Why most of the people in the United States believes that latino is a race?

TLB

most likely for the same reason many people think that all white people are Anglo...some are, some aren't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic
Hispanic (Spanish: hispano, hispÃ¡nico) is a term that historically denoted relation to the ancient Hispania (geographically coinciding with the Iberian peninsula: modern day Spain and Portugal) or to its pre-Roman peoples.

The term is now used to convey the culture and peoples of countries formerly ruled by Spain, usually with a majority population of Spanish heritage, and usually but not always, speak the Spanish language. These include: Mexico, Central and South America, the Greater Antilles, the Southwestern United States, Florida, the African nations of Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara, and the northern coastal region of Morocco. A Hispanic culture also exists in the Asia-Pacific nations and territories of the Philippines, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Despite their many similarities, Hispanics do not compose a homogeneous people or culture.

MATHmajaboy

Latino is a culture... and you could call it a race, they will make up the majority of the world in 2050! Im not sure if you are correct that it is the language you speak, the french are not latinos and actually english has its roots from latin as well as several other languages, but we are not latinos. Thats just my input

Not Rep or Dem!!

hispanic? Latino? Mexican? I don't know, to be honest, i try to be PC and call people by their names but I have no idea.

Jayna H

I see what you mean, and I guess it's the lack of information that the American public and/or government has onto whats Latin Americas ethnic groups are.
I'm Bolivian and like most I'm of a mixed descent, how should I classify myself?? Amerindian?? Caucasian??. I have blue eyes and I'm 6'2, so I've gotten used to the Latino choice, I was born here anyways.
Be glad you don't live in the 1950's, back then it was either White,Black,or Mexican :)

kisanz_04

Idk!! Maybe cuz they don't know what to call us...
Also you know how starting from mexico to south america its called latinoamerica, so they just make it short and call us latinos..I guess that's why.. Idk!!

russ_in_mo

No, it's not the rest of the world that calls you "latino". Only North Americans use the term. The rest of the world uses the terms 'latin american' or 'central/south american'.

Fox 5.3

So what is it then, an ethnicity?

â˜…Sp!cySam â™¥'s Naughty&Tanzie

because some people in the united states are ignorant in the sense that they do not know cultures of other nationalities except their own.

i want to be in mexico right now.. i would be visiting my abuelita and my tia :)

lemontreesp

would your rather we call you spics, i think Latino works just fine

StoneCold

The term "Latino" was officially adopted in 1997 by the United States Government in the ethnonym "Hispanic or Latino", which replaced the single term "Hispanic".[7] U.S. official use of the term "Hispanic" has its origins in the 1970 census. The Census Bureau attempted to identify all Hispanics by use of the following criteria in sampled sets:[8]

Spanish speakers and persons belonging to a household where Spanish was spoken
Persons with Spanish heritage by birth location
Persons who self-identify with Spanish ancestry or descent
Neither "Hispanic" nor "Latino" refers to a race, as a person of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race.[9][6] Like non-Latinos, a Latino can be of any single race: White/Caucasian, Black/African American, Asian, Native American, or Pacific Islander. Again like non-Latinos, some may identify with more than one race, such as Mestizo (a bi-racial person of White/Caucasian and Native American descent), Mulatto (a person of White/Caucasian and Black/African American descent), Zambo (a person of Native American and Black/African American descent) or any other race or combination.

Although as officially defined in the United States, "Latino" does not include Brazilian Americans,[5][6] and specifically refers to "Spanish culture or origin",[5][6] some of the dictionary definitions may include them and/or Brazilian people in general. Furthermore, Hispanic or Latino origin is, like race, a matter of self-identification in the US, and government and non-government questionnaires, including the census form,[10] usually contain a blank entry space wherein respondents can indicate a Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin other than the few (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) which are specified; presumably, Brazilian Americans (and others) can thus selfâ€“identify as being of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. However, Brazilian Americans are not included with Hispanics and Latinos in the government's population reports.[11][6]

Some authorities of American English maintain a distinction between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino":

"Though often used interchangeably in American English, Hispanic and Latino are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. Hispanic, from the Latin word for "Spain," has the broader reference, potentially encompassing all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasizing the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. Latinoâ€”which in Spanish means "Latin" but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word latinoamericanoâ€”refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only Hispanic can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic, not a Latino, and one cannot substitute Latino in the phrase the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word."[12]

http://www.answers.com/topic/latino

Mexico might be part of North America, but it is the United States of Mexico. Not the United States of America or Canada. We are still all separate countries from one another.

`Andy Capp

Actually I have not heard many-if any- Anglo Americans referring to Mexicans or others from Latin speaking countries as a Latin race. It is Mexicans in U.S. who are claiming to be a distinct race. There is no Latin race, only Latin language.So don`t try to pin that "Latin race" invention on us-Anglo-Americans.

Paladin

I know better, but some latinos act like they are a race, La Raza and all that

dipstick

Maybe you need to inform your fellow Latin peeps that Latin isn't a race so they can stop barking off the race card for every little thing they do not agree with.

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