Racial Minorities: Latin America

The term Latin America refers to a group of 20 nations in the western hemisphere that were former colonies of Spain, Portugal, and France. It is also used to identify nations south of the border between Mexico and the United States, all the way to Tierra del Fuego in the southernmost end of the South American continent. The concept of Latin America was coined in 19th-century France, as a way to promote the Catholic and Latin ideology of the colonizing powers in the region. The term is not geographically or culturally correct today, as it reflects the perspective of colonizing powers and disregards the culture of the pre-Columbian cultures that had already inhabited the region prior to Christopher Columbus’s arrival. However, the term is widely ...