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Posted on 07/19/2008 9:25:20 AM PDT by tom22
I’m trying to eliminate some of the confusion regarding illegal aliens and the use of three terms: Hispanic, Latino and immigrant.
Hispanic
As a 40-year resident of North Texas, I’ve become accustomed to the following definition of the term “Hispanic.” It’s an American, not English, word derived from the Spanish word Hispanohablantes, which means "Spanish speaker." It encompasses Spain, Puerto Rico and The Philippines, et al. But Spanish is not spoken in about half of South America where Portuguese, French, Dutch, Guarani and English also are official languages. And many Caribbean nations have chosen official languages other than Spanish. The point is the term “Hispanic” is neither race nor ethnic group.
Latino
Similarly, the term Latino also is an American word originating around 1945 and derived from Latinoamericano or Latin-American. It carries a powerful 60-year old connotation of citizenship. In America, the terms Black, Amerind and several others, clearly imply American citizenship. I’d opine the term Latino fits squarely into this group and denotes American citizenship. Certainly it means neither Hispanic nor immigrant. This definition also works for the many children born to second- and third-generation Latinos who cannot read or write Spanish. Due to confusion regarding the term Hispanic, our nation struggles to find a term the activists would have us use to describe these children. It’s not a major problem though, because most of these folks prefer the simpler term “citizen” or American. If a moniker is needed, Latino is good but to reduce confusion, keep in mind it also means citizen.
Immigrant
Finally, the term “immigrant” refers to people who have come to America through the use of a process established by law. Thus, the term “illegal immigrant” is oxymoronic and the term “legal immigrant” is redundant. Often hidden behind the term “immigrant,” is an illegal alien.
The Debate
Open-borders activists, liberals, Mexicans, Democrats, La Raza, LULAC, MALDEF, ACLU, and many others intentionally misuse these terms because it commingles 20 million outlaws with three distinct and well-defined groups. Mixing illegal aliens with sovereign Hispanic nations, Latino citizens and immigrants, creates a confusing, amorphous blob of humanity that defies description. Illegal aliens survive in this confusion in the same way that birds survive in flocks and fish survive in schools. The problem is most illegal aliens are not Spanish, Puerto Rican or Filipino. And they’re neither citizens nor immigrants. They’re simply what their national labels say they are. Bluntly, they’re Mexican, Iraqi, Guatemalan, Chinese, Salvadoran, et al. But hiding in this amorphy makes it difficult for law-abiding Americans to focus on them. Certainly the moms & pops who work for a living have little time to deal with such fine details.
Pro-illegal-alien activists and racists really hate this clarification because it removes much of their camouflage and perhaps, deep down, they might consider the term “Mexican” or “Guatemalan” too coarse for polite conversation. They’ve already written volumes objecting to the terms “illegal” and “alien.” It’s a dilemma for them because I doubt they’d openly object to the terms Mexican or Guatemalan even though they cannot quite bring themselves to use the terms.
I hope media leaders like yourself will help in this effort by including this information wherever you deem appropriate and by using the terms correctly.
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So does this mean I can claim Hispanic as my race (due to Philippine heritage, including direct Spanish blood)?
While there are lots of Filipinos with Spanish names, there are precious few who actually speak Spanish, at least since the days of Admiral Dewey. In the 1950 census about 6% of the population spoke Spanish, and the number is undoubtedly smaller today.
And its total bull.
Call a Spaniard a “hispanic” and you had best be ready to fight or run.
A Hispanic is a descendant of the Spanish conquistadors and the local indians.
Of course the locals in South and Central America speak Spanish.
They were conquered by them.
I think the English word “hispanic” refers to somebody whose ancestors are from the Iberian peninsula, including both Spain and Portugal.
I believe the origins of the word can be traced back to the Roman empire.
The words Hispanic and Latino were chosen by the left as a way of putting people into artificial groups so as to increase their political power. They got people from very different backgrounds and cultures to feel that they all are equally victims.
Which means a person can be Hispanic and European. Which contradicts today's victim/oppressor classification scheme and the little boxes that come with it.
This discussion seems to reveal how mindlessly contemporary phrases are accepted and perpetuated by people, without regard to any particular meaning or history behind them. Since the “leaders” of the ethnic movement supposedly represented by the term “hispanic” seem to prefer the term, everyone must accept and use it.
And, of course, “african american” is another. Consider the innate racism behind accepting and passing along the phrase. If it’s not apparent after some thought, it can be explained. But it’s very curious - and significant - to note that one of the principle proponents of the term’s use, jesse jackson, was recently overheard on a live mike referring to “his” people as blacks, although he would likely insist on the other.
Once you allow your speech to be dictated by another, and begin to censor it yourself, your days of free thought are coming to a close. Words do count, but mainly as indicators of the thought, or non-thought, behind them.
Growing up in Chicago I always thought that meant a mexican from Chicago. The actual source may be different.
I think it is.
You’re incorrect on your roots and origins of Hispanic. Hispania was the Latin name for all of the Iberian peninsula, and Hispanic was the term for all the residents therein, and their descendants. It does not, nor has it ever been used to denote the speakers of any language, not even coincidently those who happen to speak Spanish.
I’ve checked “Hispanic” just to be ornery sometimes.
(I am a Sephardic Jew, via Mexico circa 1500.)
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