A 1976 act of Congress is the only law in US history that mandated the collection of data for a specific ethnic group: “Americans of Spanish origin or descent”. The legislation described Hispanics as “Americans who identify themselves as being of Spanish-speaking background and trace their origin or descent from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America and other Spanish-speaking countries.”
“The slashing allows all of us, kicking and screaming, to check the right box.” This is the first step to being vocal and influential.
Being a Hispanic in the US is not only about linguistic background but also about self-identification. According to the Census, only 4% of immigrants from Brazil and 1% of immigrants from Portugal and Philippines self-identify as Hispanics when they fill out the Census forms. Latino: “A person of Latin-American descent living in the US.” Therefore most of Latinos are Hispanics while Portuguese and French speakers of the Americas are Latinos but not Hispanics. Unless they identify themselves as Hispanics in their Census forms. This is The US of A: you have a choice.
I have heard people passionately refusing to be called “Hispanic” and claiming to be only “Latinos” because they do not want to identify themselves with Spain —the old colonial power. Maybe those “Latino Only” people should also project their animosity against the old Roman Empire. But I have news for the anti-Hispanic, Latino-only camp: The “Latino concept” was coined in the 1830s by the French Empire to join a “Latin America” with a “Latin Europe.” The term “Latin America” was supported by Napoleon III during the French invasion of Mexico to fabricate a cultural kinship between France and Mexico and generate the perception of a common enemy in Anglophone America. Are those escaping their Hispanic roots embracing a French, imperial allegiance? What a funny paradox!
And then there is my good friend, Grace Flores-Hughes who helped establish “Hispanic” as the government’s word of choice for people of Spanish origin —a term that made it onto the official U.S. census form in 1980.
“There are many Hispanic activists who think that Richard Nixon did it. Well, no, Richard Nixon didn’t have time to be doing this. When I explain it, they get relieved. They were holding this anger that some nasty Anglo named them. Well, no, it wasn’t. It was this little Hispanic bureaucrat,” says Flores-Hughes who has no problem with “the slashing that they do —the Hispanic slash Latino slash—is good.” The important thing, she says, it is to get counted: “The slashing allows all of us, kicking and screaming, to check the right box.” This is the first step to being vocal and influential.
The woman who called us “Hispanics” says that we —Hispanics— have to be more vocal when being stereotyped or when we disagree with a public policy issue. We must do it in a united front. We shouldn’t allow others to define us but rather we should speak out about what we truly believe in and demand national media time —not only on Hispanic stations.
Avendaño is Executive Editor of El Tiempo Latino
alberto@eltiempolatino.com
