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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Dear teacher who refers to students as "Hispanic," let me explain to you why you should refer to us as Latino/a. I'm about to do some emotional labor here, which I'm 99% sure you're going to ignore because you think your familiarity with us gives you some kind of authority.

Hispanic and Latino are often conflated. They are not the same. Hispanic refers to the language and Latino refers to the culture. If you have indigenous students in your classes (and if you have any from central America, you almost certainly do), these are Latinos, not Hispanics. Some of them may even speak Spanish, as is common in Guatemala, but that's the language of the colonizers. Brazilians are Latinos, not Hispanics. I can go on. This is just like how we don't call all Alaska Natives "Inuit" anymore.

Aside from mislabeling people with a moniker that refers to a particular language, "Hispanic" also refers to the colonizing culture. Many Latinos find it offensive for this reason.

I'm not going to get into Latinx. I don't understand it.[/quote]

I appreciate the time and thought you put into your post.  I hope you understand that not everyone is with you on the Hispanic versus Latino/a verbiage.  For example, my foster daughters prefer the term Hispanic, which is why I use the term.  If I know that you prefer the term Latino/a, then I will use that term with you.  Invariably, when at work, I use the term Hispanic because that is the word used on all of the district forms when we ask parents and guardians to self-identify their race, ethnicity or heritage.

I want to point out one other thing.  It is good to keep in mind that the terms we use can be fluid and that societies perspectives on terminology can change quickly from one to the other.  For example, I also have three children who are black.  For many years I was told by people outside of our family that we needed to use the term "African American."  I was told that using the word "black" was incorrect and a term of disparagement; however, that was not the term that my children used or that their birth families used to refer to their race.  My children and their birth families all good great pride in the term "black" so that is the term we use in my family.  It was only with the activities from this spring that the tide has now turned back and society again is saying that being "black" and proclaiming that you are "black" is once again a term of pride.

Again, I appreciate your thoughtful response to me.  I see from your responses to others that you haven't been as thoughtful.  I hope that you consider my perspective and recognize that there is room at the table for a lot of different perspectives.  Tolerance is a good thing.[/quote]

For DCUM audiences I refer to myself as a Latina but in real life I refer to myself as Hispanic (I am from Mexico) as do all of my Latino/Hispanic friends that I know and people in my Latin/Hispanic community. The name debate is definitely more an issue with white Americans and maybe even younger generations than it is for my actual community as a whole. Same with the Latinx label that I do not see or hear used in my community but seems to be pushed on by social media. While I think some of these issues come from a place of concern and maybe from a good place it really bothers me that a different community is trying to push their agenda/cultural conformity is on to my Latin/Hispanic community.[/quote]

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