The Racial Makeup of Latinos

Latinos are the people who inhabit Latin America or their descendants abroad, regardless of race, in the US, Latino has been mistaken as a race, usually referring to Mestizos (those who are mixed Caucasian & Native American), or full or predominantly Native Americans, especially in states such as California.

Latinos are a mix of Caucasian (mainly Iberian), Native American (the indigenous inhabitants) & Black African (mainly West African), in countries like Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Chile, Paraguay, & Colombia, they majority are Mestizos, in countries like the Dominican Republic & Cuba, the majority are Mulatto (mixed Caucasian & Black), in countries like Panama, Honduras, Brazil, Venezuela, & Puerto Rico, the majority are Pardos or Triracials (mixed Caucasian, Native American, & Black), in Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, & Southern Mexico, the majority are full or predominantly Native Americans, & in countries like Uruguay, South Brazil, & to a lesser extent Argentina, the majority are full or predominantly Caucasians (also known as Criollos).

Latin America was first claimed by Spain, when Christopher Colombus landed in the island of Hispanola (present-day Dominican Republic & Haiti), in 1492, the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the American continent between Spain & Portugal, when Portugal taking control of Brazil, & Spain taking control of the rest of the continent.

Most Latin American countries (with the exception of Cuba & Puerto Rico) rebelled against Spain & Portugal, becoming independent nations in the early 1800s.

After the French tried to establish a new empire in Mexico, which failed after losing to the Mexicans in the Battle of Puebla, the term "Latin America"was actually in fact coined by the French during that era, in order to establish a new Latin empire in the Americas, during colonial times, the Iberian American colonies were never referred to as "Latin America".

In 1848, After the Mexican-American war, which resulted in Mexico losing half of their territory to the United States, the vast majority of the Hispanic inhabitants remained in the Southwestern United States, becoming American citizens, with full rights, as Latin American immigration began to increase in the Unite States, the racial classification of Latinos, especially Mexican-Americans became a matter of controversy & debate, as they were considered white, for the most part, until 1930, when they were reclassified as the so-called "Mexican" race, anyone that was of Mexican descent, regardless of their racial origins, was classified as Mexican, at the same time, many Mexican-Americans were deported by force to Mexico, many of them were US-Born citizens, & never even been to Mexico before, in the 1940 census, Mexican-Americans were reclassified as "white".

In the 1960s, during the civil rights movement, many Mexican-Americans started to claim the Chicano identity, as a pride in their Native American roots, at the same time, many Latino groups lobbied the US government to create a new ethnic category for Latin Americans living in the US, in the 1970s, Hispanic became a category in the census, then in the 1980s, Latino became a co-category in the census, along with Hispanic.

Latinos come all races, colors, & shapes, most of the Cuban-Americans in Florida are Caucasians (mainly of Spanish descent), while most of the Puerto Ricans & Dominicans living in the East Coast have a lot of Black DNA, while most of the Mexican-Americans living in the East coast are predominantly Native Americans, while the Mexican-Americans living in Chicago & the Southwest are mostly Mestizo.

Latino is not a race, it has never been, & never will be.

Here's photos of the four main races of Latinos:

Evo Morales, former President of Bolivia, a Native American Latino.

Cuban-American actor Andy Garcia, a Caucasian Latino, of Spanish descent.

David Ortiz, Dominican-American baseball player, a Black Latino.

Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru, a Asian Latino, born to two Japanese immigrants.


So as you can see, Latino is a pan-ethnicity, not a race, Latinos can be of any race.