Hispano

Encyclopedia : H : HI : HIS : Hispano

In Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America, Hispano (Hispanic in English) is ascribed as indicating a derivation from Spain, her people and culture. It follows the same style of use as Anglo indicates a derivation of England and the English, Hellenic of Greece and the Greeks, or Sino of Chinaand the Chinese. Thus, the Spanish-American War in Spanish is known as "Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense", the "Spanish-German Treaty" as "Tratado Hispano-Alemán", "Spanish America" as Hispanoamérica, etc. However, when used in an English context, the term has a different meaning from Hispanic, and does not refer simply to "Hispanics".

Hispano, on the other hand, is a term is preferred by some Hispanic Americans from the United States, located primarily in the US Southwest, who identify with the Spanish settlers of the area, rather than with the Mexican settlers (specifically, the Creole Spanish-Native American race). [link]

Most who identify as Hispano are located along the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico and in the northern Sangre de Cristo mountain range of the same state.

Some scholars theorize that many Hispanos are the descendants of persecuted Spanish Jews who fled Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries and found refuge in what were then the farthest reaches of the known world, namely the northern part of New Spain, the present-day Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. They may have survived by minimizing their contact with outsiders and by hiding or disguising their religious and cultural identities as much as possible.

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