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Here in the U.S, there is such thing as not looking Mexican enough. If you look too white or too black, you don't look Mexican enough. There is no such thing as someone looking too indio in the U.S to say that person doesn't look Mexican enough. Mexican identity to Mexican Americans, means being VERY proud in our indigenous roots. Yeah, we speak spanish, but we AREN'T Spaniards. Mexican history starts when the first people settled Mexico prior to the Olmec civilization. I think black and white Americans understand this. Mexicans are the largest Hispanic group in the U.S, our ideas and culture is dominant in the Hispanic community. That's why when people see Guatemalans they think they are Mexicans because they are very indigenous looking, a lot of them are pure indigenous. The U.S has a very racial history. I think it's just a racial thing in the U.S, and I think you'd have to be submersed in U.S politics, culture, and history for a long time to get it.
Latin American nations have a VERY racial history too as well. Don't just put it soley on the USA or point the finger at just the USA.
It ultimately comes down to perceptions and semantics.
That's because as I've said, Malumute, the "Hispanic look" is that of the Mestizo and the Amerindian, here, in the U.S. Most of Latin America, with some exceptions, is Majority Mestizo and a significant population Indigenous. Mexico, Central America, and many countries of South America fit that description. Guatemalans are always mistaken for Mexicans because 40% of Guatemalans are pure indigenous, and almost the entirety of the rest of the population is Mestizo. Even here in the U.S, Mexicans and Mexican Americans will look at white looking Mexicans and assume they aren't Mexican, but rather that they are just white. Here in the U.S. race plays a significant role in identity. People get confused when you look white or black and call yourself a "Hispanic".
The mulatto/a look is accepted as part of Hispanidad and Latinidad too by many. Pretty much any look that doesn't look black or white. It's pretty much ambiguous etc. Neither here nor there.
Mexican culture is a blend of indigenous and spanish culture. Culturally we are Mexican. The language we speak doesn't negate the fact that our ancestors were here before 1492. Why is this so hard a concept for white Americans to grasp?
Mexicans have African ancestry (what some refer to as the Third Root) in addition to European and Native American.
There are quite a few assumptions being thrown around. All that we know is that the parents were unable to provide documentation for the girl's grandmother, which was only requested after her win and not requested of the other contestants at that time.
Whether or not her parents are being truthful is unclear. However, it is not uncommon for older people in the Caribbean to lack birth certificates. Their inability to provide such does not mean anything. It is doubtful to me that anyone would enter their child in such a pageant if she was not Hispanic, as there is nothing really to gain from it. There are pageants for other ethnicities.
Oh come on, like if either of you (or me for that matter), saw those people you'd think they were Mexican.
Furthermore, 10-15% Mexico is white? That's laughable. 10-15% of Mexico may have predominant European features, but they're Mestizos. Even in the elite that's mostly true, unless their families are recent immigrants.
I've never heard "Wow, you're Mexican, you look Indian to me!", but I have heard "Wow, you're Mexican, you look white to me!". On several occasions, as a matter of fact. From different ethnicities and races. Which again brings about the question, what does a Mexican look like? A Mexican looks Amerindian or Mestizo. You can genetically be Mestizo and be very white looking, and thus be considered not looking Mexican enough. Can you say that about someone who looks heavily Amerindian? No, you can't. One can also look too black and thus be considered not looking Mexican enough. However, again, one cannot look too Indian to be considered not looking Mexican enough.
Look at my picture, then look at the picture with Hillary Clinton and those indigenous people. I could fit right in with them. My Mexican heritage has never been questioned by people who I tell I am Mexican. In fact, most people automatically assume I am Mexican. Whites, blacks, and even Mexicans, all creeds of Mexicans in fact. They are actually SURPRISED, dumbfounded even, that I don't know Spanish. Now look at Louis C.K, he's a Mexican national, and learned Spanish as his first language. Yet people were dumbfounded by him saying he IS a Mexican. Now ask yourself, why? I'll tell you why, because he doesn't look Mexican. It doesn't matter if he's genetically Mestizo or not. You have to have a certain amount of Indian-ness about you to look Mexican. That's a social fact. It may not be to that extreme in Mexico, but here, in the States, it is that way. The U.S is OBSESSED with race. You, an individual, may not particularly be interested in race, however, generally speaking here, Americans are indeed obsessed with race. Race has played an undoubtedly crucial role in American history, and it will continue to do so.
Don't put it all on the USA. Race and racism exists as an issue in virtually every nation on the globe. Also take into consideration the global context and global history. It's all interelated and interconnected!
I guess Vicente Fox isn't a Mexican then because to my knowledge he has no idio blood nor does he look indio. He is pure Spaniard. How was he able to become presidente of Mexico then? Simple, he WAS Mexican by nationality. One doesn't have to have indio blood or look indio in order to be Mexican.
Vicente Fox was born in Guanajuato on July 2, 1942, the second of nine children. His father was José Luis Fox Pont, a Mexican citizen, and his mother Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was Basque from San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Fox's paternal grandfather was born Joseph Louis Fuchs in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of German Catholic immigrants, Louis Fuchs and Catherina Elisabetha Flach, of Strasbourg, now in France. The "Fox" surname was changed from the German "Fuchs" during the 1870s.
Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato. He moved to Mexico City to attend the Universidad Iberoamericana and received a Bachelor's degree in business administration in 1964. He earned his diploma in top management skills from the Harvard Business School in the United States in 1974.
Clearly you missed the backlash directed at Miss America. There were all kinds of comments, including people saying they were upset because an "Arab" won and that Miss Kansas was a "real American." So that is totally incorrect. Here are some of the comments.
Regarding this situation, the pageant failed at enforcing the verification for all of the contestants prior to the pageant. Anytime you are slack regarding rules and wait until the parents of those who did not win complain, you run the risk of problems. Skin color could have been the motive of the parents' complaints, particularly since they emerged after the girl won. However, the biggest problem is failure of the pageant to properly enforce the rules and do so without being selective.
Miss America 2013 is of East Indian descent. Her family is from India
The bottom line is that Latino heritage can NOT be "proven".
I know Afro Latinos who were born in Belize and Panama that do not have Spanish surnames. And their children do not speak Spanish. And they have non-Latino spouses....but none of this changes the fact that they are STILL considered Latinos.
On the reverse, I have female relatives who have married Latino men and now have Spanish surnames. That does not make them Latino. I also know non-Hispanics who speak Spanish fluently...this does not make them "Latino".
Belizeans are not Latino. I guess it depends on which Belizean you talk to because I have met and know of Belizeans that dont identify with Latino label and I know some that do. The official language of Belize is English so it's not a Spanish speaking country. Many may know or understand Spanish because of it's proximity to other neighboring Spanish speaking countries and immigration from Spanish speaking Central American nations.
As for Panama, most people including black Panamanians in Panama have Spanish surnames. In the USA most or a lot of Panamanians that have migrated to the USA have been those with English or more Anglo/Brittanic like surnames
Miss America 2013 is of East Indian descent. Her family is from India
We are aware of that. However, that does not change the fact that people were still referring to her as "Arab" because they didn't know the difference. Please follow the conversation.
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Why is this so hard a concept for white Americans to grasp? 
