Hispanic refers to folks who ancestrally speak Spanish. My mother’s first language was Spanish even though she and her parents and grandparents were born in the US. She always told us she was Spanish, never Mexican but not to tell anybody? Her skin was white and people didn’t like Hispanics in those days.
She was afraid we’d face discrimination.
Ok. So what’s different from people whose ancestral language is Portuguese or Italian or Sicilian or any other Latin Mediterranean people group?