Latino or Hispanic? Neither. Try Country of Origin

May 31, 2012

The Pew Hispanic Center recently published a report that found most immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries don’t embrace the term "Hispanic." And even fewer prefer the term "Latino."

Below are key findings as published in the report "When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity:"

When it comes to describing their identity, most Hispanics prefer their family’s country of origin over pan-ethnic terms. Half (51%) say that most often they use their family’s country of origin to describe their identity. That includes such terms as "Mexican" or "Cuban" or "Dominican," for example. Just one-quarter (24%) say they use the terms "Hispanic" or "Latino" to most often to describe their identity. And 21% say they use the term "American" most often.

"Hispanic" or "Latino"? Most don’t care–but among those who do, "Hispanic" is preferred. Half (51%) say they have no preference for either term. When a preference is expressed, "Hispanic" is preferred over "Latino" by more than a two-to-one margin–33% versus 14%.

Most Hispanics do not see a shared common culture among U.S. Hispanics. Nearly seven-in-ten (69%) say Hispanics in the U.S. have many different cultures, while 29% say Hispanics in the U.S. share a common culture.

Most Hispanics don’t see themselves fitting into the standard racial categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau. When it comes to race, according to the Pew Hispanic survey, half (51%) of Latinos identify their race as "some other race" or volunteer "Hispanic/Latino." Meanwhile, 36% identify their race as white, and 3% say their race is black.

Latinos are split on whether they see themselves as a typical American. Nearly half (47%) say they are a typical American, while another 47% say they are very different from the typical American. Foreign-born Hispanics are less likely than native-born Hispanics to say they are a typical American–34% versus 66%.