Chictlinoispanic?

There is quite a bit of confusion surrounding what the politically correct term is to use when referring to people of Spanish speaking decent. Which classification is correct? Hispanic? Latino/a? Chicano/a? Although many people use these terms interchangeably, they are in fact not the same. Each term has its own history and group of people that identify themselves as such.

Chicano/a-

The term Chicano typically refers to people of Mexican descent, however, the term has not always been welcomed by Mexican-Americans. In the 1960s, there was a great deal of prejudice against Mexican Americans, and Chicano was a derogatory term meaning the “poorest of the poor.” As the civil rights movement carried on, Mexican Americans began using the term Chicano as a political empowerment tool to unite their community and fight against prejudice.

Latino/a-

The term Latino or Latina generally refers the geographic location of Latin America. This is the term that is most commonly used interchangeably with Hispanic however they are indeed quite different. For example, Brazil is part of Latin America; however Portuguese is spoken there meaning Brazilians are Latino but not Hispanic. Latinos can also derive from areas of Europe that have Latin influence. This includes Spain but is not limited to France, Italy, and Portugal that all have strong Latin roots.

Hispanic-

The term Hispanic has been used in America since the 1970s when it first appeared on the US census to lump together people living in America with a Spanish speaking decent. It wasn’t until 1990 however when it appeared as an ethnic option. Later in the 2000s, the US noticed a large spike in the population of Hispanics in the United States and the term became widely used.

Now what is the correct term to use?

Both Latino and Hispanic are usually pretty safe to use, but since Hispanic is the most general term, this is the safest one to use because you cannot always tell which country someone is from just by looking at them. If you use Chicano, you could offend older generation Mexicans who may still associate it with the prejudice they faced or you may also offend someone who is not from Mexico. There is debate against whether to use Latino or Hispanic, and Latino is often socially accepted, however, people’s opinions about this team are as strong as they are varied. If someone corrects you, just use that term, and if you know their exact country of origin then identify them as such. For example, if you know the person you are talking to or marketing to is from Ecuador, then calling them Ecuadorian would be more respectful  than calling them Hispanic or Latino. That aside, when marketing to a large group of people, you do not always get people from the same country of origin so for the sake of this blog we will use “Hispanic.”

When reaching out to the Hispanic market, it is important to know how it feels to be “Hispanic.” There are about 25 countries in this world that either have Spanish as an official language or a strong Spanish Language influence. This means that Hispanics are deriving their ancestry from any of these twenty-some countries. Since the term Hispanic is self-identifiable, a valuable thing to comprehend is the rich ethnic diversities that give the Hispanic community its cultural identity.

Ethnicity is important to any culture, and it is no different with the dynamic concept of “Hispanics.” Realizing that there may not be a precise classification for the term will help you to understand the cultural complexity of the community and focus that into your campaign.