12 seconds ago 2009-12-11T18:43:49-08:00
Most news stories about Sonia Sotomayor mention prominently that she is the first Hispanic nominee in Supreme Court history. But is she?
What about Benjamin Cardozo, who joined the court in 1932 and came from a Jewish family that traced its roots to Portugal?
Cardozo didn't consider himself Hispanic. The term Hispanic, and its sister Latino, didn't even exist.
The Associated Press Stylebook defines Hispanic as "a person from -- or whose ancestors were from -- a Spanish-speaking land or culture." A 1976 act of Congress takes a similar view, and both exclude Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Brazil.
But the U.S. Census takes a broader view, including people who trace their origins to Latin America, Spain and Portugal. And the Census bureau relies completely on self-reporting.
So why does the label matter anyway?
Many Hispanics are partly descended from the Americas’ indigenous people and have faced discrimination. Identifying a group that has faced discrimination is the first step to remedying past wrongs.
It is also about a shared culture and language — though many Hispanics in the U.S. don’t speak Spanish. In the end, the key is whether people view themselves as part of the Hispanic community.
Read these links for more on Cardozo, Sotomayor and labels.
Who is Latino? Who is Hispanic?
A detailed explanation of the terms
Karl Rove questions Sotomayor’s status
-Laura Wides-Munoz, AP Hispanic affairs writer, Miami
