Latinx, Hispanic And The Difference Between Race And Ethnicity

Gabriela Enamorado/Staff Writer

Filling out any paperwork can be confusing as a Latinx. You mark your ethnicity as “Hispanic/Latino” and then they ask you for your race. You think “wait, isn’t my race Hispanic?” This is a common misconception. The terms “Hispanic” and “Latinx” refer to an ethnicity, not a race. Once we recognize this, we’ll be able to recognize other problems in the Latinx community and how other people view us. 

First, let’s establish the differences between Latinx and Hispanic is. “Latinx” refers to people with origins from Latin America. This includes Brazil and Haiti, but not Spain, since Spain is in Europe. “Hispanic” means of Spanish-speaking origin and does include Spain, but not Haiti or Brazil. People from these areas can be of any racial group. 

People often view Latinxs as their own racial group. I’ve heard plenty of people say “I’m not White, I’m Latinx.” This is incorrect. Someone can be White and Latinx. Of course, they can experience prejudice too, but that usually comes in the form of xenophobia, or prejudice against people from other countries—not racism. White Latinxs still benefit from white privilege, especially those who would be indistinguishable from white Americans if they didn’t have a ethnic last name or an accent. Their Latinidad does not separate them from whiteness.

The same goes for Afro-Latinx people. I’ve met plenty of people who haven’t realized that you can be Black and Latinx at the same time without being mixed. As mentioned before, Haitians and Brazilians are counted in Latin America. In fact,  Brazil has the largest population of African people outside of Africa. Afro-Latinx people have contributed so much to plenty of Latin American countries. They aren’t any less black just because they speak Spanish or Portuguese. 

Many people from Latin America are mixed-race, or “mestizo.” Mestizo refers to being mixed between European and Indigenous. Mestizo is what most people think of when they think of the typical “look” Latinxs have. This is what I identify with. I’m Guatemalan, so I’m mostly mixed with the indigenous Maya people and Spanish. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Many people are fully European, fully black, or fully indigenous. However, it’s worth mentioning not all Indigenous people identify as Latinx because they might feel it erases their identity of the original people of Latin America. 

Since Latinx people come from many different backgrounds and colors, we all experience things differently.  Racism happens in Latinx communities too, and one of the ways it manifests is in the erasure of non-white Latinxs from our media.

If you’ve ever turned on a telenovela, most of the time all we see is white or very light-skinned mestizo people representing us. This is a big reason why many people don’t recognize that Latinx people come in different colors. They don’t show the diverse community we really are. 

Afro-Latinx people and indigenous people are often mistreated in Latin America. In Mexico, Afro-Mexicans were not officially recognized on the census until 2015. In Guatemala, there was a civil war throughout the 1980s that resulted in the genocide of the Maya people. If we just ignore this and say “we’re all Latinos and we’re the same,” we’re ignoring that we don’t all experience things the same.  

Recognizing that we’re not all the same race will benefit us outside of our community as well. Non-Latinx people often view us as a monolith and put us in a box. They think we all look like Jennifer Lopez or Sofia Vergara. I’ve heard non-Latinx people say “you don’t look Latino” to others before for not fitting into their box. Most of that is due to a lack of other representation in the media as I mentioned earlier.

Understanding that being Latinx is not a race but an ethnicity is crucial to understanding each other.  Outside of our community, people will realize that the community is diverse and beautiful. We’re a diverse bunch, and we should be proud of it.

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