people of color & Chicano

[Laurence Horn]

Rima writes:

>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.

Leaving aside the question of offensiveness, on the referential side
I'd argue, as would the AHD4--

LATINO
1. A Latin American.
2. A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often
one living in the United States.

--that "Latino" does NOT criterially exclude Mexican-Americans (any
more than "finger" criterially excludes thumbs); given the existence
and salience of the term "Chicano", those Latinos/as who hail from
Mexico will predictably tend to be called Chicanos/as, particularly
when the more specific information is relevant.

A more troublesome case is posed by Brazilians:  they're not
Hispanics, but they are (by definition) Latinos (since they're from
Latin America), or Latins (a label we haven't yet touched on, and one
which may itself be offensive to some).

larry