HOMOGENIZING the image of the "other" has always been a way for groups to marginalize undesirable minorities and foreigners. Two dozen centuries ago, Hippocrates wrote that the Scythians -- nomadic people whom the Greeks considered barbaric -- all looked alike. By contrast, the good doctor could discern that his own people came in all shapes and sizes.
To refuse to make distinctions among members of any given group is the first step to stripping them of individuality. And depriving people of individuality is the first step to dehumanizing them. You know the drill: All Jews are alike. Black people are all this. White people are all that.
Last week, David Hiller, the new publisher of The Times, wrote a memo to his staff in which he expressed his belief that the newspaper needs to do a better job of reaching the readers he called "Hispanics" and the Times prefers to call "Latinos." A flap ensued over which word was better suited to the task. Yet if the paper really wants to reach "Hispanics" or "Latinos," what it must do is stop overusing such generic terms and instead concentrate on discerning the distinctions they cover up.
Consider this: Two-thirds of U.S. Latinos are of Mexican origin. In California, that figure rises to 83%. It is odd then that over the last three decades, as the Mexican presence in the United States has grown astronomically, the term "Mexican American" has all but disappeared in daily journalism, especially in The Times.
My concern is not a matter of ethnic pride. The use of the catchall term undermines the accuracy of stories. A few years ago, a Times editorial referred to tacos as a "Latino favorite," which is a little like saying pasta is a "European favorite." It's not untrue, but it makes you look silly.
Likewise, a Los Angeles Times magazine story in the aftermath of the Kobe Bryant rape accusation referred to Bryant's wife, Vanessa, as "Latina," and nothing more. That tells me next to nothing about Mrs. Bryant. Does it mean she was born in Nicaragua or Uruguay? Or that her parents are from rural Mexico? Or maybe that she is the granddaughter of a Dominican plantation owner? There is no nation of Latinoland, and if her heritage is important to the story, then why not connect her (or her family) to a country with a unique culture and tradition.
