Hispanic, Latino, Latinx: Discussion and definition of terms

The people and cultures of Latin American are difficult to describe within an Anglo-American framework for understanding the world. The terms used in English to classify Latin Americans indeed misunderstand the people they seek to define. Below is a brief discussion of the ways in which this occurs and why.

Hispanic is a term that was invented by the US government in the 1970s to carry out census data surveys and classify US populations based on race. It refers to people whose ancestry is from Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. The term demonstrates a lack of cultural competency on the part of the (majority Anglo) US government to understand Latin American identity.

Yes, Latin America has a history of colonization at the hands of the Spanish and Spanish is the most spoken language in the region. However, the majority of so-called Hispanic people are of mixed Indigenous, Black, and European ancestry. Therefore, the term Hispanic centers the European part of the identity while omitting the Indigenous and Black history that has contributed to the construction of collective identities in Spanish-speaking America.

Latino. Anglo and Latino were terms initially used to differentiate the political-social boundaries of the Americas based on the two main colonial powers: Anglos (British) and Latinos (Spanish & Portuguese). Some people use the term Latino even more broadly to define anyone with ancestry from countries where the dominant language is of Latin origin, which would include several European countries.

Latinx (or Latine) has the same meaning as Latino but is intentionally inclusive of transgender, gender non-confirming, and agender individuals.

The issue with both Latino & Latinx is that these terms define individuals of Latin American descent through the lens of the European empires that colonized the region, which perpetuates colonial efforts that sought to homogenize conquered lands and peoples such that they would conform to a European worldview and eventually lose contact with their sense of Indigeneity (the fact of being Indigenous) and/or Blackness. This happens in Latin America as well as the US. For example, the Mexican government only added the term afro-mexicano (mixed Black, Spanish, and Indigenous folks) to the federal census data in 2015, a population which exceeds 2.5 million.

Just like the term Hispanic, Latino is a term that ignores the Indigenous and African ancestry that most Latin American people also share.

México today is still home to over 65 indigenous ethnic groups (what in the USA would be classified as Native tribes). Although most Mexicans do identify broadly as mestizos (mixed Spanish and Indigenous), it is not difficult for any mestizo to identify (within one or two generations) the specific ethnicity from which their family descends. Indeed, although indigeneity is experienced very differently in Latin America depending on the country, it can be said that is integral to Latin American identities and cultures.

My own solution to navigating this has been to use the term Latin American (broad) or Xicano (specific) to describe myself.

Latin American is a term that, although not as popular, is both inclusive of gender minorities (because it is not gendered) and the Indigenous component of the identity (American).

Xicano (or Chicano) is a term that comes from the word Mexicano. México is a Náhuatl word which means "place of the navel (or center) of the moon." This is a poetic term and refers the history of the Valley of México during a time when Mexico City itself (called México-Tenochtítlan in pre-Hispanic times) was situated in the center of a huge lake, which would be brilliantly illuminated on full moon nights. This image was significant to the Mexica (aka Aztecs) because it created a symbolic reconciliation between the earthly (material) and the heavenly (spiritual) realms, an important idea in Nahua spirituality (The Aztecs formed part of the broader Nahua ethnicity, which remains the largest ethnic minority in México today).

The evocation and centering of Mexican indigeneity is central to Xicano culture and forms part of a philosophical-political stance that seeks to liberate the mind by casting off oppressive, colonial ethos, and by putting into focus the ancestral knowledge, spirituality, and worldview of Indigenous México. In other words, it is the dream of a de-colonized México.

Latin America is so culturally, ethnically, linguistically, and spiritually diverse that everyone who identifies with this broad term will have a different relationship with it depending on their own background. It is for each individual to decide the terms they prefer. Moreover, I'm not offended by the use of Hispanic or Latino, and I think that the effort to be inclusive of gender non-conforming people through the use of the term Latinx is great. Here, I simply present my own point of view as it relates to the inclusion of our history and our inherent indigeneity, which is so often lost, ignored, or forgotten as Latin American people.