Why I Like the Word Latino
Posted July 14th, 2008by D.H. Figueredo
I like the word Latino.
It has nothing to do with politics. It has nothing to do with a cultural affirmation. It’s a word that I like.
I don’t like Hispanic. It makes me think of panic … His panic! What about a woman who is from Latin America running away in panic … is it Her panic?
But Latino has a melody that reminds me of Nabokov and the novel Lolita: rolling the l’s and vowels out of your month: La-ti-no. The word comes closer to my heart: Latino brings to mind the verb “latir,” as in “mi corazon late,” my heart beats, pulses … Latino late … late … Latino… heartbeat… heartbeat.
Latino also allows me to admire a Latino woman, such as my wife, by going directly to the word without the need to convert it into an adjective: Latina woman. Latina is a woman, standing by herself, no need for additional nouns, no need for adjectives. With Hispanic, you need explanation, as Desi Arnaz used to say “a lot of splaining.” A Hispanic man, a Hispanic woman.
Latino also allows me a choice. You see, Hispanic was imposed, the way I see it, anyhow. It is not a word in Spanish, it is an English word. I love English and the sound of it and the literature that is written in English. But I feel that Hispanic was thrown at me by the powers-that-be sometime ago. There are many histories of how the designation came to be and there are many sources on the topic, so I won’t go into it. But I think that it evolved as a way of tallying up folks from Latin America as the U.S. Census attempted to understand their presence in the early 20th century. Thus, there is a touch of the government in there, a statistical approach which places all of us into the same hole. And Latinos do not want to be so easily categorized. Give us our nationality first – be it Mexicano, Cubano, Argentino, Puertorriqueño, Dominicano – and then maybe give us an umbrella term.
This umbrella term is important, though. I lost one friendship over the designation. This particular friend identifies so much with the term Hispanic that he despises the term Latino. To him, it is a ridiculous term that insults him. Therefore, my preference for Latino was an insult to him and he dropped our friendship (maybe it wasn’t much of a friendship, anyhow) over an argument. The point is that the term matters and is important.
Does it help the general community in dealing with a population that is from Latin America or whose ancestors are from Latin America? This is my recommendation: ask your friend, your neighbor, your students, which term to use: Hispanic or Latino/a.
As for me, you know my answer. Now, please, share with me your answer, let me know what you think.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I assure you Mr. Figueredo that our friendship wont be sundered because you like the word “Latino.” Like you, I’m not enamored by the words currently in vogue that define us, though as a Mexican American I favor the word mejicano (lower case m). As an umbrella term, the word “Latino” reaches out to embrace the French, the Italians, the Portuguese, the Spaniards, and the Romanians. That might not be bad–it would certainly swell our numbers. I’m sure I don’t have to point out to you that the term “Hispano” is of long duration in Spanish parlance, admittedly bestowed on us imperiously by the Spaniards, identifying us as part of the mestizaje. Along that line, the word “Hispanic” is indeed an Americanization of the word “Hispano” and bestowed with the same kind of imperiousness by the American bureaucracy. I don’t have trouble identifying myself as an Hispanic of Mexican descent who is ideologically a Chicano by choice as an “American” [I know]. I recently referenced your work in a piece on Latino American Literature Today for a Greenwood reference work.
sss
Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
Scholar in Residence
Western New Mexico Univeristy