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Hispanic Identity

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Hispanic Identity
Hispanic Identity
Tammy Simpson
University of Phoenix

Hispanic Identity Names are very important and when discussing the differences between racial or cultural, it is very important to remain culturally sensitive. Explaining the differences between Hispanics, Latino, Chicano, and Mexican American may give you a better understand of why some people choice what they want to be called. Because people should be able to choose how he or she is called and names disempowered can have serious repercussions. Hispanic or Latino Americans are categorized as a group of people made up of distinct characteristics. Every group should be allowed to choose their own name as well. When individuals or groups are called names that we do not wish to be called they can become upset or even annoyed. Some want to be called Hispanic and others Latinos, so how do you vary or distinguish. Well Chicano is just too narrow, encompassing only members of the Mexican-American community or anyone else of Mexican heritage. The word “Chicano” was once considered derogatory when it first emerged, but later generations of Mexican-Americans have since considered it acceptable and embraced the term, at least unofficially. The Term Chicano was thought to have originated as slang that described immigrants from the Mexican revolution, but later evolved to define the uprising of Mexican American reformers. The Chicano Movement changed Mexican Americans’ lives in the United States’ economy. It was a movement that secured these people in the economy with civil rights and economic opportunity. They used tactics such as civil disobedience as an influential way to make it known that “change” was inevitable. Marches, hunger strikes, and litigation were methods that they used.

Mexican Americans consist of the largest Hispanic group within the United States. Their history has covered over 400 years within America, varying in different regions. In such states as California,



References: www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-latino-chicano-and-hispanic.htm http://webhost.bridgew.edu/lasociedadlatina/articles/latinos%20or%20hispanics.pdf http://www.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587500/mexican_americans.html http://www.opensecrets.org/pubs/cubareport/roots.asp

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