Poll: Don't Call Us Hispanic or Latino

When it comes to self-identification, U.S. residents of Spanish-speaking ancestry dislike broad labels such as Latino or Hispanic, according to a new poll.

About half would rather describe themselves by their family's country of origin -- Mexican, Cuban, Guatemalan, etc. -- while 21 percent prefer the term American, according to a national bilingual survey of 1,220 Hispanic adults conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.

U.S.-born Hispanics, who account for nearly half of all adult Latinos in the United States, expressed more affinity for America and other Americans, the study found.

The survey also examined political, social and religious views among the nation's 50 million Hispanics.

Among the findings:

• Resisting Categorization. Most Hispanics don’t see themselves fitting into the standard racial categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau. Half identified themselves as “some other race” or Hispanic/Latino, 36 percent chose white and 3 percent labeled themselves black.

• The Mother Tongue. 82 percent expressed a strong connection to the Spanish language, and 95 percent consider it important to pass on to the next generation.

• America the Beautiful. Regardless of where they were born, large majorities said life in the U.S. was better than in their family’s native land. Also, 87 percent said it's important for immigrants to learn English to succeed in the U.S.

• Hispanic vs. Latino. Although half panned the terms Latino or Hispanic, those who expressed a preference chose Hispanic by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

• Hard Work Pays. Three out of four Hispanics said most people can get ahead if they work hard. In contrast, just 58 percent of the general public said the same.

• Religion. Nearly 70 percent of immigrant Hispanics said religion was very important in their lives, a figure that drops to 49 percent among U.S.-born Hispanics. Among the general population of the U.S., 58 percent described religion as very important in their lives.

To read the full report, click here.

-- City News Service contributed to this story.