What is the Difference Between "Hispanic," "Mexican," "Latino," and "Chicano"?
- Hispanic = someone who comes from or descends from people from a Spanish-speaking country
- Mexican = someone from Mexico or someone of Mexican descent
- Latino = someone from Latin America or someone of Latin American descent
- Chicano = Mexican-American
Usage of these terms often depends on regional, generational, and/or political differences, among other things.
In addition to or in lieu of any of the above terms, a person may choose to identify themself by their country(ies) of origin or heritage.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic (hispanoor hispánico) can be used to refer to someone from Spain or the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, as well as to people of Hispanic descent (people with parents, grandparents, etc. who are Hispanic).
In the U.S., the term Hispanic is most commonly used to refer to someone from Spanish-speaking Latin America (Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Central and South America), as well as descendants of people from Spanish-speaking Latin America.
People from or with family ties to Spain, the Philippines, and Equatorial Guinea may also be considered or choose to refer to themselves as Hispanic.
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Mexican
The term Mexican (mexicano) can be used to refer to someone born in Mexico, someone with Mexican citizenship, or someone of Mexican descent.
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Latino
The term Latino (latino) is used to refer to someone from Latin America (Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Central and South America), as well as to people of Latino descent (people with parents, grandparents, etc. who are Latino).
- People from Latin American countries that do not speak Spanish can be considered or refer to themselves as Latino.
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Chicano
The term Chicano may be used to refer to someone of Mexican descent born in the United States.
Though it is sometimes used as a synonym for Mexican-American, the word Chicano may be more specifically used:
- to refer to the Mexican-American civil rights movement of the 1960s
- by or to refer to people of Mexican descent from the American Southwest
- by or to refer to Mexican-Americans to emphasize their pride in their Amerindian roots and/or dual identities as both Mexicans and Americans
Not all Mexican-Americans identify as Chicanos. Additionally, someone may change how they choose to identify based on factors like situation, place, audience, age, etc.
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A person who was born in Mexico and came to the United States as an adult would most likely refer to themself as Mexican, not Chicano.
Latinx, Latine, Chicanx, Chicane
The terms Latinx and Latine are gender-neutral terms that can be used to refer to refer to individuals from Latin America or from Latin American descent. The gender-neutral terms for Chicano/Chicana are Chicanx, Chicane, Xicanx, and Xicane.
The Spanish equivalents of the terms above are written in lowercase and are used with the arroba(at symbol) in place of the x. Additionally, the gender-neutral suffix -e is becoming more widespread in Spanish.
Use of the above terms in both English and Spanish may depend on a speaker's age, origin, and/or political affiliation, among other things.
Let's take a look at some examples that use the above gender-neutral terms.
Millones de votantes latin@s votaron en la última elección.
Millions of Latinx voters voted in the last election.
Dos de mis estudiantes chicanes me invitaron a su casa para partir la rosca de Reyes.
Two of my Chicane students invited me over to cut the rosca de reyes.
If you're unsure how a person identifies, you could ask them. If you do so, we recommend clarifying both to the person you're asking and to yourself why you're asking. For example:
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