Latino
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Wikipedia-Article "Latino"
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Etymology
Latino, feminine Latina derives from Latin (the adjectives latinus, latina), originally referring to Latium, the area of Rome, by aitiology derived from a king of the name Latinus.
The term should not be confused with Ladino (the Spanish-based language traditionally spoken by Sephardic Jews) or Ladin (a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in the Italian Alps), even though the origin for all three names is the same.
Usage in the United States of America
In the United States of America, the term Latino refers loosely to any person of Latin American origin living in the U.S. It is typically contrasted with Anglo-American and/or African-American in common speech. More widely it is occasionally used to denote anyone who speaks (or whose national or ethnic origin is traditionally associated with) the languages derived from Latin. This meaning, however, is very uncommon in US usage, since it is generally thought to refer specifically to Latin America, and not to Latin or Latium (as is the case elsewhere).
In a US setting, most frequently the term Latino is applied exlusively to immigrants from Hispanophone countries in North and South America and their descendants. This widespread meaning has gone into common usage, but remains problematic. Some define Latino as encompassing Latin American immigrants in the US only, distinct from Spanish people. US inhabitants originating in countries of the Western Hemisphere where other languages derived from Latin are widespread (such as Aruba, Brazil, Canada or Haiti where Papiamento, Portuguese, French and Kreyol are spoken) are usually not considered to be "Latino". Inhabitants of French Guiana and the French West Indies, for example, are typically thought to have more in common culturally with English-speaking West Indians than they do with residents of Mexico and Central and South America, while French-speaking Canadians are perceived as being culturally closer to white English-speaking North Americans.
The U.S. Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino" as having a background in a Hispanophone Latin American country or being of direct Spanish ancestry. Thus immigrants from Spain (but not Equatorial Guinea) are considered "Hispanic or Latino" in U.S. censuses, but immigrants from Brazil are not. The label also includes ethnically Hispanic non-immigrant populations with historical roots within the present Borders of the United States, such as the New Mexico Spanish and Louisiana Cajuns of Spanish origin. These "Latins" are the descendants of people who became American citizens through annexation treaties. Similarly, an immigrant from Latin America whose origins are entirely British or other non-Spanish, would most likely be considered Latino by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Criticism of United States Usage
The word Latino is debated as to whether it is an appropriate label for the people living in the Americas outside of the United States and Canada. Controversy surrounds on the usage since it implies a mirroring of Europe Latin area (see Latin Europe) in the Americas. But in doing so, it has excluded millions of indigenous descendants (many of whom speak only a native language) that are very much grounded in what is called the Americas. Thus the critique of the word falls on the exclusion of others and/or perpetuating a homogenuity of one race in the Americas. The exclusion falls on the indigenous societies and the seized populations of Africa.
Recently, Mexican-descent organizations such as the Mexica Movement have challenged the legitimacy of the newly-introduced term of "Latino" on the grounds of its non-applicability to people who are non-European. Since the term Latino refers to Latin Europe and its descendents, people of American indigenous descent are necessarily excluded from such a term. The heavy promotion of the term Latino by European-descent Cubans in Miami onto the much larger Mexican population that is non-European, has fueled sharp critiques of the term as it is currently applied. Given that approximately 10% of Mexico's population continues to speak an indigenous language as its mother tongue, the Latino moniker is especially problematic. The media application of the term "Latino" in conjunction with non-Latino patrimony images (such as Aztec and Mayan pyramids) promises to stir debate about an "umbrella" term encompassing people of separate races and separate civilizations.
Critics further point out that Native Americans primarily speak English but are never referred to as Anglos or as "Britannic." Latino, they assert, is likewise non-applicable as an identity to people of indigenous stock (full-blood and mixed-blood) in other regions of the same continent.