What is the proper term for someone from Latin America? Latino or Hispanic?

"Latino includes many cultures, Latino are South, Central America and some parts of the country."
-Vanessa Diaz

"In my opinion, I believe that the term "Latino" is better for many reasons. But I will only say one reason. That one reason is that the word Hispanic used to be Hispania meaning from Spain. The word "Latino" comes from Latin America which [includes] Central America and South America."
-Otto Rosala 

"I don't thing that it should matter whether we say Latino or Hispanic. The people are still Americans, and no matter what their backgrounds are, we should still call them Americans. Why should everyone still be separated into African Americans or Latin Americans or Hispanic Americans? The media and people from other countries don't classify. Why should we?"
-Jacquelyn Devaney 

"Hispanics are those who come from a Spanish speaking country. Latinos are those who come from countries that speak Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages [derived] from the romance languages. Even Brazil is considered a part of Latin America. I believe that both terms can be used to describe someone who's background is Hispanic."
-German Osorio

"I think that the term "Latino is more appropriate than the word "Hispanic." My reasoning for this is because most Spanish people are from Latin descent. Most Spanish people that I know prefer to be called Latino."
-Jonnel Dawson 

"Well, in my opinion, it doesn't really matter. There is a difference between "Hispanic" and Latino but when you really don't think about it, it makes no difference. I would prefer Latino [be]cause it [is] basically a common name. The difference between "Latino" and Hispanic is that Hispanic people are from South America because their Spanish can be a little different [be]cause of [the] accent. "Latino" is Spanish people from central America. My family is from central America."
-Amy Zambrana 

"I don't think that whether or not someone of Latin descent should be called "Hispanic" or "Latino" should matter. I don't think it should matter because no one takes the time to call a black person by the country they are from, and calling blacks African-American isn't really fair because some blacks are from Haiti or the Caribbean but no one takes time to care what they call them, they just say black. Also, whites are never called European or Australian. So if blacks are called black and whites are called white and not given special attention, neither should Hispanics."
-Dialika Camara

"Hispanic is more appropriate to me because Latino is for people who speak Latin and Hispanics speak Spanish. Latino sounds like someone who doesn't speak Spanish just added the "o" to Latin; Hispanic represents us better."
-Susan Rios

"Hispanic is the appropriate term, because I think that it shows respect for people who speak Spanish, while the term Latino sounds rude. Hispanic is a word for all the people who speak Spanish or have a Hispanic background, a word that can be said to refer to all the people who understand the language."
-Silvia Cabrera

"I think the term Hispanic is much more appropriate because Latino
sounds like a word to describe criminals."
Karen Alvarado

"I think the term Latino is more appropriate as a Latina myself because for me Latinos are people who speak Spanish and are or have any North, Central, or South American blood in them. A Hispanic is somebody from Europe/Spain."
-Zulma Medrono

"I think Hispanic is more appropriate just from personal experience. In many cases I heard people choose the word Hispanic rather than Latino. I also choose the word Hispanic often without even thinking."
-Anjana Mohamty

"The term ‘Hispanic' is more appropriate than the term ‘Latino'. The word ‘Hispanic' contains the root word Spanish and the people who invaded and settled South America were Spaniards. They also spoke Spanish. The word ‘Latino' does not make any sense in this instance. It contains the root word ‘Latin', and Latin was spoken in Italy. The Italians did not travel to South America. It is logical for people who live in an area which Spain invaded and where Spanish is spoken to be called ‘Hispanic' It is hard to understand why there is a controversy over this issue in the first place, because it is
obvious that the word ‘Latino' does not classify South Americans well at all."
–Amanda Liebrecht