The Hispanic and Latino Impossibility

In the United States we throw around two seemingly interchangeable terms, Latino and Hispanic, without even the slightest idea of how to define these words. From job applications, to the census, to scholarships and on and on, this country seems hell bent on classifying people. Yet, the words Latino and Hispanic will never be adequately defined. Let’s look at just a few basic reasons why not.

With regard to the classification of Latino, there are many paths this can take. Should it be someone with Latino roots? If so, would this, therefore, include Italians, French even Romanians? Or, should it be a requirement that this person be from this side of the Atlantic? Maybe we should only include Spaniards and their offspring from "over here"? What about Belize, in Central America, where English is the primary language? One thing is for sure, Brazilians don't like being labeled Latinos, altough their language has Latin roots, so that will limit a geographic definition.

Geography is one way to possibly define a Latino or Hispanic. But, should we also limit how many generations removed a person is? If a person was born in the United States, to parents born in the United States, whose parents immigrated from Colombia, would that be too far away to be considered Latino or Hispanic? Is a person born in Argentina to parents from Italy also Latino or Hispanic? If we accept this, then we creep closer to including those aforementioned countries in Europe under the Hispanic and Latino definition.

Now, these terms also present another challenge, one of misconceptions. From my experience, Hispanic, for example, has been used to describe a "minority" in the United States (sometimes in a derogatory way). But, who is Hispanic? Is a white Chilean an Hispanic? A Spaniard? Is a Brazilian also an Hispanic? After all, the Portuguese settled Brazil and while sharing the same peninsula with Spain, Hispania. Unfortunately, many people in the United States somehow equate Hispanic with Mexican and there go the stereotypes. But, we don’t all like tacos and mole.

The countries south of the Rio Grande have such a rich cultural and ethnic mix that it makes it almost impossible to define these terms. The skin colors are as varied as the foods, holidays, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Set foot in Peru and observe how many Japanese descendants there are! In Argentina, there is an important Jewish population. The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Cuba have many blacks who can trace their roots to the slave ships and Africa. Also, there is an important Arab influence in many countries "down south." The original peoples of the continent still exist as well.

In the end, the terms Hispanic and Latino will never be satisfactorily defined and I speak from experience and from the heart. I was born in Spain to a Spanish mother and American father. I consider myself Hispanic, Latino, American and Spanish.

At different moments of my life, different definitions of these words have prohibited me from participating in certain activities. One that I recall vividly was an Hispanic scholarship that was unavailable to me because I was not considered Hispanic. A classmate of mine, who was born in the United States, to parents who were also born in the United States, of Guatemalan and Mexican roots, won it. In culture, language, and birth, he was exponentially more American than I. He did not even speak a word of Spanish.

To define Latino and Hispanic, we must dig deep beneath the surface and consider many variables. In so doing, we will discover how incredibly dynamic, broad and rich the cultures are that came from the Romans. We can even make a link via Peru and Brazil that the Japanese and Latinos/Hispanics are cousins by marriage.