This article discusses the complex and subtle reasons why many people of Spanish-speaking ancestry—both Latin Americans and Spaniards—like to call themselves “Latinos.” Among other things, this word, coined by the Mediterranean countries to resist Anglo dominance in the 19th century, is currently being used by people of Spanish-speaking ancestry in the United States to express ethnic pride. Thus, the choice of the term “Latinos” over “Hispanics” moves the focus from a pan-ethnic, historical identity to contemporary struggles for equality and the racialization of people of Spanish-speaking ancestry in the United States.
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