Don’t label us like your brands.

The impact of the 43.5 million Hispanics in the United States has become more than evident in today’s marketing and business world. Their purchasing power has become so important in U.S market that they’ve been considered a separate target audience. The interest of companies to target these definite groups must be backed up with prevalent research and data. However, one of the most important aspects is to understand how Hispanics view themselves in regards to the other parts of the American population. One of the recurrent themes seems to be the label they are given: are they Hispanic or Latino?

It is evident that trying to group together all Hispanics in the United States is a hard task. There are the first generation Latino, the older generations, and even those identity groups like Chicano and Boricua that have formed in areas like Texas, Miami and New York. All of these groups, even though labeled Hispanics, have their own cultural identity. Latinos living in the U.S have developed a new wave of emerging literature by writing about their experiences in English. Some of the most renowned authors in the genre including, Sandra Cisneros and Julia Alvarez, consider themselves as Latinas. So what exactly determines if this group should be considered Hispanic or Latino?

According to an article in Hispanic Magazine, “Hispanic are more assimilated, conservative, and young, while those who choose the term Latino tend to be liberal, older, and sometimes radical.” Some consider that Hispanic is a term encompassing everyone who speaks Spanish, yet this would include the Spaniards as well. Latino, on the other hand, is a term that was acculturated into the American culture. It is argued that it makes reference to the countries whose language is derived from Latin, but then again, the term would be Latin and not Latino as it is said in Spanish.
Some Latinos prefer being labeled by this term because it has a connotation to their culture and identity, while Hispanic mostly makes reference to the language.

“I was born in Latin America so in the United States I consider myself a Latino,” Florida State University senior Tomas Garcia said. “Hispanic sounds like I came from Spain. When I encounter other Latinos here I am certainly a Panamanian. We’re all labeled Latinos, but amongst ourselves we have different identities. In Central and South America, everyone knows the differences between the different countries, so we don’t call ourselves we are Latinos, we are Panamanians, Colombians and Mexicans and Argentineans.”

To an Anglo-Saxon, a Latino will just say, “I’m Hispanic” or “I’m Latino,” but between themselves, they would specify their country of provenance, and would feel attached to certain groups more than others. There is no one type of Latino out there; it is a very diversified group. It is much more than a question of being referred to as Hispanic or Latino. The feeling of belonging to this definite group is much more of cultural importance. Latino and Hispanic are just labels. One single name cannot encompass the diversity of the lands beyond the United States.

Monica Martinez
Florida Sate University

U.S Census Bureau Current Population Survey, March 2002, PGP-5 & Synovate , p. 20-21, 29
I will use Hispanics and Latinos interchangeably unless trying to make a point.
Granados, Christine. “Hispanic v Latino.” Hispanic Magazine. Dec. 2000. < http://www.hispanicmagazine.com/2000/dec/Features/latino.html> January 20, 2006