Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Filipinos are culturally very close to the rest of Latin America. Culture wise, they are predominately Catholic, Spanish customs are so inborn in them that it is has benefited them in being able to socialize with westerners much better and for a longer time than other Asians such as the Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
Filipino men like to shoot pool, like watch cockfights, and like to dance. (Similar to many Latin Americans). And they eat Spanish type foods such as guisados, arros with chicken, soups, etc. etc.
In California history for example the Chinese and Japanese immigrants stayed to themselves. The Filipinos were disliked because they were seen as unruly, carried knives, were involved in bar fights and like to date white women. Even the other Asians perceived them as strange.
Again, I have to stress that being "Latino" is all about culture. You don't have to be from Latin America or Latin Europe to consider yourself "Latino" if you culturally identify with being such.
Why is it that people don't bat an eye if a Mexican-American who doesn't even speak Spanish labels himself as "Latino"? If he was born and raised in this country and knows little or nothing about the Latin culture, he is far more "Anglo" than "Latino." People like this are called gringos when they actually go to real Latin countries. I know that's an entire thread of its own, but even gringo is a purely cultural term that has absolutely nothing to do with race or color - it means "foreigner to the Latin culture."
I have met a few Filipinos in my lifetime who most definitely consider themselves "Latino" - the reason why is because they identify with the Latin culture. [One of them moved to Miami and another moved to Spain, largely because they felt they would be more comfortable there than in places like San Francisco and New York.] This is getting less and less common in the Philippines as the years pass. Spanish influence there has been on the wane for years now and it is no longer common for them to learn Spanish, watch television and news in Spanish, and listen to music in Spanish. People who identify with Latin culture compose only a small percentage of the population nowadays, which is mostly made up of old people (who grew up when Latin influence was much stronger) and the tiny minority of young people who are of mixed Spanish and native-Filipino heritage or of full Spanish heritage.
With all of that said, I stress that only a small minority of Filipinos are "Latino" and that number is decreasing as the years pass. Overall, the Latin influence has waned so much there that it is not really a Latin country - as a whole - anymore.
Telenovelas from Latin American were really big in the Philippines a decade ago, but now it's mostly Koreanovelas. These things come in waves though. When I was there last year I did still see some Latin Telenovelas on TV.
They have also been remaking Telenovelas like Marimar & Betty La Fea. Marimar was very popular a few years ago.
Even if you can't understand this, you can still tell that the Marimar remake was huge a couple years ago. You can also hear that every few words is a Spanish word:
There are still a lot of Hispanic-looking celebs, but not as many. I think it's better that the media is a little more representitive of the general population these days.
They're Asian. The Philippines are in SE Asia and the Pacific Islands. I think most would see themselves as Pacific Islanders before Hispanic. Hispanic is only used for Latin America descendants or predominately Spanish speaking countries.
They're Asian. The Philippines are in SE Asia and the Pacific Islands. I think most would see themselves as Pacific Islanders before Hispanic. Hispanic is only used for Latin America descendants or predominately Spanish speaking countries.
See my post above. Spanish language once predominated in big business, entertainment, government, and education in the Philippines. It no longer does, but it has left a strong cultural mark on a minority of the population today. The result precludes us from answering "Are Filipinos Latin?" with a simple "yes" or "no." The answer is that most Filipinos do not identify with being Latin but a small minority of them do. To answer with a flat "no" is to not recognize the profound sociocultural influence that Spanish colonialism had on the Philippines, an influence that continues, albeit to a far lesser extent today than it once did.
I seen comments from some who don't even consider Indians as Asian, but India is in Asia as a sub-continent.
Racially speaking, South Asians such as Indians and Pakistanis are Caucasoid ("Caucasian") and not Mongoloid ("east Asian"). Geographically speaking, you are correct that the Indian sub-continent is part of Asia. When speaking of race, religion, and culture, that part of Asia is very different from East Asia, so it makes sense that people would differentiate themselves on those bases.
See my post above. Spanish language once predominated in big business, entertainment, government, and education in the Philippines. It no longer does, but it has left a strong cultural mark on a minority of the population today. The result precludes us from answering "Are Filipinos Latin?" with a simple "yes" or "no." The answer is that most Filipinos do not identify with being Latin but a small minority of them do. To answer with a flat "no" is to not recognize the profound sociocultural influence that Spanish colonialism had on the Philippines, an influence that continues, albeit to a far lesser extent today than it once did.
The question is "Do you consider consider the Philippine people Hispanic?". My answer is no I don't. Although the Spaniards conquered the Philippines hundreds of years ago, funny the Spanish language is a minority in the Philippine society. Tagalog and ironically English are the official languages of the Philippines. Many Filipinos have spanish surnames and are Catholics, but that is about as Hispanic they get. I am black and have an English surname, but I'm not Anglo. The African country called Angola official language is Portuguese, but they are not considered Latino or anything like that. Only 3% of Filipinos today have Spanish ancestry, despite Spaniards once ruled that country. Since you said only a minority identify with the Latin culture, then its safe they say they're not Hispanic. The majority rules and most consider themselves Asian or at least Pacific Islanders.
Racially speaking, South Asians such as Indians and Pakistanis are Caucasoid ("Caucasian") and not Mongoloid ("east Asian"). Geographically speaking, you are correct that the Indian sub-continent is part of Asia. When speaking of race, religion, and culture, that part of Asia is very different from East Asia, so it makes sense that people would differentiate themselves on those bases.
I don't believe in these racial classifications, especially the 19th/early 20th century Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australoid stuff. I play along this time.
Yeah I know Indians are classified as Caucasoid, but not all of them are. India is pretty diverse itself consisting of different tribes or ethnic groups. Afterall its a mini-continent in its own right. North India(most of your Bollywood actors) consist of a lot of Caucasian type, Dravidians in South India, and Indians with Mongoloid features too. There is also a very small population of Afro-Indians called Siddis. Siddi: Information from Answers.com
Last edited by Chicagoland60426; 02-08-2010 at 12:18 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
