ABSTRACT
W hat is the appropriate term to refer to the largest group of color in the United States? The search for a term for ethnic self-designation empowers ethnic groups and involves a rejection of colonization (Comas-Diaz, 2001). The terms Hispanic and Latino are political
terms used within a U.S. context (Bernal & Enchautegui-de-Jesus, 1994). Hispanic is an English term and refers to persons having Spanish ancestry, including those from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and Spain. The federal government began to use the term Hispanic in the 1970s for census and federal program purposes (Bernal & Enchautegui-de-Jesus, 1994).
