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When i lived in USA 10 years ago, when I told people we were from Latin America, first they were shocked I was white (?) and second they were treating me like if i was Mexican. Example "we are gonna go eat Mexican food, to make you feel as home" they said, and they took me to taco bell and made homemade fajitas, and you know what?? That was the first time ever i had Mexcian food!!!! in USA!!! And to this day there are NO fast food mexican places. Mexican food is FAR more known there than here!!! Trying to explain this concept to an american was next to impossible "what do u mean you dont have mexican food?" "what do u mean you dont have bull fights?" "what do u mean it snows in your country?" "what do u mean your mom is a blue-eyed blonde?". I swear to god they didnt get it. Since me, as argentinian, didnt fit in their categorization, they stop trying to "get it" and just dismissed it as an exception.
The thing is that most of the Latin American world is an exception: SouthAmerica is NOT Mexico. Not curturally, not racially. Anything.
Argentina and Mexico couldnt be more different. People that go there come FASCINATED at how different things are. I have a friend that just returned, and told me how their amerindian culture is SO present there and traditions that shape their everyday life. That part of their culture is present in their life, while here is not, at all. This 2 countries are a world apart. Argentina and Mexico are more different between eachother than Mexico and USA. The only thing in common is we speak the same language and have a thing for soccer.
Mexico is the only Latin American country most of us know about so we just assume the rest of the continent is similar to Mexico.
I live in Texas, so a little patience and tolerance might be in order - for people in the southern US, especially the southwestern US and border states, the vast, VAST majority of Hispanics are browner than white people of predominately European ancestry, and the majority of them are only one or two generations removed from Mexico - in fact, many of them just got here from Mexico!
That being said, my son in law is Hispanic, without a drop of Mexican ancestry. He is Panamanian, Puerto Rican, and one fourth Sicilian/Italian. (Yes, he's hot - my daughter hit the jackpot when it comes to a goodlooking husband, as well as a good man!) Not one member of his family has ever lived in Mexico, and yet people often assume that he's "Mexican." He does get tired of it.
Mexico is the only Latin American country most of us know about so we just assume the rest of the continent is similar to Mexico.
But why assume? When I think of Colombia I don't suddenly think tacos and ''brown people'' but a very mixed society. This Mexican generalisation is wrong and demeans how diverse Central and South America really is. I can't grasp how SOME Americans think Mexico = Latin America. For example its quite insulting to say that an Argentinean ''do you eat Mexican food'' It seems SOME Americans are very ignorant about the world and their own continent.
I think rapid chances need to occur within US media and the education system to shift this weird generalisation.
I don't want to put the US down but here in Britain (or anywhere else for that matter) where there is a culture of grouping the whole continent (and Spain) as having a Mexicon culture or having a similar one.
Mexico is the only Latin American country most of us know about so we just assume the rest of the continent is similar to Mexico.
I think this is unfortunately the answer to your question, OP.
I live in Canada, but even the other day my brother described someone he ran in to as "Mexican" even though there are obviously a number of possible Latin American nationalities. Also, recently I told one of my friend's moms that I was learning Spanish and looking forward to using it during an upcoming trip to Mexico. Her response: "They don't speak Mexican?"
Mexico is the only Latin American country most of us know about so we just assume the rest of the continent is similar to Mexico.
so its better to asume than to learn how things are in reality and speak properly??
Its really ignorant to assume all Latin America is like Mexico, there are tons of different countries there, that have nothing to do with Mexico, and between eachother. Dont you think is ignorant to lump us all together in the same group as if we were ALL the same??
But why assume? When I think of Colombia I don't suddenly think tacos and ''brown people'' but a very mixed society. This Mexican generalisation is wrong and demeans how diverse Central and South America really is. I can't grasp how SOME Americans think Mexico = Latin America. For example its quite insulting to say that an Argentinean ''do you eat Mexican food'' It seems SOME Americans are very ignorant about the world and their own continent.
I think rapid chances need to occur within US media and the education system to shift this weird generalisation.
I don't want to put the US down but here in Britain (or anywhere else for that matter) where there is a culture of grouping the whole continent (and Spain) as having a Mexicon culture or having a similar one.
Dont bother so much writing "SOME" in capital letters. The poster that accused this of being a stupid generalization just ADMITED this is how it is, and how it will continue to be. Its clearly a problem. Are americans too lazy to say "Mexican" instead of "Latin American" or "Hispanic"?? Are they too lazy to say "mestizo" instead of "hispanic".
For the Latin Americans countries, they dont identify themselves with the meaning you give to the word "hispanic" (wich is "mexican"). A Peruvian doesnt identify with it, a Colombian, a Chilean, an Argentinain, an Uruguayan, and so on. You are denying all this countries their own identity by imagining all them as "Mexico"-
I'm of Afro-caribbean desent I'm not Jamaican but peeps tend to assume i'm Jamaican but thats understandable because the West Indian Islands are fairly small with relatively small populations (and cultures a also relatively similar) but a WHOLE continent!!
I dont think this is an American problem, people in every country have false views about other countries.
A "false view"?? You are just assuming we are Mexico!!!!
I dont assume Canada is Japan, or France is Niger, or New Zealand is India.
If a person from Canada comes here i dont say "how come you are not a fan of yakuza movies?" "could you explain me how the tea ceremony goes?" , and i dont give them a confused look when they react shocked at my nonsense.
It is the same: you are denying my identity and all the other latin american countries identities by assuming we are Mexico.
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And to this day there are NO fast food mexican places. Mexican food is FAR more known there than here!!! Trying to explain this concept to an american was next to impossible "what do u mean you dont have mexican food?" "what do u mean you dont have bull fights?" "what do u mean it snows in your country?" "what do u mean your mom is a blue-eyed blonde?". I swear to god they didnt get it. Since me, as argentinian, didnt fit in their categorization, they stop trying to "get it" and just dismissed it as an exception.
