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Hispanic (derived from Spanish Hispano, from Latin L. Hispania, and Hisp?nus www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Hispanic) is a term denoting a derivation from Spain, its people and culture. It follows the same style of use as Anglo, which indicates a derivation of England and the English. Thus, the Spanish-American War in Spanish is known as Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, the "Spanish-German Treaty" is Tratado Hispano-Alemán, and "Spanish America" is Hispanoamérica.

As used in the United States, Hispanic is one of several terms employed to categorize all persons whose ancestry hails either from the people of Spain, any of the various peoples of Spanish-speaking Latin America, or the original settlers of the traditionally Spanish-held Southwestern United States. Further, an other unfortunate result of this broad based term is that programs designed to assist those groups which clearly have been historically disadvantaged (Native American/American Indians and those who are descendants of African Slaves) benefit no more from such programs than anyone who claims to be "Hispanic," irrespective of actual racial or cultural heritage, are considered for the same programs as those who are descended from groups who were oppressed (as opposed to those who were clearly oppressors).

In Spain, Spanish-speaking Latin America and most countries outside the United States, Hispanic/Hispano is not commonly employed as an indicator of ancestry; In this sense, when speaking of a nation's Hispanic population, those who are implied are Spaniards, criollos, mestizos, mulattos, or anyone else with significant Spanish ancestry, to the exclusion of indigenous Amerindians, unmixed descendants of black African slaves or other peoples from later migrations without any Spanish lineage who today reside in any of the Hispanic nations, regardless of whether they now use Spanish as their first and only language.

As this description is largely unique to the United States, it is possible that in time that a more precise definition will be accepted.

The term "Hispanic"

Etymology

Etymologically, the term Hispano/Hispanic is derived from Hispania, the name given by the Romans to the entire Iberian Peninsula — Historically, however, Hispanic/Hispano has only ever applied to Spain and things related to her, while a derivation from or relation to Portugal and its people is denominated Luso/Lusitanic.

The usage of Hispanic as an ethnic indicator in the United States is believed to have come into mainstream prominence following its inclusion in a question in the 1980 U.S. Census, which asked people to voluntarily identify if they were of "Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent".

"Hispanic" specifically refers to Spain, and to the Spanish-speaking nations of the Americas, as cultural and demographic extensions of Spain. In the context of Spain and Latin America, a Hispanic population consists of the people of Spain, and when regarding the inhabitants of the Spanish-speaking nations of the Americas, includes only criollos, mestizos, mulattos, and others with Spanish ancestry, to the exclusion of indigenous Amerindians, unmixed descendants of black Africans and whites or other peoples from later migrations without any Spanish lineage.

In regards to the term Latin, in this context it refers to the conception of "Latin America" as a region, a concept which was introduced by the French in the 1860s when they dreamed of building an empire based in Mexico. etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv3-68 The French understood "Latin" to include themselves and other continental European Romance speaking nations, to the exclusion of their "Anglo-Saxon" colonial rivals the United States (in the Americas) and the United Kingdom (in Europe). This means that "Latin" is not confined solely to Hispanics, Latin Americans, or Latinos, but has always included such peoples as the Italians, French, Romanians, Portuguese, etc.

Thus, of a group consisting of a Brazilian, a Colombian, a Mexican, a Spaniard, a Romanian, and a U.S.-born Cuban American, the Brazilian, Colombian, and Mexican would all be Latin American, but not the Spaniard, the Romanian, or the Cuban American, since neither Spain nor Romania nor the U.S. is geographically situated in Latin America. Finally, the above would all be Latin, especially if they're of unmixed Latin European ancestry.

It should be noted that the categories of "Latino" and "Hispanic" are used primarily in the United States to socially differentiate people. As social categories they are not mutually exclusive and without ambiguities and cannot be seen as independent of social discrimination (socioeconomic, ethnic or racial).

Besides "Hispanic", "Latino", and "Latin", other terms are used for more specific subsets of the Hispanic population. These terms often relate to specific countries of origin, such as "Mexican", "Mexican-American", "Cuban", "Puerto Rican" or "Dominican", etc. Other terms signify distinct cultural patterns among Hispanics which have emerged in what is now the United States, including "Chicano", "Tejano", "Nuyorican", etc. In places like Arizona and California, the Chicanos are proud of their personal association and their participation in the agricultural movement of the 1960s with César Chávez, that brought attention to the needs of the farm workers. These terms, however, proved even more misleading or inaccurate since:

• Most U.S. Hispanics were not born in Spain, nor were most born to recent Spanish nationals;
  
• Although most U.S. Hispanics speak Spanish, not all do, and though most Spanish-speaking people are Hispanic, not all are (e.g., many U.S. Hispanics by the fourth generation no longer speak Spanish, while there are some non-Hispanics of the Southwestern United States that may be fluent in the language), and;
  
• Although most Hispanics have a Spanish surname, not all do, and while most Spanish-surnamed people are Hispanic, not all are (e.g., there are tens of millions of Spanish-surnamed Filipinos, but very few, only about 3.5%, would qualify as Hispanic by ancestry).
  

Hispanics in the United States

Demographics

Hispanics constitute the largest minority group in the United States. The Hispanic growth rate over the July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2004 period was 3.6 % - higher than any other ethnic group in the United States, and in fact more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0 %). www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001720.html

Of the nation's total Hispanic population, 49% lives in California or Texas. www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/005338.html Meanwhile, for the 2000 to 2004 period, Lee County, Florida had the fastest growth rate in Hispanic population of any other county in the United States. www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060309/NEWS01/603090396/1075

Some 64% of the nation's Hispanic population are of Mexican or Mexican-American ancestry. The remainder are of other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origins.

The overwhelming majority of Hispanics of Mexican/Mexican-American origin are concentrated in the Southwestern United States, primarily California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The Hispanic population in the Northeastern United States, concentrated in New York and New Jersey, is composed mostly of Puerto Ricans, however, the Dominican population has risen considerably in the last decade, especially in proportion to that region's Hispanic population. The remainder of other Hispanics, composed of various Central American and South American origins, may be found throughout the country, though South Americans tend to concentrate on the East Coast of the United States (joining Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans) and Central Americans on the West Coast of the United States (joining Mexicans/Mexican Americans).
There are few immigrants from Spain. As a former Governor of Texas, President Bush has regarded the growing Hispanic community as a potential source of growth for the conservative and/or Republican movement--particularly because of the Catholic and more conservative social values that many Hispanic Americans share with the conservative element of the American political system. Some political organizations associated with Hispanic Americans are LULAC, the United Farm Workers and the Cuban American National Foundation.

Bush has made some gains for the Republican Party among Hispanics. For example, in the 1996 presidential election, 72% of Hispanics backed President Clinton, but in 2000, that Democratic total fell to 62%, and down further to 58% in 2004, with Democrat John Kerry winning Hispanics 58-40 over Bush.

It also breaks down interestingly by state. In some families the children and grandchildren of immigrants speak mostly English with some Spanish words and phrases thrown in.

Also see: Association of Hispanic Arts

Media

The United States is home to thousands of Spanish language media outlets ranging in size from giant commercial broadcasting networks and major Hispanic-oriented periodicals with circulations numbering in the millions, to low-power AM radio stations with listeners numbering in the hundreds. These LPB-funded projects are distributed to various public television stations throughout the United States.

Noteworthy Spanish-language media outlets include:

• Univision and Telemundo, respectively the first and second largest Spanish-language television networks in the United States, each with affiliates in nearly every major U.S. market, including numerous affiliates internationally.
  
• El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language daily newspaper serving the greater Miami, Florida market.
  
• Vida Latina, a Spanish-language entertainment magazine distributed throughout the Southern United States.
  

Racial diversity

Even outside the broad US definition of Hispanic, the term encompasses a very racially diverse population. While in the United States, Hispanics are often treated as a group apart from whites, blacks or other races, they actually include people who may identify with any or all of those racial groups.

In the mass media as well as popular culture, "Hispanic" is often incorrectly used to describe a subject's race or physical appearance. Many others are viewed as physically intermediate between whites and Amerindians and blacks.

Hispanics with mostly Caucasoid or Negroid features may not be recognized as such in spite of the ethnic and racial diversity of most Latin American populations. Actors Cameron Diaz and Alfonso Ribeiro, for example, are both Hispanic, even though they may be presumed not to be so because they do not fit the stereotype, the former being white and the latter black.

A great proportion of Hispanics identify as mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian), regardless of national origin. Many individuals identified as "Hispanics" (based on the U.S. definition) are of unmixed Native American ancestry, many of those from Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru—where they constitute a majority or plurality of the population—and a considerable proportion from Mexico.

Many other Hispanics may be of unmixed European ancestry, primarily, besides Spaniards, those from Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Uruguay.

Many Hispanics born in or with descent from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia may be of African descent, be it mulatto (mixed European and black African), zambo (mixed Amerindian and black African), triracial (specifically European, black African, and Amerindian) or unmixed black African.

In the case of many Argentines and Uruguayans labelled "Hispanic" by the U.S. definition, may actually trace their ancestries to other European countries besides Spain. Other ancestries include German, Irish, French, Polish. Nevertheless, even in the cases of Argentines and Uruguayans, most do posess some Spanish ancestry, as the waves of European immigrants to these two countries tended to quickly assimilate, intermarrying with the local population which at the times was of Spanish descent in its majority (in the form of mestizos, criollos, and mulattos). Examples of these would include Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Mexicans of Lebanese ancestry; Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Panamanians of Chinese ancestry; Even in Spain, the European motherland of Hispanicity, there is a slowly growing population of mestizos and mulattos due to the reversal of the historic Old World-to-New World migration pattern.

In the 2000 Census Hispanics self-identified mostly as white, black, amerindian or some other race.

Religious diversity

Main article: Hispanics and Religion.

The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2003 prepared a detailed study of Hispanic Churches in American Public Life www.pewtrusts.org/pdf/religion_hispanic_churches.pdf 70% of American Hispanics report themselves Catholic, and 23% Protestant, with 6% having no affiliation. Such is the case of Santería, popular with Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans and which combines old African beliefs in the form of Roman Catholic saints and rituals.

23% of Hispanics are Protestant. 85% of these are "born-again" and belong to Evangelical or Pentecostal churches.

Among the smaller groups (under 1%) are Hispanic Jews. They are the descendants of Ashkenazi Jews who migrated from Europe to Latin America, particularly Argentina and Cuba, and thence to the United States. It hybridizes Catholic rites for the Virgin Mary with old rituals for the Aztec goddess Tonantzin (earth goddess, mother of the gods and protector of humanity) and has all her attributes also endowed to the Lady of Guadalupe, whose Catholic shrine stands on the same sacred Aztec site that had previously been dedicated to Tonatzín, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico.

While a tiny minority, there are some Hispanic Muslims in Latin America. is more influenced by country-and-western music and the polka, brought by Central European settlers to Mexico. Latin pop, Rock, Latin hip-hop and Reggaeton styles tend to appeal to the broader Hispanic population, and varieties of Cuban music are popular with many Hispanics of all backgrounds.

There is a huge variety of literature from US Hispanics and the Hispanic countries. While Mexican cuisine is the most familiar variety of "Hispanic food" in most of the United States, it is not representative of the cuisine of most other Hispanic peoples.

The cuisine of Mexico can be heavily dependent on staples such as maize, beans, chile peppers and is greatly indebted to the cuisine and diet of the Aztec and Maya. Cuba and Puerto Rico, on the other hand, may be dependent on starchy root vegetables, plantain and rice and is influenced by the flavors of Spain, Africa and China. The cuisine of Spain often mirrors the cuisines of its Mediterranean neighbors, and in addition to the abundance of olives, olive oil, tomatoes, seafood and meats, other foreign influences, such as the use of saffron, were introduced during the spice trade. In Peruvian cuisine guinea pigs are popular as a source of meat (derived from the diet of the Inca) and staples indigenous to the region, such as maize and the myriad of potato varieties, are the most utilized there. It was adopted by all the states of Latin America during La Conferencia Panamericana (The Pan-American Conference) held that same year in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The white background stands for peace, the Inti sun god in Inca mythology symbolizes the light shining on the American continent, and the three crosses represent Christopher Columbus' caravels, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María used in his first voyage from Spain to the New World in 1492. Sciamarella)

Un canto de amistad, de buena vecindad,

unidos nos tendrá eternamente.

Por nuestra libertad, por nuestra lealtad

debemos de vivir gloriosamente.

Un símbolo de paz alumbrará el vivir

de todo el Continente Americano.

Fuerza de Optimismo, fuerza de la hermandad

será este canto de buena vecindad.

Argentina, Brasil y Bolivia,

Colombia, Chile y Ecuador,

Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela,

Guatemala y El Salvador,

Costa Rica, Haití y Nicaragua,

Honduras y Panamá,

Norteamérica, México y Perú,

Cuba y Canadá:

¡Son hermanos soberanos de la libertad!

¡Son hermanos soberanos de la libertad!

Hymn of the Americas

(translation)

A song of friendship, of good neighborhood,

will unite us eternally.

For our liberty, for our loyalty,

we must live gloriously.

A symbol of peace will illuminate the life

of all the American Continent.

A force of Optimism, a force of brotherhood

shall be this song of good neighborhood.

Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia,

Colombia, Chile and Ecuador,

Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela,

Guatemala and El Salvador,

Costa Rica, Haiti and Nicaragua,

Honduras and Panama,

North America, Mexico and Peru,

Cuba and Canada:

They are sovereign brothers of freedom!

They are sovereign brothers of freedom!

In an alternate version, the countries are re-arranged, "Canadá" is removed (as the already mentioned "Norteamérica" implies both the United States and Canada), and "Santo Domingo" (i.e. Dominican Republic) is added instead.

Argentina, Brasil y Bolivia,

Colombia, Chile y Ecuador,

Uruguay, Venezuela y Honduras

Guatemala y El Salvador,

Costa Rica, Haití y Nicaragua,

Cuba y Paraguay,

Norteamérica, México y Perú,

Santo Domingo y Panamá:

References

See also

• Latino
  
• La Raza
  
• Bronze race
  
• Spanish in the United States
  
• Hispanic culture in the Philippines
  
• List of Hispanics
  
• Famous Hispanic Americans
  
• List of United States cities with a majority Hispanic population
  
• Lusitanic
  
• Islenos
  
• Latin peoples
  
• Cuban-American lobby