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On TV in the US, there is a certain look promoted as being "Hispanic" which gives the idea it is a race. It's medium to light brown people who are generally a mix of American Indigenous people + some European people (often Spaniard). Sometimes they have a little African, but less often. Even if they come from different countries, this look is promoted as "typical" Hispanic. How much truth there is in it being typical?Well I'd say less than is promoted.
I think the term Hispanic was invented to identify these people, because prior to they often would identify as white, and they don't want brown people calling themselves that (insert eye roll). Often these people do not identify with their Indigenous background nor do truly identify as white (with their European heritage), but when forced to choose they'd check white. However, it appears to be politically incorrect to be open about the motive of this term, so instead they pretend it's about "ethnic culture", which of course creates an extremely broad, useless, and mostly confusing definition for the term.
I think it's time to do away with this term, personally.
No the term Hispanic wasn't used on the US census until 1970 prior to that year Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans etc. were counted as white. That category was lobbied by an organization called La Raza an advocacy group in order to collect data to prove that those ethnicities were disadvantaged and prove a need for services for the "Hispanic" community.
No the term Hispanic wasn't used on the US census until 1970 prior to that year Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans etc. were counted as white. That category was lobbied by an organization called La Raza an advocacy group in order to collect data to prove that those ethnicities were disadvantaged and prove a need for services for the "Hispanic" community.
No the term Hispanic wasn't used on the US census until 1970 prior to that year Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans etc. were counted as white. That category was lobbied by an organization called La Raza an advocacy group in order to collect data to prove that those ethnicities were disadvantaged and prove a need for services for the "Hispanic" community.
i never understood why everything in america is so race centric, can't americans just be americans?
most mexicans in the US are indigenous or largely indigenous and they have for some reason become the "typical" hispanic look, when in reality outside the southwestern US, mexico and central america those type of people with those pancho villa features are rare.
i never understood why everything in america is so race centric, can't americans just be americans?
most mexicans in the US are indigenous or largely indigenous and they have for some reason become the "typical" hispanic look, when in reality outside the southwestern US, mexico and central america those type of people with those pancho villa features are rare.
It should be clear from the link I posted the category was created in order to collect information to show that Spanish speaking ethnicities weren't doing well in the USA overall, the census was employed to garner services and representation for "Hispanics". Some Americans use race as a way to distinguish people pretty much like Latin-Americans use social class.
i never understood why everything in america is so race centric, can't americans just be americans?
most mexicans in the US are indigenous or largely indigenous and they have for some reason become the "typical" hispanic look, when in reality outside the southwestern US, mexico and central america those type of people with those pancho villa features are rare.
Rare?
These are in whole Latin America country. White Americans in whole country average is 98% european.
In the USA, the people speaking Spanish form a community. So hispanic is not a race and while outside the US these people wouldn't call themselves hispanic, in the US there is clearly a hispanic community because speaking the same language in a country whose language is not yours creates a bond
The US is the only country with a big spanish speaking community so it is the only country with such a distinction
the US is the only country where Ive heard this hispanic thing going on
elsewhere in the world if you're white with european roots and you speak spanish (IE Spaniard, argentinian, white cuban etc.) you're seen as white
if you're brown and indigenous looking, you're indigenous
if you're black and speak spanish you're black
spanish is just a language, and people of many different races speak it all over the world... not just brown skin mexicans in california and texas
Quote:
Originally Posted by ulta
la raza is a mexican-american organization
i never understood why everything in america is so race centric, can't americans just be americans?
most mexicans in the US are indigenous or largely indigenous and they have for some reason become the "typical" hispanic look, when in reality outside the southwestern US, mexico and central america those type of people with those pancho villa features are rare.
US society was founded on racial classification. This fact makes many in the US uncomfortable but it is what it is. It's largely why there is the one drop rule. Language too has been a dividing factor in US history, just not to the same degree. While the US may have welcomed immigrants, society was such as one time that many people anglicized their names to fit in more. This really has never been the case with Spanish speaking people. This in combination with the fact that most Spanish speakers in the US have brown skin pretty much guaranteed them a racial classification even though they are not a race as traditionally thought of. Race is a social construct and the fact that most other countries don't really focus on such a thing I think proves that. Society creates "race" and it's the societies with the most racist pasts such as the US and South Africa that have the most complex racial categories.
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