How have race relations changed now that Hispanics outnumber African Americans in the U.S.? (lobbyists, lobby)
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In general, Mexicans always went to schools with whites. Almost every public segregated white highschool in Texas had Mexican or other Latin American students. The University of Texas, formally a white only University, has always admitted Mexicans.
Some scattered districts had remedial elementary schools for Mexicans that were based on language. The arguments behind them was that Mexican children had special needs because they were Spanish-speakers - not unlike todays ESL classes for Mexicans.
That was superficially similar to the strict legalized racial segregation of blacks, but not the same at all. Even children that did go to mexican elementary school went on to mainstream white middle and highschools without problems.
Anyway, the Mexican American community fought these remedial Mexican schools by arguing that they were white. They were saying its wrong to force Mexican children into seperate elementary schools because Mexicans were white and that was illegal - and that is why they won these cases such as Mendez v Westminster.
Hispanic is not a race. Hispanic is not an ethnicity. Anymore than being "American" is a race or ethnicity... anymore than residents of all of the former British Colonies can claim to be an "Anglo" race or ethnicity, despite many shared customs, language, laws and foods.
Latin America is/was an immigration destination for people from Asia, Europe and Africa. The term "Hispanic" in America is just a political one, designed to segment populations and justify the creation and maintenance of special interest groups.
I jut posted the definitions of what those words mean- so yes they do fit-- so
No im not. There were established Cuban American communities in New Orleans and Florida during the first half of the 20th century - that was the height of the Jim Crow era. They were unaffected by segregation or any of the race laws from the past. They were never on the back of any busses. They were considered to be white catholic people.
Most Cubans, especially at that time, were basically 100% Spanish. Cuban DNA is only 8% Amerindian. And most of the African Cubans were a segregated community.
Of course Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz wouldn't have been impacted by Jim-Crow laws. They actually are white.
Grace Flores coined a specific usage of term "hispanic" that did not exist before. Hispanic was a rare English word that referred to things related to Spain. It was never used as a ethnic identifier the way it is today. People were never "hispanic" in the past.
If you were to go back in time even to as recent as the late 1970s and ask about "hispanics/latinos", nobody would have known what you were talking about. This is not an identity that existed.
There was never a concept that people of Spanish origin were an ethnic group, and much less that they were minorities. That was all a political fabrication. Before then calling somebody "Spanish/Latin" meant that they were white. It was like saying French.
That's the point. She coined the term as an ethnic classification. There was no such catch-all term before then.
The white, black, or "hispanic" paradigm that we know today is very recent. There was no "hispanic" minority group. People were white or black before then.
Yes, people of African descent were considered black, but few spanish-speaking immigrants were.
Cuban-Americans lived in deep south (New Orleans and Florida) during the harshest days of the Jim Crow era and they were WHITE. They had white privilege every day. They went to schools with whites, they identified as white, they played in the white-only major leagues, they were stars in Hollywood, they married white (Desi Arnaz was white!)
They were not minorities.
they were biased against their latin heritage- not color
This is true enough that I don't want to fight about it. She didn't invent the word, but she established its usage and meaning as it relates to the United States.
But they didn't call them Spanish unless they were from Spain. Generally people were referred to by their nationality. They were Mexican, or Puerto Rican, or Cuban, etc. The Spanish had been thrown out of most of Latin-America by the early 1800's.
You need to keep in mind that even the term "White" or "Caucasian" is even a relatively-new term. In the old days, you would be Italian, German, Irish, French, Scottish, English, etc.
The idea that some Mayan from Guatemala was considered white, in an America that was very racist against our own natives, while having a literal "one-drop rule" policy. Just seems absurd.
They weren't considered white. Or at least, not the ones who obviously weren't white.
But let us not forget, the Spanish themselves had something like sixteen different racial classifications for various mixes of whites, blacks, and natives.
I think your timelines are a bit off. There were virtually no Cubans in America until the Spanish-American War. That is when Cuba became a de-facto American colony(along with Puerto Rico). And most of the Cuban immigration to America came as a result of Castro's communist revolution in the 1950's.
Moreover, Cuba has very little American-Indian admixture. It is 72% white, 20% black, and 8% American-Indian. The vast-majority of Cubans in America, are basically 100% Spanish.
I used to joke that Fidel Castro is whiter than me. That guy from Univision is way whiter than me.
In 1763, Great Britain took control of Florida. The Spanish and Native Americans inhabiting the Key West area were moved to Havana. Florida returned to Spanish control 20 years later, but there was no official resettlement of Key West. Fishermen from Cuba, Great Britain, and the newly independent U.S. used the island informally, as no nation exercised de facto control over the community there for some time. In 1815, the Spanish governor of Cuba in Havana deeded the island of Key West to Juan Pablo Salas, an officer of the Royal Spanish Navy Artillery posted in Saint Augustine, Florida. In 1822, Lt. Commander Matthew C.Perry sailed the schooner Shark to Key West and planted the U.S. flag, claiming the Keys as United States property. Since no protests were made to American claim on Key West, the Florida Keys became the property of the United States.
Ybor City was unique in the American South as a successful town almost entirely populated and owned by immigrants. The neighborhood had features unusual among contemporary communities in the south, most notably its multi-ethnic and multi-racial population and their many mutual aid societies. The cigar industry employed thousands of well-paid workers, helping Tampa grow from an economically depressed village to a bustling city in about 20 years and giving it the nickname "Cigar City -
We did fine in Fl.- until northern state transplants started messing with our beloved state-- (go home)
There is simply no way a dark-skinned Mexican could have walked into a KKK rally and been accepted as white, period, end of discussion.
Darkskinned "brown" Mexicans were completely tolerated in racially segregated environments that were for whites only. This is hard to imagine but its the truth.
Yes, they often faced social discrimination, but in general if something was for "whites only" a Mexican was permitted to go irrespective of what color they were. Laws in the south uniquely discriminated against people of African descent.
There are people who write about this today. Richard Rodriguez, a dark skinned Mexican who grew up during segregation, was not a minority before the introduction of the "hispanic" concept. He wrote about it in his book "Brown".
Darkskinned "brown" Mexicans were completely tolerated in racially segregated environments that were for whites only. This is hard to imagine but its the truth.
Yes, they often faced social discrimination, but in general if something was for "whites only" a Mexican was permitted to go irrespective of what color they were. Laws in the south uniquely discriminated against people of African descent.
There are people who write about this today. Richard Rodriguez, a dark skinned Mexican who grew up during segregation, was not a minority before the introduction of the "hispanic" concept. He wrote about it in his book "Brown".
Some people consider Richard Rodriguez a sell out. What do you think about Hernandez vs Texas? It says Mexican Americans were a recognized minority in Texas. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernandez_v._Texas
I'm not sure Mexicans had it as easy as you claim; I'm sure lighter wealthier ones did though without a doubt.
I jut posted the definitions of what those words mean- so yes they do fit-- so
So what you're saying is that the residents of the Anglosphere ---- Americans, Australians, Canadians, British, Irish, New Zealanders, South Africans are an "ethnicity" or "race," especially considering our many shared cultural customs, foods, traditions, laws, language and entertainment/media?
Great!
So when someone asks what my ethnicity is I should tell them... what? What shall we call ourselves? Anglos? Brittanicans?
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