Are you a Hispanic or a Latino? We have been asking ourselves this question since the seventies when the government adopted the term "Hispanic" to keep population statistics and monitor compliance to Affirmative Action laws.
And the answer isn't as clear-cut as one might expect. Choosing one term over the other means taking a political, social, and even a generational stand.
Stereotypically, those who call themselves Hispanic are more assimilated, conservative, and young, while those who choose the term Latino tend to be liberal, older, and sometimes radical.
A recent presidential tracking poll by Hispanic Trends, Inc., a polling firm associated with this magazine, wanted to put the identity issue to rest once and for all by asking registered voters which term they preferred-Hispanic or Latino. The result was something of a surprise: A majority prefer the term Hispanic.
Sergio Bendixen, president of Hispanic Trends, says his company decided to put the question in its poll for obvious reasons. "It's something Hispanics and Latinos have been debating for years, and no one seems to have asked the question. So we decided to ask it," he says.
Of the 1,200 Latino registered voters polled, 65 percent preferred the term Hispanic, and 30 percent chose to identify themselves as Latino. Regionally, the results were similar. This random sample showed that 67 percent of Mexican Americans in Texas preferred the term Hispanic, as did 52 percent of Latinos in California and New York.
Bendixen, who has been conducting polls for 25 years, says the results surprised him. "I thought the term Latino would be the overwhelming winner, because I've worked in California for Univisión and Telemundo, and I was not allowed to say Hispanic on the air. When I did, we got a lot of complaints."
http://www.hispaniconline.com/hh/hisp_vs_lat.html