- Author: Dr. Carlos Cortés, University of California, Riverside
In my last blog -Hispanic or Latino?- I discussed the distinctions between ethnic — particularly Hispanic — heritage, identity, and culture. I ended by posing this question: beyond the sharing of a pan-Latino identity, does a U.S. Hispanic culture really exist? Or are Hispanic and Latino merely convenient umbrella terms for embracing the various U.S. ethnic cultures rooted in Spain and the different Spanish-American nations?
Let’s begin by comparing Hispanic with four other common ethnic umbrella terms: European-American, Asian-American, African-American and Native-American. Certainly they all share the characteristics of having a geographical reference point. But beyond that, distinctions...
- Author: Dr. Carlos Cortés, University of California, Riverside
Quite regularly I get asked, “What’s the right word, Hispanic or Latino?” In truth, there is no right word. Group labels, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. Group labels – in fact, all labels – are mainly verbal conveniences. They emerge; they change and they disappear.
This brings me back to the Hispanic or Latino label. Some of us prefer only one or the other. Alternately, for some of us (myself included), either word is fine. Others prefer a national origin label (but also don’t mind Hispanic or Latino, either), and yet others like just being called American.
My father, who grew up in Guadalajara, was a proud Mexican and a proud American. He used both of those...
- Posted By: Myriam Grajales-Hall
- Written by: USA Today
The USA is bigger, older, more Hispanic and Asian and less wedded to marriage and traditional families than it was in 1990, according to a story published in USA Today. It also is less enamored of kids, more embracing of several generations living under one roof, more inclusive of same-sex couples, more cognizant of multiracial identities, more suburban, less rural and leaning more to the South and West.
One of the most significant demographic trends of the past 20 years is the explosive growth of Hispanics. Now at 50 million, almost one in...
- Posted By: Myriam Grajales-Hall
- Written by: Joanne Lin, Californiawatch.org
The Hispanic/Latino population in California grew at a substantially slower clip over the past decade than in the rest of the nation, according to figures released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau, and reported by Californiawatch.org.
From 2000 to 2010, the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population grew 43 percent to nearly 50.5 million. More than half the nation's total population growth during this decade was due to the increase in the Hispanic/Latino population, which represents 16.3 percent of the country.
During the same time, California added...
