Spanish, Hispanic or Latin@?

Last year, my kids' school passed a form around asking which other cultural holidays could be celebrated at school. After all, this is a multicultural setting in London, with over 300 students of all backgrounds. I happily chipped in, I wrote, that considering it being a Catholic school, I was surprised we didn't celebrate any holidays from Spanish-speaking cultures.

And guys, they took note! However, the excitement was short-lived when I received an email inviting me to participate in 'Spanish Heritage Week'... gulp. As a proud Mexican, this stung a little bit.

See, Spanish, Latin, and Hispanic may sound the same, but they all encompass different things, share many attributes, but they're not interchangeable.

What the school meant to say was 'Hispanic Heritage Week'.

The term Hispanic broadly refers to people, cultures, or nations connected with Spain, the Spanish language, or the legacy of Spanish colonization. Countries that are 'Hispanic' typically mean countries where Spanish is the primary official language (or one of them): Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Also, Equatorial Guinea in Africa is often included because Spanish is an official language there.  Puerto Rico is often listed among Hispanic countries in cultural or demographic contexts, even though it is a territory of the United States.  Some countries or territories where Spanish is spoken by many people, but not officially, may or may not be counted depending on how strict one is about “official language” or cultural heritage.

This leaves us with several Spanish-speaking countries with their own rich history, cultural amalgamations, and religious syncretism as a result of the Spanish conquest. Each of these countries existed before and continued to exist, grow, and diversify after (in most cases) a traumatic conquest. Albeit in a new language.

Latin@ usually means people from Latin America (a geographic region of the Americas where Romance languages are spoken) — which includes Brazil and much of the Caribbean. It does not include Spain (it’s in Europe). Geographically, Latin America is known to be Mexico, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

Confusingly, there's some overlapping

• Spain → Hispanic, not Latino (Spain isn’t in the Americas).
• Brazil → Latino in common usage (it’s in Latin America), not Hispanic (Portuguese, not Spanish).
• Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico → Both Hispanic and Latino.
• Haiti/Dominican Republic → Latin America includes them geographically; however, Haiti is French/Creole, so not Hispanic.

And as for Spanish, well, marvelous Spain, full of Art, History, and beautiful beaches. The starter of it all. We have a history, some of it good, some of it bad. But is the past. And I would like to focus on the now, on my MEXICAN history, on my rich and wonderful heritage, and how I can pass this on to the first generation. To my daughter and her friends, to help them and the school learn that there is a reason we speak Spanish and -in our own right- we have history and traditions worthy of learning under the Hispanic umbrella, but always keeping our individuality as a nation.

At 2:30 this afternoon, I will be chatting to some teachers at the school to help them understand the differences and talk a little bit about the history of the Spanish language in Latin America. Wish me luck!