How long is someone "Hispanic"? (Anton, Bandera: casino, legal)

[love roses]

wow! Guess that answered my question then. Men can be so strange, or prideful though. Whereas, some would see that as great to come so far from such hard beginnings, I guess the hard times could disillusion you as well.

[Huckleberry3911948]

until people stop seeing country of origin identification as racial slur?

[crystalblue]

[quote=Michelle1210;2639839]

Originally Posted by love roses

I sort of agree with you. It makes my head spin sometimes I can't understand why someone who is from Mexico doesn't like being called Mexican.

It has to do with shame, to some it reminds them of the scrimping and trying to make a life in mexico, coming here then the news, always shows crimes, and talk of illigals,
for instance I wore a beautiful skirt with a silver belt and a torqoise blouse, and sandels, my brothers complemented me on my dress, said Ilook nice, very ethnic looking, mexican indian style or southwest look, my dad on the other hand looked at me, with shock and said go change, why are you looking like that when we come so far,work so hard (putting the past behind us) meaning assimulating into the american public, even thou mexican americans are americans as well as indians, but my father wanted no memories of slaving and the shame associated with our culture. He refused to speak spanish around us, We learned that it was a shameful thing to be mexican?hispanic/Indian........to the point I would scrub my skin and so I could be white. all of my siblings have married white......and my father was pleased.

thats a shame

[carolmora]

Hispanic and/or Mexican are actually an Indian/Spanish mix.

[teatime]

To answer the question, when the PC thing ends, I guess. The Chicano activists are the ones who insisted that La Raza is NOT, Heaven-forbid, white, even though there are technically only three races -- white, black and Asian. That's why we now see the categories of White (Hispanic) and White (Non-Hispanic). Those of Afro-Caribbean origin are black and some of them objected, too, preferring to be called "Hispanic" to black.

I just wonder why we've had to become so divisive that we are now categorized by a dozen subgroups. LOL, these days, I actually have to study the choices on forms that ask for my race because there's a long list! It used to be so simple!

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by crystalblue

This question will come out wrong, so forgive me.

but since Hispanics aren't really considered a race, how long does one stay Hispanic before being absorbed into a race?

for ex, if you look at chart 5
The Changing Face of Texas: Population Projections and Implications - The Face of Texas - Economic Research - FRB Dallas

it says most of the state will be Hispanic by 2040. but is that accurate? the longer a family has been in the US, the more they are assimilated. by 3rd or 4th generation, the only attachment they may have to Mexico might be liking tacos. so, what really makes a Hispanic Hispanic?

"hispanic" is actually a political/demographic term that first came out in the early 80s (i first heard it in 1980 in my government class). before that, we were called "mexican", "chicano" or "mexican american". some preferred to be called "spanish", which didn't sound as harsh as "mexican". my mother raised us to say that we were americans of mexican descent, not spanish. i usually had to correct people when they called me "spanish". i insisted that i am mex american. the term "hispanic" is usually used in terms of voting or census usually. my feeling is that we will be called "hispanic" as long as the illegals keep swarming across the border. it is an ENDLESS stream of poor people that distinguishes us from any other immigrant group that has come to this country. unfortunately, we tend to be identified with them.

other immigrant groups such as italians, jews, etc. were admitted in large numbers in the early 20th century, but abruptly stopped in 1924. this gave them the opportunity to become "americanized" and integrated into american society. mexican americans have not yet had that opportunity. mexico's throwaways still keep a comin.

[buffy888]

Originally Posted by crystalblue

it says most of the state will be Hispanic by 2040. but is that accurate? the longer a family has been in the US, the more they are assimilated. by 3rd or 4th generation, the only attachment they may have to Mexico might be liking tacos. so, what really makes a Hispanic Hispanic?

Sometimes grandmas are only in their 30s, so each "generation" can mean only about 15 years or so.

During my elementary/jr. high/high school years here in the 80s, the term I always heard was "Mexican." My friends called themselves Mexican - they never used Hispanic nor did I hear anyone refer to them as Hispanic. My husband refers to himself as Mexican. My students also refer to themselves as Mexican. And I have never known anyone refer to themselves as Latino, but I know some people do prefer that term. So I am often unclear on when it is appropriate to use Mexican and when I should say Hispanic - I generally say Hispanic.

To robertpolyglot's question of "And when and why did Oriental become unpopular and incorrect? We still have Oriental rugs and many Asian food markets still show the words Oriental food on their signs." - I was always told that "Oriental" refers to things/objects while "Asian" refers to people.

[BobTex]

I think, though I'm not sure, one has to be from Hispanola to correctly be a "Hispanic"!


I have a friend from South Afrika who migrated here and is of Dutch descent. He always calls himself an African-American and gets some scornful looks and comments. He is more pale than myself (I'm of British/Scottish/native Indian descent).

[Trainwreck20]

Is this thread serious? Hispanic meant historically of 'Spainard' descent, but, for US census reasons, is defined as Latin American individuals, and their descendants, living in the U.S., regardless of race. Descendants is left open-ended, so you are always hispanic if you are a descendant of a latin american somewhere up the line. I will continue to be caucasian regardless of how long I live somewhere.

Mexican means that you are of Mexico, and implies that you are a citizen or originally a native of that country. If you are born in the US, you can be hispanic, but are technically not Mexican. Mexican is no more a separate race than American.

[crystalblue]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Is this thread serious? Hispanic meant historically of 'Spainard' descent, but, for US census reasons, is defined as Latin American individuals, and their descendants, living in the U.S., regardless of race. Descendants is left open-ended, so you are always hispanic if you are a descendant of a latin american somewhere up the line. I will continue to be caucasian regardless of how long I live somewhere.

Mexican means that you are of Mexico, and implies that you are a citizen or originally a native of that country. If you are born in the US, you can be hispanic, but are technically not Mexican. Mexican is no more a separate race than American.

so, someone thats ten generations removed, and completely assimilated, would still be considered hispanic?