[原始] 9月阅读西班牙人Hiispanic 背景资料

• Although a large majority of Hispanic and Latino Americans have Spanish ancestry, most are not of direct, 'from-Spain-to-the-U.S.' Spanish descent; many are not primarily of Spanish descent; and some are not of Spanish descent at all. People whose ancestors or who themselves arrived in the United States directly from Spain are a tiny minority of the Hispanic or Latino population (see figures in this article), and there are Hispanic/Latino Americans who are of other European ancestries in addition to Spanish (e.g. Portuguese, Italian, German, and Middle Eastern, such as the Lebanese),[49]
  

• Most Hispanic and Latino Americans can speak Spanish, not all; and most Spanish-speaking Americans are Hispanic or Latino, not all. E.g., Hispanic/Latino Americans often do not speak Spanish by the third generation, and some Americans who are Spanish-speaking may not identify themselves with Spanish-speaking Americans as an ethnic group;
  

• Not all Hispanic and Latino Americans have Spanish surnames, and most Spanish-surnamed Americans are Hispanic or Latino, not all. For example, non-Spanish surnamed Bill Richardson (former governor, Congressman, etc.) and former National Football League (NFL) star Jim Plunkett have Hispanic or Latino origin. Filipino Americans, and Pacific Islander Americans of Chamorro (Guamanians and Northern Mariana Islanders), Palauan, Micronesian (FSM), and Marshallese origin often have Spanish surnames, but have their own, non-Hispanic/Latino ethnic identities and origin. Likewise, while many Louisiana Creole people have Spanish surnames, they identify with the mostly French – though partially Spanish – culture of their region.
  

"Though often used interchangeably in American English, Hispanic and Latino are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. Hispanic, from the Latin word for "Spain," . . . potentially encompass[es] all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasiz[es] the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. Latino—which in Spanish means "Latin" but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word latinoamericano—refers . . . to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only Hispanic can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic, not a Latino, and one cannot substitute Latino in the phrase the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word."[56]