SALT LAKE CITY — Most Latinos in the United States think their Latino identity is an important part of who they are.
But they’re split on whether it helps or hurts them as they strive for a place in the country, with around a third saying they’ve experienced some sort of discrimination or unfair treatment, according to recently released results of a Pew Research Center survey.
The population is pretty evenly split on whether they see themselves as a “typical American” or not. “Some say being Latino is a source of advantage or connection but others say it is tied to barriers and discrimination,” reads the report, released earlier this month.
Looked at through a political lens, Republican-leaning Latinos are less apt than their Democratic-leaning counterparts to say their heritage is important to how they think about themselves.
At the same time, second- and third-generation Latinos — those with deeper roots in the country — are more likely to identify as Americans. “Latinos born outside the United States (immigrants) are more likely than U.S.-born Latinos to say their Latino identity is central to who they are and to identify with their home country or ancestral heritage. Meanwhile, U.S.-born Latinos are more likely to emphasize their American identity,” reads the report.
The Latino population is the second-largest racial or ethnic group in the United States as well as Utah after non-Hispanic whites. Moreover, the segment has been the main motor to population growth in Utah.
Here are some highlights from Pew:
Help or hurt: 40% said being Hispanic neither helps nor hurts them in getting ahead in the country. Another 33% said it hurts a lot or a little and 26% said it helps a lot or a little.
By political leaning, 57% of Hispanic voters in 2024 for President Donald Trump, a Republican, said being Hispanic neither helps nor hurts them while the figure was lower, 38%, for those who voted for Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic challenger that year.
Importance to identity: 61% of respondents said being Hispanic is extremely or very important to who they are. Another 21% said it’s somewhat important and 17% said it’s a little important or not important.
Read more:
The figures diverge when adjusted for political leaning. Among Harris voters, 69% said being Hispanic is extremely or very important to their identity, with 42% of Trump voters saying the same.
“Across multiple measures, Trump voters are less likely to see their Latino background as central to who they are or as shaping their life experiences. By contrast, Harris voters see their identity as important to who they are and as consequential in their lives,” Pew said.
Discrimination: 34% of survey respondents said they faced discrimination by a non-Hispanic person in the prior 12 months, with differences, again, when comparing by political affiliation. Among Hispanic Democrats, 40% said they faced discrimination based on their Hispanic roots in the period compared to 29% among Republicans.
“Typical American”: Overall, 48% of the Latinos surveyed said they see themselves as a “typical American” while 51% said they’re “very different” from that.
The figure varies, though, depending on the depth of respondents’ roots in the country. Among immigrants, Pew said, 27% “consider themselves a ‘typical American,’ while 60% of second-generation and 72% of third- or higher-generation Hispanics say the same.”
Labels: “Some use standalone labels (such as Cuban, Hispanic or American), while others use combined labels (such as Mexican American or Hispanic American),” Pew said.
More specifically:
- 53% said they use their country origin with or without “American” as a modifier — Mexican or Mexican American for those with Mexican heritage, for instance.
- 21% said they use a more generic “pan-ethnic term” — Latino or Hispanic.
- 18% called themselves “American” by itself.
Hispanic Trump voters “are twice as likely as Latino Harris voters to most often describe themselves as ‘American’ rather than as Hispanic or by their family’s place of origin label (such as Cuban or Mexican),” Pew said. Moreover, “third- or higher-generation Hispanics are more likely than other groups to say they most often use American by itself (40%).”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
