Latino not Hispanic

A few weeks ago, prior to reading this article, I got into a discussion with my wife about the terms Latino versus Hispanic. I was under the assumption that they were interchangeable and that one wasn't any better than another. I sure blew that one but she was right on target.

From Slate...

Hispanic is an English word that originally referred to people from Spain and eventually expanded to include the populations of its colonies in South and Central America. Latino is a Spanish word—hence the feminine form Latina—that refers to people with roots in Latin America and generally excludes the Iberian Peninsula.

For many, Hispanic has negative connotations because of its Eurocentrism. Others prefer it because it's gender-neutral. Latino, meanwhile, is perceived as a more authentic-sounding, Spanish-language alternative. Generally speaking, Democrats use Latino more often than Republicans, who favor Hispanic.

This reminds me of the usage of the terms Far East and Orient. When I first started travelling to Asia a lot I quickly discovered that those two words had negative connotations because of their Eurocentric focus. It's best to just say Asia.