Originally Posted by Andragathia
My whole point is that Italians are Latin. So are Spanish, Portuguese, French and Romanians. It should be called Spanish America not Latin America. And even that is a stretch. The whole continent is a mix of Spanish, Italian, native Americans, and since the war, Germans. Argentina is more Italian than Spanish descent.

Perfectly summed up.

The vast majority of those who identify as “Latinos” in the USA are mestizos, of mixed indigenous and Spanish heritage (but mostly indigenous...).

The “Hispanic” tag we use as a racial category is ridiculous. Hispanic is not a race. Like you said the southern American continent is massively diverse. Most urban Argentines are 100% European (read, “white” for US terminology), for example. Then you have racially complexed countries like Mexico, DR and Brazil where social status and race go hand in hand.