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What do immigrants prefer to be called?

August 06, 2021
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  • Individual Immigration

According to a Gallup poll, more than half prefer to identify as Hispanic, while more than a third prefer the term Latino.

MIAMI — A majority of Hispanic Americans say they don’t care what word others use to describe their racial group, though if they had to choose themselves, they would opt for “Hispanic,” according to a recent Gallup poll.

When asked what they preferred to be called by others, 57% said they didn’t care, nearly one in four (23%) said they preferred “Hispanic” and 15% said “Latino.” A few, 4%, responded that they liked to be described as “Latinx,” a gender-neutral term that is generally used among younger people to refer to their Latin American background.

The Gallup poll was conducted between June 1 and July 5 in telephone interviews with 302 Hispanics 18 and older. It did not specify details on responses by age group. The poll’s margin of error is 7 percentage points.

When asked what word they preferred to use themselves to refer to their racial group, 57% of Hispanic adults surveyed said they liked “Hispanic,” while more than a third (37%) said they preferred “Latino.” A small minority of 5% expressed a preference for “Latinx.”

 

Source: The Associated Press (2021, August 4). Latinos or Hispanics: How immigrants prefer to be called in the United States. Dallas News. https://www.dallasnews.com/espanol/al-dia/espectaculos/2021/08/03/la-mayoria-de-los-hispanos-en-estados-unidos-no-le-dan-importancia-a-como-se-les-identifique/