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Why do Americans classify "Latinos/Hispanics", "Jews" and "Arabs" as races?
Latinos/Hispanics: Nations in the Caribbean, South, Central America that have cultural ties with Spain, i.e. the Spanish language. It is an ethnicity not a race.
It's so bad that many Americans of Latino decent believe it themselves, especially in lower income areas.
Most Latinos in the USA are Mexican (Over 3/4's?). It makes sense, only impoverished country that shares a walkable border with the USA so many immigrants (both legal and illegal) come to USA for economic gain. Most of these immigrants are multiracial with strong Indigenous traits. As a result most Americans assume every person with these traits, or even similarities (Black hair, brown eyes, tan skin, short) is Mexican. However in Mexico you have people of all races and a variety of mixes.
This mindset has lead to the "minority" mentality among Latinos. I think it's a very negative thing. An outcast feeling, that they are doomed for failure and never will be accepted which makes them want to be different. Which is why many refuse assimilation. At least among the uneducated. The mindset has to go and the term is not helping. Especially when it is used on official paperwork in the racial categories. People like George Lopez are not helping the Mexican community by re-enforcing Stereotypes.
Arabs are not a race. Arabs are people who share the same language Arabic. There decent/culture originates from the Middle East and northern Africa. They are mostly a multiracial people and like "Hispanics/Latinos" have great variety. Again not a race.
Jews, a religion. Can be from anywhere in the world. Any race.
Why do Americans still feel these are races in 2010?
because of IGNORANCE.... the average American is a potential Homer Simpson!
Just like Asian (people from Indonesia to India to Kazakhstan to Yemen to Turkey) can be black or white or anything really.
not at all
Hispanic is not even an ethnic group, hispanic is just a term used in the US for any one of european / african / native american / asian / arabic or any other type of descent that speaks spanish.
As ridiculous as it sounds they try to make a cultural racial group!!!
I think of Jewish as being some distinct things that are not necessary found together.
(1) Religion -
you can born into the Jewish religion and stay in the religion. - this makes you a Jew
you can be born in the Jewish religion and convert to a different/new religion. - if you are ethnically a Jew you are still Jewish even you leave the faith.
you can be born into the Jewish religion and convert to atheism. - if you are ethnically a Jew you remain a Jew even though you leave your birth faith.
you can be born a different religion such Catholic and convert to Judaism. - this makes you a Jew. if you're a catholic Italian, Mexican, Venezuelan this still makes you a Jew by conversion.
(3) Ethnicity -
if you born of a Jewish mom and Jewish dad from any country you are an Ethnic Jew regardless of what religion your family practices.
if you are born of a Jewish mom and non-Jewish dad you are still Jew per the rabbis. (line passes through the mother because you always know who the mother is even when you do not know who the father is. this is tradition.)
if you are born of a non-Jewish mom and Jewish dad the rabbis will not recognize you as Jewish. It is up in the who in the Jewish community will see you as Jewish. This is iffy territory. Some people call the person a halfer (as in half Jewish) and others consider not Jewish at due to the lack of the female blood line. it depends on who you ask.
(3) Adoption -
if a Jewish couple adopts a non-Jewish child and raises that child as Jewish that child is Jewish. the child might not be Jewish by blood alone, but they are culturally and religiously Jewish and that is enough for me. i pronounce them, "you are now a Jew."
Being Jewish is really complex. I have met people who IDed themselves as Jewish, but I did not consider them Jewish. I have IDed other people as Jewish because they fell within the range of possible ways to be Jewish (birth parents, raised in the religion, etc.) and they denied they were Jewish. Despite have Jewish ethnicity, heritage and the religion they said, "no, no. I am not a Jew." I found out later they were in the midst of an ID crisis.
You can become Jewish by birth, marriage, adoption, conversion, religion and it is all the same. You are now a Jew. There is another the I can not say on here as it is too sexual. It is what Jewish guys say to non-Jewish girls.
I have read that if you do DNA testing of Jewish people it's distinctive and totally different than Europeans. So being Jewish could be more than a religon.
I am interested in getting genetic testing done on myself. I am Jewish yet have blue eyes and no Jewish looking features. I look totally Northern European white. I am curious if my genetic test results would be similar to Jews who "look Jewish" or not.
We really shoulden't.
For Example
Hispanic/Latino is definitely not a race.
You have black Hispanics, mulatto Hispanics, White Hispanics, mestizo hispanic, so on and so forth. Cameron Diaz and Zoe Saldana are both hispanic but Cameron is white and Zoe is Black, they are clearly not part of the same race. Just like your Average Mexican in LA will more than likely not be in the same racial group as your average Dominican from New York. Race is a human made concept though so the whole thing is a bit silly and has caused for WAY to many tragic instances in the past, especially in America; how silly.
As I've said, the neo races (which are technicaly breeds) are more applicable to everyday folk, who may never be aware our humble primate species only contains 3 races. IIRC they are Afro, Mongol (inc. Native Americans and South Aboriginals), and the last is from the Mediterranean, don't remember the name though. All extant humans can trace their ancestry to one or perhaps all of these founding races.
If this sounds familiar, this is the third thread I've typed this into with similar titles.
Because Liberals need to pigeon hole everyone into a group so they can achieve their agenda.
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