What's The Difference?

Gar

We're a local government in N. Carolina and our Hispanic/Latino population has increased 420% according to the 2000 Census. Of the 50 states, N. Carolina experienced the highest rate of Hispanic/Latino population growth. We are asking employees to volunteer for free Spanish classes and want to send out a flyer advertising as much. Does anyone know the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino/Latina? We want to use these terms in the flyer but we want to do so correctly so as not offend.

Terry

According to my dictionary, Hispanic refers to all spanish speaking people while Latino specifically refers to people from Latin America. Maybe one of the employees could help with the wording?

CuriousG

The terms Latino/Latina are the masculine and feminine forms of the spanish noun Latino. They typically refer to a man or woman whose ancestry/origins are from Latin America. This includes South and Central America, as well as the Caribean island nations. Keep in mind that the populations of some Latin American speak Portugues or French, so this is not necessarily a language descriptive term.

My suggestion is to involve someone from your local Spanish Speaking Community in developing your communications. Your best bet would be to find someone who is an immigrant themself. They can help you work on developing language that is appropriate for your objectives and your community.

Ask them to educate your staff on the diveristy within the local Spanish Speaking Community. In the U.S. we "Angloes" tend to group anyone from "south of the Rio Grande" as being "Hispanic". While working in Miami, FL I found that some spanish speakers actually take insult at this term and feel it has certian racial overtones to it. There I dealt with Cubano/Cubana, Venezulano/Venezulana, Argentino/Argentina, and the list goes on. And then there are those latinos that don't speak spanish, too!

Margaret Morford

Gar,

I can put you in touch with two consultants who teach sexual harassment classes to Hispanic employees in Spanish. When they teach the class, they always ask where majority of the Spanish employees come from so that they can adjust the materials and examples to the specific culture. There is a distinct difference, as the person above pointed out, between how they teach employees from Cuba verses how they teach employees from Mexico. They also teach a class for managers who are managing Hispanic employees called "Gringo Management – Managing an Hispanic Workforce." The topics they cover include include gender roles, etiquette, communication, work performance feedback and delegation. In addition, they do translation work for companies and law firms, translating company policies and information. I don't know if this will help you, but call me and I'll be glad to put you in touch with them.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200

System

Maybe the term you're looking for is "Spanish-speaking," which really describes the people you're talking about. But I passed your question on to an Hispanic co-worker, and here's what she had to say:

"It's nothing but semantics. The reason "Hispanic" has fallen out of favor is because of its root "Spain" -- not all Hispanics are from Spain, though they do speak Spanish. For me, I don't really care. Latino/a indicates a "Latin" root -- which is more indicative of the entire Spanish-speaking population. To some, I guess it makes a difference. I'd go with whatever the Census called them (and I don't really remember even though I counted myself as one). I believe it's "Hispanic." Hope that helps."

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Gar

Good lord! I had no idea this could be so complicated. But, what's suggested makes sense. After all, someone from Austria could get ticked-off if he/she was referred to as German simply because of the language and racial similarity. I think the term "Spanish-speaking" is the safest bet. Thanks for the help, all.

Gillian

I'll chime in since I am in California. The most common usage today is Latino/a. Hispanic has fallen out of favor, although government documents still use the term.In Mexico, it is certainly Latino/a. Latino is used when referring to males or a group, Latina when referring to females. You are certainly safe with "spanish - speaking", but then you could be referring to me, and I'm not Latino/a.

Synergy

It is my understanding that 'Hispanic' is a term coined by the government when addressing anyone from a Spanish descent. It is a very generic term that does not even distinguish between gender, but makes a distinction based only on the Spanish language.
Latino(a) is a term that recognizes and validates not only gender, but a wide spectrum of people who share a basic language structure-but who are as diverse as the different countries that make up the "Spanish" or as the government's coined term would state: Hispanic population. There is a sense of pride and autonomy in the term Latino(a).
I don't think that when the government coined the term Hispanic, it had the current level of awareness/sensitivity concerns it now has. Latino(a) is a progressive term identified and accepted/adopted by the people it represents. Once again, 'ownership' makes all the difference in acceptance.
This is my first time replying to any message and I hope that I've been able to communicate 'my' understanding of what the difference is between the two terms.
Thanks for listening.

Gar

Thanks for the explanation.