New pope revives question: What is a 'Latino?'

[onehandle]

He is being hailed with pride and wonder as the "first Latino pope," a native Spanish speaker born and raised in the South American nation of Argentina. But for some Latinos in the United States, there's a catch: Pope Francis' parents were born in Italy.

Such recent European heritage is reviving debate in the United States about what makes someone a Latino. Those questioning whether their idea of Latino identity applies to Pope Francis acknowledge that he is Latin American, and that he is a special inspiration to Spanish-speaking Catholics around the world. Yet that, in their eyes, does not mean the pope is "Latino."

These views seem to be in the minority. But they have become a distinct part of the conversation in the United States as the Latino world contemplates this unique man and moment.

snip...

"After the president of the United States, he's probably the most influential person in the world," she says. The conversation about Pope Francis' ethnicity is rooted in history and geography. Latin America is a complex region of deep racial and class narratives. The elites tend to be whites of European ancestry; the poor are often dark-skinned descendants of indigenous or African people.

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-revives-latino-134354010.html

[TexasProgresive]

1. My father was ethnic French

He considered himself a Latino. Even though a U.S. Citizen he felt more at home in Central and South America. In his youth he became a member of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). His life long belief is that Romance language speaking people had more in common with each other than Anglos. He would become incensed if someone called him an Anglo as he viewed the English as the enemy.

[pampango]

4. That's interesting. I've seen 'Latino' used as inclusive of Spanish- and Portugese-speaking folks

from Central and South America. I have not heard it used to apply to Haitians or any other French-speaking people from the same region or English-speakers like from Belize. French is a much a Latin-based language as Spanish and Portugese.

[dipsydoodle]

2. I would think the expression goes back

to those countries whose language is primarily Latin based.

[Nye Bevan]

3. Perhaps people should stop obsessing over labels

which become more and more meaningless as different races move and intermarry. I believe that the census, for example, should stop asking about race.

[Proud Public Servant]

5. Oddly, I was just

thinking about this this weekend, though not in conjunction with the current Pope. "Latino" at least has a geographic starting point -- Latin America. But was Lima-born Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori Latino? What about German Argentines? "Hispanic" is even thornier. Who was our first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice? Is it Sonya Sotomayor? Or was it Benjamin Cardozo, who's ancestors were from Portugal? Neither are categories that stand up well to logical scrutiny.

[FarCenter]

9. Are Brazilians hispanic?

Some definitions of the word include Portugese speakers and some not?

Is a Spaniard from Madrid a Latino?

[Proud Public Servant]

10. Exactly! [nt]

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Spaniard from Madrid is a Spaniard.

Americans who are directly descended from Spain would be referred to as Hispanic-Americans.

Hispanic=Hispana=Spain.

That's how the term originated.

[Proud Public Servant]

12. Except that

Hispanic also=Hispania=Iberian pennisula (and thus Portugal). It really is a muddled term.

Also, if "Americans who are directly descended from Spain would be referred to as Hispanic-Americans," then that implies that Americans who are not directly descended from Spain would not be referred to as Hispanic. Yet,arguably, the only people we call Hispanic are those not descended directly from Spain -- i.e., Latin Americans. Again, it's a muddle.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. No muddle.

People from Central or South America, in the U.S., can refer to themselves as <insert country of birth>-Americans; Latinos; or Hispanics (Older immigrants might be fine with Hispanic because this is how we were referred to years ago). There is a trend now to be referred to as Latinos.

[LittleBlue]

6. Err... a lot of people from Argentina had parents/grandparents from Italy

It's extremely common, and doesn't make them any less Latino. That's like saying an American with Irish parents isn't really American.

[Proud Public Servant]

7. Not exactly

In your example, it would be more appropriate to say

It's extremely common, and doesn't make them any less Argentine. That's like saying an American with Irish parents isn't really American.

Argentine is analogous to American; they're both nationalities. Latino is generally used as if it's an ethnicity.

[LittleBlue]

8. Meh

I see Latino more as a culture, same with being an American. If I refer to nationality, I say "US citizen". The children of undocumented workers from Mexico are American to me, even if they weren't born here.

To me Latino is cultural, not dependent on genes.

[RedCappedBandit]

16. As an ethnicity, it is cultural. You're right. nt

[smirkymonkey]

14. I always found this confusing.

I am an American of Italian, English and Dutch descent. Although I am an American citizen, I still identify with my European roots. I don't understand why South Americans would be any different.

[RedCappedBandit]

15. Latino describes an etnicity.

He is latino.

As for the difference between latino and hispanic, this pretty accurately reflects how I've understood it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans

[Coyotl]

17. An Italian in Argentina is no more Latino than a German in Paraguay.

Are the fourth generation Germans in South America Latinos?

[pnwmom]

18. He's not Italian anymore than Obama is half-Kenyan.

He's an Argentinian from Italian descent and Obama is a U.S. citizen with Kenyan and European history.