The Invention Of Hispanics

*This brings two things to mind. One is the fact that the “Hispanic” term is invented; another is that the inventors had a specific agenda in mind when they did it. Since then, the term has run athwart of many of the people it was invented to define. VL

Maria Hinojosa, Latino USA

Before the 1980s people of Latin American origin were classified as white. Author Cristina Mora tells Latino USA how the Census Bureau, activists and Univision created the Hispanic category.

This article was originally published in Latino USA.

[Photo by Chris Phutully/Flickr]

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