Hispanics/White relations in Dallas?! (San Antonio, Roma: how much, elementary school, living in)

[aceplace]

When the Feds say that a "Hispanic" can be of any race, it is really true.

In Argentina, in Buenos Aires, a large portion of the population is of Italian extraction. Also quite a few Germans. They are Hispanic, since Hispanic is not a racial or ethnic category, but a language classification.

In Cuba and the Dominican republic, much of the hispanic population is descended from African slaves. A minority is mostly or almost entirely of European origin.

In Mexico, the bulk of the population is entirely or mostly of Native American origin... Aztec, Mayan, Toltec, and other pre-Columbian tribes and peoples. At the top of the social hierarchy, the population is predominantly European in origin.

What surprised me about Spain is that its European population looks no different than their neighbors in France or Italy. Galicia, in Northwestern Spain, is ethnically similar to places such as Ireland and Brittany, and their language is similar to Irish or Welsh. It is not well known in the USA that the language they call "Spanish" is really known as "Castilian", centered around Madrid. Parts of Spain speak a language called Catalan, centered around Barcelona. Northern Spain speaks a language called Basque, similar to Hungarian or Finnish.

The idea of "Hispanic" as an ethnic or racial category is a myth that Americans believe in due to their lack of cultural or international perspective.

[aceplace]

I'll bump this up a bit.

Americans do not have an accurate picture of the various races and ethnic groups that make up the Hispanic, or Spanish speaking world. Would you need a disclaimer that says that Anglophonics (English-speakers) could be of any race?

The only Hispanic group that most Americans have contact with are Southern and Central Mexicans, and perhaps Puerto Ricans in the northeast. I know nothing about Puerto Ricans, but Most Mexicans are a mix of mostly Native American with some European ancestry. This ethnic group is known as "Mestizo". Mexico is not an egalitarian country, and many of its social institutions heavily favor European ancestry, no matter how slight. In other words, the more of it you have, the higher on the social scale you are. The great 19th century revolutionary and social reformer, Benito Juarez, claimed to be a "man of the people" due to his almost pure Native American heritage.

[KewGee]

I just heard yesterday and I don't know if it's true or not, but I understand there is supposedly a group of Whites forming to "wipe out" the Hispanics. Apparently, a Hispanic person was killed last week in Mansfield at the hands of this so called group, gang, cult, or whatever. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of it, but I think it had the word "Brotherhood" in it.

Hey, I just found the link below and this might be to what the person was referring. If so, it doesn't sound like it has anything to do with hurting Hispanics, so that's good, but it still sounds like a pretty serious situation.

Star-Telegram.com | 08/16/2007 | Suspects believed members of gang (broken link)

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by KewGee

[color="DarkOrchid"]I just heard yesterday and I don't know if it's true or not, but I understand there is supposedly a group of Whites forming to "wipe out" the Hispanics.

Do you really mean "Mexican immigrants"? Or does the list include Spaniards, Mexico City residents of German descent, Afro-Cubans, Italian-Argentinians, Spanish-speaking Filipinos, etc.?

Just out of curiosity, in your opinion is the king of Spain white, or Caucasian?

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Do you really mean "Mexican immigrants"? Or does the list include Spaniards, Mexico City residents of German descent, Afro-Cubans, Italian-Argentinians, Spanish-speaking Filipinos, etc.?

Just out of curiosity, in your opinion is the king of Spain white, or Caucasian?

I'm just quoting what I heard which was "Hispanics," and it apparently isn't so as stated in the link. The gang is just into spreading more drugs throughout the streets from what I gathered quickly reading the article.

To answer your question.........neither, but you're the cultural expert, not I.

[aceplace]

Well, I found a picture of Juan Carlos I, king of Spain, in Wikipedia, and he looks European to me. He does not physically resemble most of the Mexican people I encounter, any more than he resembles people from China or Vietnam.

To the OP: Your use of the term "Hispanic" and your confusion as to what it really means is the source of your difficulty. Americans also have a confused use of the term, and when they use it, albeit inappropriately, they really mean "impoverished Mexican immigrant seeking casual labor", or "Mexican-American somewhat well established in the US", or "New York Puerto Rican" or "Miami area Cuban".

It would be unlikely for the term to be applied to a Basque, a Catalonian or a Portugese national, or a Spanish-speaking Filipino.

How did the term come into being? The US government likes to lump together disparate groups for the sake of convenience in counting them. Thus we have a census classification that combines Vietnamese and Pakistanis into one statistical classification, even though Pakistan and Vietnam see no particular commonality among themselves.

[teatime]

And Hispanics misuse the term "Anglo." Anglo comes from Anglo-Saxon and refers to people of English descent. I am an Anglo, but folks who are of Italian, German, French, Polish... descent are NOT Anglo and should not be called such. I really don't get the propensity toward calling all white people "Anglos" and that isn't common in other parts of the country.

Also, folks confuse race, ethnicity, and nationality. Technically, there are only three races -- white, black and Asian -- and Hispanics are of the white race. "Hispanic" or "Mexican-American" is an ethnic group, as is Italian-American, Irish-American, etc. Nationality? American, unless folks aren't naturalized citizens or U.S. born.

If non-Mexican Hispanics are upset about being called Mexicans, then I hope they will not call all white people "Anglos," as well.

[lukeache]

I find all these labels absolutely ridiculous. One of the funniest things I have experienced is when ppl make the assumption that I am Hispanic and I correct them by saying that I am of Portuguese origin, it is almost like instantly they start to treat me better and mentally place me in the "White" category. Worse yet is hearing genius stuff like "You dont really act Hispanic" .I have a couple American born friends of Middle Eastern origin in Houston that go through the same thing..they are Mexicans until proven innocent

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by teatime

And Hispanics misuse the term "Anglo." Anglo comes from Anglo-Saxon and refers to people of English descent. I am an Anglo, but folks who are of Italian, German, French, Polish... descent are NOT Anglo and should not be called such. I really don't get the propensity toward calling all white people "Anglos" and that isn't common in other parts of the country.

Also, folks confuse race, ethnicity, and nationality. Technically, there are only three races -- white, black and Asian -- and Hispanics are of the white race. "Hispanic" or "Mexican-American" is an ethnic group, as is Italian-American, Irish-American, etc. Nationality? American, unless folks aren't naturalized citizens or U.S. born.

If non-Mexican Hispanics are upset about being called Mexicans, then I hope they will not call all white people "Anglos," as well.

Thanks for your insights, Teatime. I'm sure a full-blooded Irishman does not like being called an Anglo. A better term would be "Anglophonic", to refer to language.

I'd be a little more specific about using "Asian" as a race, since Asia contains many people of different races. Technically, Jesus Christ was an Asian. He was not born in Australia, Europe or Africa or the Americas. We don't know what his facial features looked like, but he most likely did not look Chinese or Vietnamese. Also, people from India and Pakistan do not belong to the same race as Chinese and Japanese. "East Asian" is a better term for people from China, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, whereas "South Asian" is a better term for people from India and Pakistan.

The Native American peoples are a distinct human subgroup, or race. The genetic heritage of Mexico is mostly Native American, with a minority of people of mostly or entirely European descent. When people in Texas use the word "Hispanic", they are really talking about Mexicans with a Native American genetic heritage. White (or European) Mexicans are usually at the top of the food chain in their country and have little incentive to migrate to Dallas to wash dishes and do day labor.

I understand that Northern Mexico, places such as Monterey, are also inundated with impoverished Mexican immigrants, from Central and Southern Mexico. The local term for them is "Oaxacans". The standard of living in Mexico's northern states is perhaps 10 times what it is in Southern Mexico, and Southern Mexicans flock there to improve their lives.

[littlewmn]

Every time I hear discussions about racial nomenclature I am reminded of my high school friend who was a white girl who had immigratred from South Africa. She said that she was truly African-American, but knnew how misleading the term would be in her circumstance.
I find classifying a race by language a bit odd, but I am not sure how racial groups should be classified, if at all. I have Ashkenazi heritage, and I figure it is indeed a racial group, not a religious one, since there are genetic diseases associated with that group. I grew up in NY- and there it was understood most Hispanics were from Puerto Rico.
I have seen many professional people that are Hispanic-appearing. The most diverse place seems to be NorthPark Mall's play area- I have seen groups with different heritages that all seem to be economically similar (judging by dress, anyway). It is, however, still rare for me to see non-Hispanic people in a Hispanic neighborhood (i.e. one with storefront signs in Spanish), so given tha I would say large sections of the Hispanic community are not integrated in East Dallas. I see no hostility- just no integration.