people of color & Chicano

[Kim & Rima McKinzey]

>Indigo Som wrote:
>
>>  If anybody wants to know why "Hispanic" is offensive I'll be glad to
>>  explain that too, but I've rambled enough for today!
>
>I wonder if there are other groups besides "Hispanics," Arabs and Chinese who
>are defined by their language/linguistic group rather than race, religion,
>common culture, or nation.
>--db

Actually, I would like to know why "Hispanic" is offensive.  My
impression has been that Chicano/a referred to Mexican-Americans and
that Latino/a referred to those from other Latin or South American
Spanish speaking countries.  And re David's comment, why would
defining people by their language/linguistic group be any more or
offensive than definition by race, etc.?  It would seem a more
neutral definition to me - less informative, perhaps, in many cases -
but more neutral.

Rima