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Edited by David Leonhardt
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DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT
Speaking of Identity: Choosing Between Latino
and Hispanic
MAY 23, 2014
Nate Cohn
@Nate_Cohn
Writers who cover demographics and politics are often confronted with
the tricky matter of describing racial and ethnic groups. One particularly
challenging question is whether to refer to people from Latin America as
Hispanics or Latinos.
Theres a wide-ranging debate, often playing out on blogs or in
academia, about which term is preferable. These debates often center on
whether differences in the meaning or the origin of the terms might be
problematic.
But there is clarity on one important issue: In the United States, more
people from Latin America prefer to identify themselves as Hispanic.
Among self-described Hispanics or Latinos, Pew Research found in
5/25/2014 Speaking of Identity: Choosing Between Latino and Hispanic - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/upshot/speaking-of-identity-choosing-between-latino-and-hispanic.html?rref=upshot&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region 2/3
2013 that 33 percent preferred Hispanic, and 14 percent preferred Latino.
Another 51 percent had no preference. Gallup had a similar finding last
year, with 19 percent preferring Hispanic to 10 percent who preferred
Latino.
The polls, unfortunately, did not ask whether Hispanics or Latinos
thought either term was unacceptable or offensive, which might be an
even more important measurement.
Separately, 54 percent of Hispanics or Latinos usually say they
identify themselves using their familys country of origin, like Mexico or
Cuba, followed by 23 percent who prefer American. Just 20 percent most
often use a pan-ethnic term, like Hispanic or Latino.
Polling doesnt offer as clear an answer for a similar question about
the terms black and African-American. A 2011 NBC/Wall Street Journal
poll found that 42 percent of respondents preferred the term black, and 35
percent preferred African-American. The most recent Gallup survey shows
an even split, 17 to 17 percent, with 65 percent saying it doesnt matter.
In some cases, theres a clear substantive reason to prefer Latino to
Hispanic, a term that doesnt clearly include people from Portuguese-
speaking countries. That tips the scale in favor of Latino when referring to
the Hispanic or Latino population in areas of large numbers of
Portuguese-speaking people, like Massachusetts or Rhode Island.
But most of the time, theres no clear answer. Wednesday, the title of
an article in The Latin Post, for instance, began with US-born Latinos
Driving Hispanic Population Growth.
Regardless of the merit of each sides arguments for or against the
terms Hispanic or Latino, it seems that most Hispanics and Latinos dont
yet have a strong preference and that to the extent that they do, they
prefer Hispanic.
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5/25/2014 Speaking of Identity: Choosing Between Latino and Hispanic - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/upshot/speaking-of-identity-choosing-between-latino-and-hispanic.html?rref=upshot&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region 3/3
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