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called a "Mexican"? I live part time in Savannah Ga. and in a schack on the beach in the D.R. LOL. When I moved to Savannah some 4 years ago I first became familiar with *everybody* referring to Latinos as "Mexicans".
WTF, where does that come from?? In fact not one of them are from Mexico. Colombia, Hond, Guat., etc yes, but ALL are Mexicans???
Even a lot of Americans call themselves Mexicans. lol
Maybe the first wave of mass Latin American migration to the south was mostly Mexicans and the habit stuck. It happens.
In most Latin American countries anyone with an East Asian look is automatically considered 'chino'. All the Japanese and Koreans have to clear things up and even then, people still think of them as 'chino'. As for why, well in most places down there the first East Asian communities to form was composed mostly by Chinese immigrants and even today most East Asian communities and their descendants originate in China.
In Haiti the color/racial word 'blan' which means white has morphed to mean white and foreigner. Why? I personally don't know why the foreigner definition was added by the people, but probably because most foreigners to arrive in Haiti pretty much are white. Maybe most whites there are either foreigners themselves or recent descendants of foreigners. Maybe its also a cultural term, considering that most non-whites that visit or move to Haiti originate in American countries with much more Europeanized cultures than Haiti's. Even Haitian descendants born and raised in the USA or Haitians that migrate at an early age to the USA, when they go back to Haiti they are often referred to as 'blan' even if their skin color is as dark as coal and despite their Haitian origin.
In most Latin American countries Arabs and their descendants are still called 'Turcos' which means Turks or Turkish. This started in the late 1800's and early 1900's when the mass migration of Arabs from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine started. At that time all those lands were still under the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire and they arrived in Latin America with Turkish passports. The name has stuck with them ever since.
Sometimes the use of certain words are hints to demographic changes that took place in the past. Heck, to this day Native Americans are still called Indians.
i know tons of people who say it. it is used dismissively, half-jokingly. not specifically as an insult, but with deliberate carelessness.
most southerners know that it is being misused, but because we do not care about the differences in various latin cultures and nationalities, and they are a very small % of the population, we also do not care about what they're called.
it's like how many people in latin america call all americans a "Yanqui" or "yankee," despite that word referring specifically to people from the northeast. For me to be called a "yankee" is a huge insult, regardless of how it is intended. I just accept it as mutual ignorance between two different culture groups, two different languages.
Perhaps it is just pure and unintentional cultural ignorance on their part; I don't really know. I can say that living in the Chicago metro area there are a great many Latinos from various countries/origins and my experience has been that if one has enough (regular) exposure and contact they come to be 'educated and informed' of the differences...but not consistently nor always.
No more so than anyone caring where a Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Asian, or Black originates from.
As a Caucasian whose ancestors have been here since the 1700's people have presumed me to be of a Mediterranean (Italian or Greek) origin...and I do not have dark features or olive or 'brown' skin tones. Personally, I have 'bigger fish to fry' than worrying what someone may think or say about my origins.
My daughter and a friend were visiting friends out of state last year and someone approached them and asked them if they were Puerto Rican.
Likewise my daughter does not have dark features nor 'brown' skin (from light to dark), she has extremely thick and extremely curly hair (dark blonde) and ice blue eyes, her friend is Pakistani...go figure!
I have a friend (Italian origins) who is tall and athletic with very dark hair and green eyes and a Middle Eastern gentlemen asked me if they were also Middle Eastern, again...go figure!
As many have referred to Americans as mutts (from so many different and mixed cultures) perhaps it is just as difficult to figure out exactly where any of us originate from, again...I don't really know.
I say we should just embrace it and try not to take it so personally. I just try to treat everyone I encounter with respect until their actions dictate otherwise...and then, I just stay away from them and avoid them at all possible opportunities.
Best regards to all of the 'mutts'...both here and abroad.
Why is every Caucasian called American in Latin America?
Gringo, you meant?
Most latinamericans wouldn't call a Caucasian "American" since the term itself is subject to debate. They'll call you estadounidense, norteamericano or simply gringo. But rarely American.
Gringo, you meant?
Most latinamericans wouldn't call a Caucasian "American" since the term itself is subject to debate. They'll call you estadounidense, norteamericano or simply gringo. But rarely American.
It's always gringo.
At the poker table I was either called "gringo", "united states", "george bush" or "Obama". Obama was the only one I took offense to.
called a "Mexican"? I live part time in Savannah Ga. and in a schack on the beach in the D.R. LOL. When I moved to Savannah some 4 years ago I first became familiar with *everybody* referring to Latinos as "Mexicans".
WTF, where does that come from?? In fact not one of them are from Mexico. Colombia, Hond, Guat., etc yes, but ALL are Mexicans???
in sweden we call muslims "turks" regardless of nationality. Ongoing for many years... I think that happens a lot
Idk, who really cares? In the South, most probably are Mexican.
So you're admitting to everyone else on here that you're an uneducated bigot. Yay!
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