Hispanic Versus Latino - Why It's So Hard To Understand The Difference?

Filed in archive Latin Culture , Latin Issues on October 16, 2007

Very interesting article, reproduced on Hispanic Trending (originally published on The Louisiana Weekly) about what the word "Hispanic" really means: Just What Is a Hispanic?

Although I don't agree with every single thing the author says, he does explain pretty well what I've been saying all along: Hispanic (and Latin, for that matter) IS NOT A RACE.

Basically, Hispanic is in no way a race of people. It is a conglomerate of cultures that share a bond via speaking Spanish or Portuguese. It is a combination of Caucasian, Black and Native American plus a little Asian in places like Brazil (where there are 4 million Japanese Brazilians), peru and other Latin-American places. Also included are direct descendants of Spain and Portugal.

Ok, here we have ONCE MORE the confusion between LATIN and HISPANIC; but at least he's clear about the "race versus culture" issue. There's also a bit of history (and some inaccuracies, IMHO), and interesting points about how Latinos and Blacks are related. Worth reading - and thinking about why, oh why do we have so many misinformation about these things.