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NATIVE CULTURE

Why Do We Say “Latino”?

PBS Origins | January 4, 2025



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The first thing to pop into your mind when you hear “Latino” is probably people from Latin America – places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. But where exactly did the history of that word come from, and has it always meant Central America and South America as well as the Caribbean? Today Danielle traces the origin of the term “Latino” and the debates that still surround it as well as the term “Hispanic” and “Latinx.”

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Created and Hosted by Danielle Bainbridge
Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios


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Origin of Everything is a show about the undertold histories and cultural dialogues that make up our collective story. From the food we eat, to the trivia and fun facts we can’t seem to get out of our heads, to the social issues we can’t stop debating, everything around us has a history. Origin of Everything is here to explore it all. We like to think that no topic is too small or too challenging to get started.

Works Cited:
Aatsp.org. (2020). Hispania – AATSP. [online] Available at: https://www.aatsp.org/page/Hispania

Anwar, Y. (2020). I say Hispanic. You say Latino. How did the whole thing start?. [online] Berkeley News. Available at: https://news.berkeley.edu/2014/04/29/hispanic-label/

https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofap0000unse/page/634

Brammer, J., Schwartz, M., Beard, D., Szegedy-Maszak, M., Harris, M., Corn, D., Leber, R., Breland, A. and Echavarri, F. (2020). Digging into the messy history of “Latinx” helped me embrace my complex identity. [online] Mother Jones. Available at: https://www.motherjones.com/media/2019/06/digging-into-the-messy-history-of-latinx-helped-me-embrace-my-complex-identity/

De La Torre, M. (2009). Hispanic American religious cultures. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.

Encyclopedia.com. (2020). Latium | Encyclopedia.com. [online] Available at: https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/spain-portugal-italy-greece-and-balkans/italian-political-geography/latium

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2020). Romance languages | Description, Origin, Characteristics, Map, & Facts. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Romance-languages

Espinosa, A. (2020). The Term Latin America. 3rd ed. [ebook] HISPANIA. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/331596.pdf

Merriam-webster.com. (2020). ‘Latinx’ And Gender Inclusivity. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-history-latinx

NACLA. (2020). Reinventing Identity. [online] Available at: https://nacla.org/article/reinventing-identity

Turner-Trujillo, E., Toro, M., Ramos, A. and Turner-Trujillo, E. (2020). An Overview of Latino and Latin American Identity. [online] The Getty Iris. Available at: https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/an-overview-of-latino-and-latin-american-identity/

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