Difference between "Latino" and "Hispanic"
Many ask this question: what is the difference between Hispanic or Latino? In fact you too are probably curious which is why you are here.
Related questions include: which term to use? Some insist on the usage of one term over the other, while others do not mind either term.
Many Hispanics/Latinos would agree that the usage of Hispanic or Latino, both, or neither, is a personal preference. A few polls have attempted to address the Hispanic or Latino topic, but the results have been widely divergent and dependent on the polling group.
- An Ohio State University poll tackled the subject, and indicated the term Latino was gaining acceptance among Hispanics.
- Conversely, a presidential tracking poll by Hispanic Trends uncovered a significant majority of Hispanics prefer the term Hispanic.
The U.S. Government usually uses Hispanic on all federal forms and documents, but some private individuals use Latino notwithstanding.
Some experts say some division can be found because oftentimes older age groups tend to prefer Latino while younger ages prefer Hispanic. Of course proving this theory is difficult.
Similar to the definitions for Hispanic, there are no right answers to these questions.
Hispanic or Latino or both? Or does it matter?
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Photo courtesy of Tomas Castelazo Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grape_workers.jpg