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"You Say Latino"

James Newman

There's a difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino. Or maybe there's not. An Oregon comic artist wanted to find out, and the result has sparked a national conversation.

Terry Blas is an Oregonian whose Mom came from Mexico and Dad came from Utah. He wasn't completely sure if he was Latino or Hispanic and found that friends didn't know the difference nor did Latinos he met.  Blas draws web comics for a living and decided to produce one on the question of Hispanic versus Latino:

"Making the comic was just a fun, educational way for me to sort through these terms that have always applied to me.  It was almost a therapeutic thing to just create this little story and I didn't expect it to get any attention."

His first research step was logical. He asked his Mom:

"She said in her eyes, Hispanic was someone who came from a country who spoke Spanish and that Latino was someone who came from a country that was Latin American."

Blas looked at some studies and then reached into his old-fashioned box filled with drawing pencils and Japanese brush pens, and got to work. He settled on definitions pretty close to his Mom's. Latinos are from Latin America, basically everything south of the U.S.  Hispanics are from countries whose primary language is Spanish, so:

"If I'm from Spain? If you're from Spain, I would say that you are Hispanic. Brazil? They speak Portuguese in Brazil so I'm told by the Brazilians I know that they are Latinos and not Hispanics.  Mexico? I would say both. Blodgett, Oregon? I've never been (laughs). I would say Oregon, I guess it depends on who you are in Oregon."

Credit Terry Blas

Blas's definitions have been challenges, but Erlinda Gonzalez Berry, a former OSU professor who wrote the book "Mexicanos in Oregon", says he's on the right track.  She says in Spanish, Latin America is either America Latina or Latino America, and that's where the word "Latino" comes from.  But the U.S. census has a different definition.  Charles Rynerson at the Portland State University, coordinates census data for Oregon.  He says the census asks if you are Hispanic or Latino:

"It's somewhat similar to how they ask about other races such as black or African American. Those are just a matter of preference of the individual.  Hispanic and Latino are interchangeable."

Rynerson says that preference varies depending on which part of the country you're in:

"A large number of American Latinos prefer the  term Latino over Hispanic and that was especially true in the Western United States, where the majority of our Latino population is of Mexican origin."

Terry Blas now thinks of himself as Latino and Hispanic and his comic has gotten attention from Latino media around the country. But what does his Mom think?:

"My Mother read the comic and requested a few copies. I think she liked it. I think she enjoyed it.  That felt nice."

Blas's comic--"You Say Latino"--has gotten 200-thousand hits and counting.