What Is Hispanic?

The term ‘Hispanic’ is an ethnic label given to individuals living in the United States who have an ancestral origin or cultural connectedness with Latin America. According to the United States Census Bureau, ‘Hispanic’ is an ethnicity noted by the federal government, and it is not a race or a nationality. In other words, persons of any race can be Hispanic, as long as they are of Latin American origin or ancestry.

The Origins of the Term ‘Hispanic’

The term Hispanic emerged from the 1970s, when the US government attempted to devise a category that could track population growth in relation to those from Latin American countries. Thus, the term was developed as an aggregate rubric for a multicultural population, aimed at capturing the various national, cultural, and racial components of people from Latin America.

Races Within the Hispanic Ethnicity

The reality is that Latin American countries are themselves diverse and encompass many different racial groups. The term Hispanic is inclusive of all Indigenous, Mestizo, Mulato, Black, and White people, among others. It is also inclusive of all nationalities such as Mexican, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, and Cuban, to name a few. It is in this way that Hispanic origin is an ethnic category unifying the multiple ethnic origins and nationalities born in Latin America, regardless of racial origin or ancestry.

In sum, the term ‘Hispanic’ refers to an ethnicity of people rather than a single race, and individuals of various races can identify as Hispanic. It is important that individuals are not limited to one label and are aware of the complexities of the concept of race and how it intersects with language, culture, and country of origin.