I haven't ever gotten a straight answer. I identify as Mexican because my family is from Mexico and we've always had that culture, but I have also been told that Hispanic is applicable to people from Mexico. I've always thought people chose based on connotation, but now that I'm applying to law school I want a more specific definition. Thoughts???!!!

Mexican is usually Hispanic. Not all Hispanic people are Mexican (e.g. Honduran, Cuban, Puerto Rican).

This might get complicated if your family is of European descent and settled in Mexico before moving to America. I knew a guy in high school with either one or both parents of Mexican extraction (he was born in America) but all four grandparents were central European Jews. Is he Hispanic? I dunno, but he was very fluent in Spanish.

I think specific applications may tell you what they count as being Hispanic, etc. but I think Nayboer is correct. For instance, I'm working on Duke's application right now and the text reads "Are you Hispanic or Latino!? A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race." You'd be a YES here.

You can be Jewish and Hispanic. Would you say that a Jew that is born and raised in a Latin American country is not Hispanic?

Of course he's Hispanic. Your friend included, because being Hispanic, even though most are Catholic, has nothing to do with religious affiliation. And definitely not racial.

Most people would have no reservations about calling a 5th generation Mexican-American who speaks absolutely no Spanish a Hispanic. Likewise, we shouldn't have reservations about calling a Jew a Hispanic.

Also, I don't think language has anything to do with it, for there are plenty of Hispanics that don't speak Spanish at all.

Think of Hispanic as all encompassing, all decendants of Spanish speaking countries outside of spain. Latino would apply for decendants of latin american countries. So Puerto Ricans are hispanic but not Latino. Mexicans are both hispanic and Latino....Straight enough for you ??? Besides it doesn't matter what I think, look at the LSAC website its on their under diversity initiatives, if you work for them as a Hispanic you'll work for the law schools...

That's news to me. How are Puerto Ricans not Latino?

I didn't say Jewish and Hispanic are mutually exclusive. Obviously they are not, with the conversos, the crypto-Jews, the Spanish Inquisition in the New World, and the many Hispanic people with Jewish ancestry.

My rhetorical question was whether he counts as Hispanic, not because he's Jewish, but because his parents were only briefly there. I'm not sure even sure his parents were born there. So it's a tough question that exposes how subjective this can all get.

Though for OP's question, it's not really vague. Mexican is Hispanic in common understanding.

A la verga, eres Hispano y tambien Mexicano, no se por que la hace tanto de a pedo la gente con esas mamadas...

If you reread my original post, it explains it very well.

I read your explanation, but I disagree with your facts. Let me re-phrase my question: How is Puerto Rico not a Latin American country?

¿verga y mamadas en la misma oración? ¿ciertamente estás frustrado, no?

Puerto Rico is a part of Latin America, so Puerto Ricans are Latino. They are also generally Hispanic.

A better example to illustrate the distinction would be Haitians (of French ancestry) or Brazilians (of Portuguese ancestry), who would be considered Latino but not Hispanic (of Spanish ancestry).

To answer the original question, "Mexican" refers to a nationality and "Hispanic" refers to a culture or ethnic origin. You could be Mexican but not Hispanic, Hispanic but not Mexican, or neither, or both.

Hispanic (as used in the US) is someone of Latin American origin.

If you're Mexican, you're from a country in Latin America, so you're a Hispanic.

If you're Hispanic, you're from a country in Latin America, but not necessarily Mexico. Hispanics could be from any Spanish-speaking country in the hemisphere, such as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba... they could be from any of those countries.

Hope that helps.

Bolded is wrong. If you're Mexican, you're Hispanic.

Unfortunately, you are wrong. Like Keats said, nationality and ethnicity are not one and the same. You can be Scandinavian and Latino: born in Norway to Dominican Parents.

nah, simplemente que asi hablamos por aca

I'm not sure why you think that. Mexico is home to large numbers of indigenous peoples who do not speak Spanish and are not descendants of Spanish-speaking ancestors. They are not Hispanic.

agreed.

Because Hispanic in the U.S. means anyone of Latin American origin. If you consider yourself Mexican you are Hispanic, because you are from a Latin American nation. It does not mean Spanish or Spanish-speaking specifically (although it is highly unlikely anymore that someone would be of Mexican origin and not know any Spanish anyway).

If you are from Mexico, and have 100% Spaniard blood, you are Hispanic.
If you are from Mexico, and have Spaniard and Aztec blood, you are Hispanic.
If you are from Mexico, and have 100% Aztec blood, you are Hispanic.

It's a cultural designation, and specifically a designation that you are of Latin American origin. Since those countries have a culture that is combined native and Spanish, and a large population that shares a mix of both genetically, they don't make a real effort in the U.S. to differentiate between the two.

Oh my hell

If you think a Quechua Indian is Hispanic then there's definitely something wrong in your reasoning and your opinion has no value.

Quechua Indians are from Peru, Colombia, Chile, or Argentina. They are of Latin American origin. They are therefore Hispanic under the U.S. definition. Further, the Quechua have influenced the Spanish populations in those countries and vice versa, so it's not an entirely inapt definition.

Well then the U.S. definition is fucked up. Indigenas son hispanos? no seas mamon...
In trying to make this cookie cutter definitions in which everybody can fit nicely, the U.S. has come up woth some pretty idiotic and contradictive labels. Hispanic is short for Hispanohablante or Hispanoamericano, by defnition you either have to speak Spanish (lengua Hispana) or be of Hispanic (Spanish) descent. How the fuck a Yaqui Indian is labeled Hispanic is beyond comprehension.

I thought latin american origin was "Latino"? But I agree Hispanic is a culture not a race, like Mexican.

It's because the U.S. tries to make the definition more inclusive, rather than more exclusive as a literal definition like you're seeking would apply. "Hispanic" is a cultural designation referring to all people of Latin American national origin.

The HLS application, for example, asks "Are you Hispanic/Latino?" and then separately to identify a race. The Quechua could desginate "Hispanic" and "Native American". A Mexican could designate "Hispanic" and "White", or simply "Hispanic" and leave the rest blank. It's a fluid definition precisely because it's impossible to draw a clear line between who is Hispanic and who isn't, so they allow broad definitions of it.