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Anybody in here who would be classified with either of those terms do not like to be reffered by those terms?
I would be one of those. My family is from Spain proper but I was raised as an American and so identify as an one without hyphenation or adulteration.
Family arrived in Miami in the early 1970s and the label used was Hispanic by both the U.S. and Cuban exile media/interest groups. This is prior to Mariel in 1980 and the influx of groups other than the Cuban middle and professional classes who were white. Latino was never used in Miami until about the 1990s. No white Hispanic would ever identify with a Latino who would be considered anyone of indian descent and correspondingly lower level of education and mores.
To borrow a tactic from black americans....it is Racist to refer to me as a Hispanic or Latino as it segregates and places me in a position of subordination and/or special needs with the power groups of U.S. society.
I don't like "Hispanic" because it implies only peninsular European Spanish heritage or culture. "Latino" is acceptable, though I don't use the term that often. I am half Cuban, and just refer to that part of my heritage as Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean or African Latino.
I prefer "mexican american"- always have. I've never liked "Spanish" which is some Anglos will say, thinking that they're being "nice". "Latino" reminds me too much of the recent immigrants that sneak over the border. I don't like "Hispanic" because it's too broad/vague of a term and sounds too much like Spain, which doesn't describe my life experiences.
That's fine to refer to Mexico and call oneself a Mexican-American if you are from the country of Mexico. I know people whose families lived in the SW USA, and never came from Mexico. Their ancestors came centuries ago from Spain and settled in land that is now part of the USA. They never immigrated from Mexico, have zero ties with that nation. I think when they have to distinguish themselves from other Americans, they tend to go with "Spanish" or Spanish-Indian.
I'm from Puerto Rico, and my passport says "American" because PR is still owned by the US. I believe this last statement is very self explanatory.
Still, when I identify as a Puerto Rican many people:
-Do not believe me. Yes, I had to actually bring my birth certificate for a job because the employer thought I was from Uzbekistan.
-Would say something ignorant to me about PR (e.g. "so, you must be from the hood/projects, etc"). This one offends me very much because I grew up in the country side and I take a lot of pride of being from the Puerto Rican country side, since I learned how to cultivate the land and kill animals for consumption at a very young age.
-Would say something like: "wow, you sure are very white for being from PR" or "your accent doesn't sound from PR" (I speak several languages besides English and Spanish that's the weird accent).
-If I go to the doctor, government office, court, etc. whoever used to call me by my maiden last name, would be puzzled to know that I was Ms. Hernandez. I actually had someone coming to me telling me "wow, I'd pictured you much shorter and way darker". I felt very offended by that statement.
Also, it seems that because I'm from PR I HAVE to like reggaeton (very popular type of music from PR), which is probably the worst type of music ever. If I tell another person form Latin America that I do not like that music and that I prefer rock or country, they start calling me names or telling me that it's wrong for me to like rock and country. In fact, because of that very same prejudice of OTHER people from the Latin American region, I barely have any "Hispanic/Lati@" friends; that is another reason why I do not like that term.
Last edited by jay_jay26; 12-15-2011 at 09:54 AM..
I guess we'll have to just say "none-white" since everyone is so sensitive about any term that actually identifies their race/ethnicity..
Many so-called "Hispanics/Latinos" are white/Caucasian, so maybe the term should be divided between Hispanic/Latino (refering to a Latin or Roman heritage) and non-Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino (refering to the natives of Latin America but with Spanish/Portugese influence)? Heck, the US gov does use the term "white, non-Hispanic," and admits that "Hispanics" can be of any race.
Anybody in here who would be classified with either of those terms do not like to be reffered by those terms?
Call them by the country they are from.
American, Mexican, Canadian, German ...
Lets stop this PC crap
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