I’ve seen a few of these “Latino vs. Hispanic” diagrams on tumblr but none of them have been correct, so I decided to make my own.
Hispanic: relating to, characteristic of, or derived from Spain or Spanish-speaking countries that have a historical connection to Spain.
- The word “Hispanic” comes from the Latin word Hispania, which was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces, now known as España (Spain).
- People from Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin American countries alike are Hispanic, since Spain colonized the Latin American countries that now speak Spanish.
Latino (Latina/Latine): relating to, characteristic of, or derived from Latin America. People from Latin America are Latine*.
- These are countries that were (1:) colonized by European countries (i.e. Spain, Portugal, France) and where (2:) Latin-based languages (i.e. Spanish, Portuguese, French) were imposed upon colonization.
- Many people from Latin America are both Latine and Hispanic, but not everyone from Latin America is also Hispanic.
- Check your geography: Spain is in Europe, not Latin America; people from Spain are not Latine**.
BONUS: Spanish: relating to or characteristic of the Spanish language, or a person specifically from Spain.
- Not everyone from Latin America that speaks Spanish is “Spanish”, unless they or their family are from Spain.
- If you say “that person is Spanish”, you are saying that they are from Spain, not that they speak Spanish. So it is only correct if that person is actually from Spain. Spanish-speaking person =/= Spanish person.
Notes:
Some of these terms are very U.S.-centric. “Hispanic” was first adopted by the U.S. government during the Nixon administration and has been used in the U.S. Census since 1980. The U.S. government also adopted the term “Latino” as a way to identify and segregate mixed white, black, and native “mestizo” or “mulatto” people of Latin America.
Most people in Latin America will refer to other Latine people based on their nationality, so the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are less often used in Latin America than in the United States or elsewhere.
Even though these terms have specific definitions and their differences should be understood and respected, this is a question of identity. This means that not everyone from Latin American countries want to identify as Latine for a number a reasons, but namely indigenous people who don’t want to identify with their White European colonizers (for obvious reasons).
In addition to the previous point, there are also places in the Americas/Caribbean that are not technically considered to be Latin America due to the non-Latin languages spoken there (i.e. Belize, Suriname, Guyana, Jamaica, etc.), but that does not mean people from those countries can’t identify as Latine. A lot of their cultures and traditions and histories overlap due to their geographical locations and the similarities in European Colonization that they endured.
Thus, it is important to understand these definitions, but move forward knowing that we - especially people outside of Latin America - do not get to decide these identities for everyone, because there are many factors that go into how people identify themselves, and sometimes they are more important than dictionary definitions of terminology. This also applies to U.S.-born people with Latin American family, but struggle with how to identify themselves: there is no right or wrong way to identify yourself. You are the deciding factor of your own identity.
*Why am I using the word “Latine”?
**Similarly, you can be from Spain and also be Latine if you were born/raised in Latin America, have direct family lineage from Latin America, etc.
