Hispanic


The term Hispanic refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term.
The term commonly applies to Spaniards and Spanish-speaking populations and countries in Hispanic America and Hispanic Africa, which were formerly part of the Spanish Empire due to colonization mainly between the 16th and 20th centuries. The cultures of Hispanophone countries outside Spain have been influenced as well by the local pre-Hispanic cultures or other foreign influences.
There was also Spanish influence in the former Spanish East Indies, including the Philippines, Marianas, and other nations. However, Spanish is not a predominant language in these regions and, as a result, their inhabitants are not usually considered Hispanic.
Hispanic culture is a set of customs, traditions, beliefs, and art forms in music, literature, dress, architecture, cuisine, and other cultural fields that are generally shared by peoples in Hispanic regions, but which can vary considerably from one country or territory to another. The Spanish language is the main cultural element shared by Hispanic peoples.

Terminology

The term Hispanic derives from the Latin word Hispanicus, the adjectival derivation of Hispania, which means of the Iberian Peninsula and possibly Celtiberian origin. In English the word is attested from the 16th century.
The words Spain, Spanish, and Spaniard are of the same etymology as Hispanus, ultimately.
File:Busto de un joven - siglo II d. C. - Museo de Valladolid.jpg|thumb|Bust of a young Hispano-Roman man, 2nd century.
Hispanus was the Latin name given to a person from Hispania during Roman rule. The ancient Roman Hispania, which roughly comprised what is currently called the Iberian Peninsula, included the contemporary states of Spain, Portugal, parts of France, Andorra, and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. In English, the term Hispano-Roman is sometimes used. The Hispano-Romans were composed of people from many different Indigenous tribes, in addition to colonists from Italia. Some famous Hispani and Hispaniensis were the emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, Theodosius I and Magnus Maximus, the poets Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Martial and Prudentius, the philosophers Seneca the Elder and Seneca the Younger, and the usurper Maximus of Hispania. A number of these men, such as Trajan, Hadrian and others, were in fact descended from Roman colonial families.
Here follows a comparison of several terms related to Hispanic:
  • Hispania was the name of the Iberian Peninsula/Iberia from the 3rd century BC to the 8th AD, both as a Roman Empire province and immediately thereafter as a Visigothic kingdom, 5th–8th century.
  • Hispano-Roman is used to refer to the culture and people of Hispania, both during the Roman period and subsequent Visigothic period.
  • Hispanic is used to refer to modern Spain, to the Spanish language, and to the Spanish-speaking nations of the world, particularly the Americas.
  • Spanish is used to refer to the people, nationality, culture, language and other things of Spain.
  • Spaniard is used to refer to the people of Spain.
Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. In 27 BC, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Hispania Baetica and Hispania Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Tarraconensis. This division of Hispania explains the usage of the singular and plural forms used to refer to the peninsula and its kingdoms in the Middle Ages.
Before the marriage of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469, the four Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula—the Kingdom of Portugal, the Crown of Aragon, the Crown of Castile, and the Kingdom of Navarre—were collectively called The Spains. This revival of the old Roman concept in the Middle Ages appears to have originated in Provençal, and was first documented at the end of the 11th century. In the Council of Constance, the four kingdoms shared one vote.
The terms Spain and the Spains were not interchangeable. Spain was a geographic territory, home to several kingdoms, with separate governments, laws, languages, religions, and customs, and was the historical remnant of the Hispano-Gothic unity. Spain was not a political entity until much later, and when referring to the Middle Ages, one should not be confounded with the nation-state of today. The term The Spains referred specifically to a collective of juridico-political units, first the Christian kingdoms, and then the different kingdoms ruled by the same king. Illustrative of this fact is the historical ecclesiastical title of Primate of the Spains, traditionally claimed by the Archbishop of Braga, a Portuguese prelate.
With the Decretos de Nueva Planta, Philip V started to organize the fusion of his kingdoms that until then were ruled as distinct and independent, but this unification process lacked a formal and juridic proclamation.
Although colloquially and literally the expression "King of Spain" or "King of the Spains" was already widespread, it did not refer to a unified nation-state. It was only in the constitution of 1812 that was adopted the name Españas for the Spanish nation and the use of the title of "king of the Spains". The constitution of 1876 adopts for the first time the name "Spain" for the Spanish nation and from then on the kings would use the title of "king of Spain".
The expansion of the Spanish Empire between 1492 and 1898 brought thousands of Spanish migrants to the conquered lands, who established settlements, mainly in the Americas, but also in other distant parts of the world, producing a number of multiracial populations. Today, the varied populations of these places, including those with Spanish ancestry, are also designated as Hispanic.

Definitions in ancient Rome

The Latin gentile adjectives that belong to Hispania are Hispanus, Hispanicus, and Hispaniensis. A Hispanus is someone who is a native of Hispania with no foreign parents, while children born in Hispania of Roman parents were Hispanienses. Hispaniensis means 'connected in some way to Hispania', as in "Exercitus Hispaniensis" or "mercatores Hispanienses". Hispanicus implies 'of' or 'belonging to' Hispania or the Hispanus or of their fashion as in "gladius Hispanicus". The gentile adjectives were not ethnolinguistic but derived primarily on a geographic basis, from the toponym Hispania as the people of Hispania spoke different languages, although Titus Livius said they could all understand each other, not making clear if they spoke dialects of the same language or were polyglots.
The first recorded use of an anthroponym derived from the toponym Hispania is attested in one of the five fragments, of Ennius in 236 BC who wrote "Hispane, non Romane memoretis loqui me" as having been said by a native of Hispania.

Definitions in Portugal, Spain, the rest of Europe

In Portugal, Hispanic refers to something historical related to ancient Hispania or the Spanish language and cultures shared by all the Spanish-speaking countries. Although sharing the etymology for the word, the definition for Hispanic is different between Portugal and Spain.
The Royal Spanish Academy, the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language defines the terms "hispano" and "hispánico" as:
Hispano:
  • 1. A native of Hispania
  • 2. Belonging or relating to Hispania
  • 3. Spanish, as applied to a person
  • 4. Of or pertaining to Hispanic America
  • 5. Of or pertaining to the population of Hispanic American origin who live in the United States of America
  • 6. A person of this origin who lives in the United States of America
Hispánico
  • 1. Belonging or relating to ancient Hispania or the people inhabiting the region
  • 2. Belonging or relating to Spain and Spanish-speaking countries
The modern term to identify Portuguese and Spanish territories under a single nomenclature is "Iberian", and the one to refer to cultures derived from both countries in the Americas is "Iberian-American". These designations can be mutually recognized by people in Portugal and Brazil. "Hispanic" is totally void of any self-identification in Brazil, and quite to the contrary, serves the purpose of marking a clear distinction in relation to neighboring countries' culture. Brazilians may identify as Latin Americans, but refute being considered Hispanics because their language and culture are neither part of the Hispanic cultural sphere, nor Spanish-speaking world.
In Spanish, the term "hispano", as in "hispanoamericano", refers to the people of Spanish origin who live in the Americas and to a relationship to Spain or to the Spanish language. There are people in Hispanic America that are not of Spanish origin, such as Amerindians- the original people of these areas, as well as Africans and people with origins from other parts of Europe.
Like in Portugal, in the rest of Europe the concept of 'Hispanic' refers to historical ancient Hispania or the Spanish language and cultures shared by all the Spanish-speaking countries.

Definitions in the United States

Both Hispanic and Latino are widely used in American English for Spanish-speaking people and their descendants in the United States. While Hispanic refers to Spanish speakers overall, Latino refers specifically to people of Latin American descent. Hispanic can also be used for the people and culture of Spain as well as Latin America. While originally the term Hispanic referred primarily to the Hispanos of New Mexico within the United States, today, organizations in the country use the term as a broad catchall to refer to persons with a historical and cultural relationship with Spain regardless of race and ethnicity. The United States Census Bureau uses Hispanic or Latino to refer to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race and states that Hispanics or Latinos can be of any race and any ancestry.
Because of the technical distinctions involved in defining "race" vs. "ethnicity", there is confusion among the general population about the designation of Hispanic identity. Currently, the United States Census Bureau defines six race categories:
  • White or Caucasian
  • Black or African American
  • American Indian or Alaska Native
  • Asian
  • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
  • Some Other Race
A 1997 notice by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget defined Hispanic or Latino persons as being "persons who trace their origin or descent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures." The United States Census uses the ethnonyms Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Hispanic culture or origin regardless of race."
The 2010 census asked if the person was "Spanish/Hispanic/Latino". The United States census uses the Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race." The Census Bureau also explains that "rigin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person's ancestors before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish may be of any race."
The U.S. Department of Transportation defines Hispanic as, "persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race." This definition has been adopted by the Small Business Administration as well as by many federal, state, and municipal agencies for the purposes of awarding government contracts to minority owned businesses.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Conference include representatives of Spanish and Portuguese, Puerto Rican and Mexican descent. The Hispanic Society of America is dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of the Hispanic and Lusitanic world. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, proclaimed champions of Hispanic success in higher education, is committed to Hispanic educational success in the United States, and the Hispanic and Lusitanic world.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission encourages any individual who believes that he or she is Hispanic to self-identify as Hispanic. The United States Department of Labor – Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs encourages the same self-identification. As a result, individuals with origins to part of the Spanish Empire may self-identify as Hispanic, because an employer may not override an individual's self-identification.
The 1970 census was the first time that a "Hispanic" identifier was used and data collected with the question. The definition of "Hispanic" has been modified in each successive census.
In a recent study, most Spanish speakers of Spanish or Hispanic American descent do not prefer the term Hispanic or Latino when it comes to describing their identity. Instead, they prefer to be identified by their country of origin. When asked if they have a preference for either being identified as Hispanic or Latino, the Pew study finds that "half say they have no preference for either term." Among those who do express a preference, "'Hispanic' is preferred over 'Latino' by more than a two-to-one margin—33% versus 14%." 21% prefer to be referred to simply as "Americans". A majority say they most often identify themselves by their family's country of origin, while 24% say they prefer a pan-ethnic label such as Hispanic or Latino.