# "Chicano" vs "Latino" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954 "2006-11-27T16:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/21 "2006-11-28T19:09:48Z")
Completely unrelated to anything but an, IMO, interesting aside: I had a first-gen Latina/Chicana/whatever friend years ago. Her mother was a little brown mexican woman, her father was a little brown mexican man. She was a little brown woman. Her brother was this white dude. Somehow all the spanish genes lined up once and they ended up with a european. Looked just like his dad, just really fair skin. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/22 "2006-11-28T19:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] When I first moved to Austin, I used Hispanic (a common term in Florida where I’m from) until I was made fun of for sounding “all fancy”. Latino seems to be the term of choice here. [/QUOTE] Funny. Among the folks I knew in college, Hispanic was considered derogatory and Latino preferred. The folks I knew in NYC just said “Spanish”. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/23 "2006-11-28T19:27:50Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Funny. Among the folks I knew in college, Hispanic was considered derogatory and Latino preferred. The folks I knew in NYC just said “Spanish”. [/QUOTE] I just posted this in another thread, but it’s relevant here, too. My husband, who is Cuban on his father’s side, prefers “Hispanic.” Don’t think he considers either to be derogatory (guess it really depends in the speaker, right? 🙂 ), but he thinks Hispanic is more descriptive of what it is actually referring to, which I guess is Spanish heriatge. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/24 "2006-11-28T20:40:22Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Funny. Among the folks I knew in college, Hispanic was considered derogatory and Latino preferred. [/QUOTE] I don’t know that it would be considered derogatory (in the sense that it expresses a low opinion about the person in question), though it may be considered offensive (because of being simplistic or not chosen by the people it is applied to). In my experience most Latin Americans prefer _latino_ (which technically also includes Brazilians). A smaller number may prefer \*Hispanic \* for various reasons. _Latino_ is probably safest to use in general if you are not aware of someone’s personal preference. This Wikipedia article gives some historical and political background on the use of the term and the nuances of its meanings. > **[Hispanic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic)** > > 21% Protestantism The term Hispanic (Spanish: hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or a meta-ethnic term. The term commonly applies to Spaniards and Spanish-speaking (Hispanophone) populations and countries in Hispanic America, (the continent) and Hispanic Africa (Equatorial Guinea and the disputed territory of Western Sahara), which w... ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/25 "2006-11-29T05:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Many people of Latino heritage arrived in New Mexico before Mexico was an independent country. And before the USA was, either. [/QUOTE] Doesn’t New Mexico have the oldest church/chapel in North America? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/26 "2006-11-29T06:08:07Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Yes, that was supposed to be “full blooded”! 🙂 And I put that in quotes because it’s not a scientific term. I also should have said that it was probably a point of pride for the person’s grandparent, rather then her, since she isn’t full blooded Indian by her own admission. [/QUOTE] My first assumption was that “bull blooded” was a sarcastic way of referring to someone who tenuously brags to be “full-blooded” Indian or whatever but probably isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/27 "2006-11-29T06:08:44Z")
[QUOTE=Belrix] She says her grandfather was a full-blooded aztec - meaning what I do not know. I assume she means that he was whatever the current mexican mixed euro-native race calls the local indigineous “indians”. The rest of her parentage is the “ordinary” citizens - whatever that means. [/QUOTE] So by “ordinary,” she is saying simply that three of her grandparents were of some kind of “uncertain” mixture of European/Native mixture. Actually, this might not be accurate, because there is a lot of African and Middle-Eastern blood in Mexico. By saying that her grandfather was a “full-blooded aztec,” what she might really meant is that his first language, (and the accompanying cultural effects), was not Spanish. Perhaps her grandfather rarely dealt with Spanish speakers or the cultural “norm.” It’s hard to tell, but it’s something worth talking about. I’d like to find out how she knows this, and what she has learnt from her grandfather. But becuase the term “Aztec” doesn’t have much to do with “blood,” (other than that it is definitely not European), and because the Aztecs have been gone for a long time, I can’t imagine the veracity of a person, who is the grandfather of a person alive today, being “aztec.” Probably she just wants you to know that her granfather was pure native, and that he probably spoke some kind of native language. This would have meant that he was probably treated pretty badly by the rest of Mexican society, and so it’s important for that reaon. I would see that as an item for future conversations. (Please report back.) [QUOTE=Belrix] She has Christmas Enchilidas. [/QUOTE] Green, suizas, or poblanas? I’ll drive the distance. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/28 "2006-11-29T06:25:50Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] Green, suizas, or poblanas? I’ll drive the distance. [/QUOTE] Con mole? Please??? With sugar on top??? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/29 "2006-11-29T13:44:47Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] By saying that her grandfather was a “full-blooded aztec,” what she might really meant is that his first language, (and the accompanying cultural effects), was not Spanish. Perhaps her grandfather rarely dealt with Spanish speakers or the cultural “norm.” Probably she just wants you to know that her granfather was pure native, and that he probably spoke some kind of native language. This would have meant that he was probably treated pretty badly by the rest of Mexican society, and so it’s important for that reaon. I would see that as an item for future conversations. [/QUOTE] It is probably not so involved. Aztec to her may mean indigenous. Language, btw, and not “blood” is what is used today to determine ethnicicity in México. And I don’t know anyone in Mexican society who personally treats indigenous badly. ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/30 "2006-12-03T07:58:36Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Many people of Latino heritage arrived in New Mexico before Mexico was an independent country. And before the USA was, either. [/QUOTE] 😕 Which Latino people arrived in Nuevo Mexico before Mexico or the US? ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/31 "2006-12-03T08:12:08Z")
[QUOTE=ChicanoRojo] 😕 Which Latino people arrived in Nuevo Mexico before Mexico or the US? [/QUOTE] New Mexico had Spanish surnamed residents while everything was under Spain’s control and before the English colonization began. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/32 "2006-12-03T09:16:29Z")
[QUOTE=Unregistered Bull] New Mexico had Spanish surnamed residents while everything was under Spain’s control and before the English colonization began. 😕 [/QUOTE] New Mexico had Spanish colonizers and missionaries before the independence of Mexico and it’s territories. I just do not understand the statement made by Bridget Burke. > [@](#): > > \*\*Many people of Latino heritage arrived in New Mexico before Mexico \*\*was an independent country. And before the USA was, either. Which people of Latino heritage?? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/33 "2006-12-03T11:06:46Z")
When I was in junior high in norcal, people there _faught_ to be called “Chicano.” Anything else was “insulting.” It was the time of the brown buffalo. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954/34 "2006-12-03T17:43:46Z")
No true Chicana would have sugar on top of her enchiladas con mole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicano-vs-latino/381954.md?page=1)