonized by Spain, and as a result, speak Spanish.
But some feel the term ignores the region’s strong Indigenous and African heritage and connects them too closely with their European colonizers.
For one, not all countries in Latin America speak Spanish. Brazilians primarily speak Portuguese, and millions of people in Latin America speak Indigenous languages, such as Nahuatl, K’iche’ and Quechua.
Today, many favor other terms such as “Latino” or “Latina,” which emerged in the 19th century as countries declared independence from Spain. Gender-neutral terms like “Latinx” or “Latine” are also gaining popularity, while others like Orellana prefer more specific descriptors that reference their country of origin.
It’s likely not possible to find a term that perfectly encapsulates the complex identities of more than 21 countries and their descendants, said Marquette University assistant professor of history Sergio González.
“For some people, it is very much a political decision to decide what to refer yourself,” González said.
That can make things tricky for reporters like me, who like to use consistent terminology. We follow guidelines laid out in what’s called the Associated Press Stylebook, which is updated constantly.
The Stylebook approves of the use of both “Hispanic” and “Latino” or “Latina,” but recommends journalists follow the person’s preference and use a more specific identification when possible, such as “Cuban,” “Brazilian” or “Mexican American.”
Regarding the term “Latinx,” the Stylebook recommends confining this term mostly to “quotations, names of organizations or descriptions of individuals who request it.”As for me, I grew up hearing terms that incorporated my family’s complex history, like “Afro-Latina,” to recognize my maternal family’s Yoruba and Puerto Rican heritage, and “Nuyorican,” to celebrate my mother and father’s roots in both New York and Puerto Rico.
I choose to use “Latino” or “Latina” in my stories, as it’s the most inclusive option the Stylebook currently permits. To me, “Hispanic” excludes people with African and Indigenous backgrounds, like my family.
If I had absolute freedom, I’d use “Latine.” But it hasn’t been added to the Stylebook.
“There has never really been a time in the history of this group of people that it hasn’t been a hotly contested conversation about what both we call ourselves and what other people call us,” González said.
More: Here’s your guide to Hispanic Heritage Month events in Milwaukee this year
Unifying terms help vulnerable communities advocate for their needs
Wisconsin and the country as a whole have long debated what to call the people from Latin America in the U.S.
Throughout the 20th century, the U.S. Census Bureau tested out a handful of terms. It listed “Mexican” as a race once in the 1930s, González said. It tried “persons of Spanish origins” in 1970. But because many Latinos in the U.S. didn’t consider themselves as people from Spain, the census severely undercounted them, according to National Geographic.
The Census Bureau settled on “Hispanic” ahead of the 1980 decennial census. To encourage Latinos of all skin colors and countries to check “Hispanic” as their ethnicity in the census, the bureau partnered with Spanish-language media for a series of commercials featuring Latino celebrities, from New York Yankees baseball players to famous salsa musicians Tito Puente and Celia Cruz.
In the 1920s, Wisconsin’s Latino population was almost exclusively ethnically Mexican and referred to themselves as such, González said. But by the 1950s, the majority of Latinos in Wisconsin were Mexicans from Texas. Only they didn’t call themselves Mexicans. They called themselves Tejanos.
Once Puerto Ricans and Cubans were added to the mix in the 1960s, organizations in Wisconsin collectively called them the “Spanish speaking population,” González said.
The topic became even more complex through social movements and activism. For example, the Chicano Movement transformed “Chicano” from a slur for Mexican Americans into a term that celebrated many Mexicans’ Indigenous heritage.
Today, many people and institutions use “Chicano” or “Chicana.” The University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, has the Chicana and Latina Studies degree program.
González said it’s important and necessary for Latinos to have a collective term to advocate for resources and rights. Latino history in the U.S. is plighted with systemic issues from mass deportations in the 1920s and 1930s, to poor working conditions for farm workers, to segregated schools, to arrests and stereotypes during the war on drugs. In order to draw attention to these issues, he said, Latinos needed to use terms that unified them.
And yet, in some contexts, the term “Latino” can obscure the diversity of their experiences, González said. For instance, trying to get a pulse on the “Latino vote” ahead of the presidential election is a tall order. Cubans in Miami, many of whom lean Republican, don’t vote the same as Mexicans in Chicago, who tend to support Democrat candidates.
“There’s different ways in which these terms can be useful and other ways in which they obscure ways in which we can talk about a really diverse population,” González said.
Which terms do Latino Milwaukeeans prefer?
Among younger generations, “Latinx” and “Latine” have gained popularity as gender-neutral options for “Latino” and “Latina” in recent years.
Crystal Hernandez, 19, is non-binary. Speaking at the Mexican Independence Day Festival in Milwaukee last month, Hernandez said they prefer “Latine” because “Latinx” doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily for Spanish speakers.
Other younger Wisconsinites weren’t familiar with gender neutral alternatives but were open to using them, like Alan Fuentes.
Fuentes said he prefers to use terms that include both the country his family came from and the country he grew up in.
“I say I’m Mexican American because my family’s Mexican, but I was born in Wisconsin,” said Fuentes, 19.
That’s similar to Stephanie Serrano, 19, who said she also refers to herself as Mexican American.
“Since I lived my whole life in this country, I think that’s best-fitting for me,” Serrano said.
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Many Wisconsin Latinos said they prefer to identify with the country they or their family came from.
Eddy Baez, 64, says he’s a Boricua. It’s a term Puerto Ricans use to say they’re from Borikén — the Taíno, or indigenous, name for Puerto Rico.
“I was born in Chicago, but I know I’m from Puerto Rico,” Baez said.
As terminology continues to evolve, some might wonder what the big deal is, González said. But at the heart of the debate, he said, is a fundamental and historic conversation about how Latinos want to be seen.
“In every single generation, communities and institutions have been grappling with it,” González said.
Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@gannett.com.
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Publish date : 2024-10-10 22:30:00
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