Hispanic

Hispanics are originally people from Spanish-speaking countries in Europe (Spain) and Latin America (Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, etc). In Spain, the term Hispanic refers to people of that country or those who can claim Spanish ancestry. It also refers to countries that have Spanish-based cultures such as those found in Latin America. In the United States, the term Hispanic was chiefly made up to group together disparate groups from Latin America that shared common cultural attributes, religion, and language but were not racially the same. In the 1970s and 1980s, on Census-based forms and questionnaires, Hispanic began appearing as a racial category; this oversight caused confusion. Today, Census-based forms have been modified to allow Hispanics to identify if they are black, white, or multi-racial. Hispanics are chiefly white/mestizo. In countries like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Colombia, whites make up the overwhelming majority. Whereas in places like Cuba amd Dominican Republic, blacks comprise the majority. Countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador are dominated by mestizos. The term Hispanic recently has been rejected in favor of the newer term Latino; sometimes Hispanic and Latino are used interchangeably (although, depending on who one asks and location within the US, term preferences vary). Hispanics DO NOT include Brazilians or Portuguese as they do not speak Spanish. But Filippinos and African from Equatorial Guinea can be grouped in that category.