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So you're admitting to everyone else on here that you're an uneducated bigot. Yay!
I'm quite familiar with the differences.. my family is Brasilian.
What I said was the truth, most Latinos in the United States are Mexican. If you deny that, you are the uneducated one.
I merely said, who cares? As long as the person is not specifically trying to do it to be rude, I am not going to get worked up over it. I have many more important things to do in my life than to worry about whether someone knows the difference between a Guatemalan and a Mexican.
When I'm abroad, people have assumed I am from many countries other than the United States. Am I going to go on a rant and tell these people how "uneducated" they are because they didn't know I was from the United States by looking at me?
I found some data on line that states 60% of the Latino POP are Mexicans.
Its only common sense that people will lump you with the largest group that is in a country.
When I lived in Spain everyone thought I was South American. No one knows anything about Mexico there. There are alot of Ecuadorian, Colombian and Peruvian immigrants there. I didn't care.
I lived in Alabama for a few years in the late 1990s and yes, many people referred to almost any latino person they came in contact with as Mexican. I was not entirely shocked since the majority of latino people in Alabama are from Mexico.
Just a side observation, I attended high school in Chile and have spent a lot of time in many countries in South America. In many countries, almost anyone of Asian origin is referred to as "chino". In Peru, the nickname of their former President in the 1990s Alberto Fujimori (of Japanese ancestry) was "el chino", even while he was president. I even saw that nickname used in tabloid type newspapers in Peru.
I lived in Alabama for a few years in the late 1990s and yes, many people referred to almost any latino person they came in contact with as Mexican. I was not entirely shocked since the majority of latino people in Alabama are from Mexico.
Just a side observation, I attended high school in Chile and have spent a lot of time in many countries in South America. In many countries, almost anyone of Asian origin is referred to as "chino". In Peru, the nickname of their former President in the 1990s Alberto Fujimori (of Japanese ancestry) was "el chino", even while he was president. I even saw that nickname used in tabloid type newspapers in Peru.
Go figure, the same shoe fits many feet.
hahah, I was joking about that with my girlfriend a while back. I acted really upset with her and said "not all white people are the same, I'm not just a piece of meat and I'm different from a european". She laughed and said "yeah we do the same thing with asians, they are all chinese"
One reason may be that historically, the average Latino most Americans were likely to encounter were Mexican or of Mexican heritage, due mainly to their larger local population and established business presence, as compared to other Latinos. Also, some of them may have been transplants from areas where they were not exposed to Latinos other than Mexicans and hence carried that assumption with them.
Where I live in Houston, I've encountered more Mexicans in my random daily interactions, even though there are sizable Central and South American populations here as well. Unless I'm at a pupuseria or other similarly obvious ethnic establishments, it is difficult for me to distinguish between a Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran or El Salvadorian based on looks alone, if they all possess largely indigenous Mayan features.
Similarly, during my travels throughout Mexico and Guatemala, the locals often referred to me as "La China" whether in upscale tourist areas or small, relatively remote villages. I distinctly remember some young barefooted village kids shyly following me around, laughing and calling out "La China! La China!" in Santiago Atitlan almost 25 yrs ago, when it was less developed and touristy than it is today. At the time, I was unaware of the historical presence of the Chinese in many parts of Latin America. I found it puzzling because I don't think I have very Chinese-looking features, other than having fairly pale skin and being quite tall (5'7") for a Vietnamese woman. But because there was no malice in their tone - only excitement, curiosity or benign ignorance - I took no offense.
Its only common sense that people will lump you with the largest group that is in a country.
When I lived in Spain everyone thought I was South American. No one knows anything about Mexico there. There are alot of Ecuadorian, Colombian and Peruvian immigrants there. I didn't care.
Just humbly correct people and move on.
and because people get annoyed by being lumped together with the biggest group I assume the 2nd biggest group if I can't tell.
hahah, I was joking about that with my girlfriend a while back. I acted really upset with her and said "not all white people are the same, I'm not just a piece of meat and I'm different from a european". She laughed and said "yeah we do the same thing with asians, they are all chinese"
Not true, white Mexicans are called "güerito", "güero", even if they are not blonde. Since most white in DF are descendants of Gachupines, I don't know if they use that word but I don't think so.
Gringo is just some obviously foreigner tourist from anywhere in Europe or the US, just as they say "guiri" in Spain.
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