Why do a lot of Hispanics in the Miami-area refer to non-Hispanics as "Americans"? (movies, living in)

[Choice_Licker]

These are U.S. citizens who may or may not have immigrated to the U.S.; that is they may have been born here and such.

I have heard some refer to non-Hispanic people as "American" as if they were from another country, or were from another nationality. What is the reasoning behind this exactly?

I mean if they were born here they are, by nationality, American. So what purpose would it serve to call people who some find to be non-Hispanic as automatically all "Americans"?

Mostly everyone living in the U.S. has roots tied to other continents/lands/ethnicities, so why is it that some Hispanic citizens or residents like to refer to other people, usually whom they find to be non-Hispanic by their opinion, simply as an "American", like everyone in the U.S. is a native of this land?

I thought the natives of American/U.S. were Asians who migrated hundreds of years ago? Those would be the actual FIRST native Americans, but am I the only person that this bothers?

I was born in the U.S., and I don't refer to non-Hispanics (I am Hispanic, not that it matters) as "American" because that's my nationality as well.

What I want to know is what is the real meaning behind that, especially if they're U.S. citizens themself living their whole lives here?

PS: To me it sounds as if some of these people don't want to be referred to as American for some reason, despite being born, raised, and living here their whole lives.

[TooLoud]

You're reading way too much into it. Its not about denying they are American or anything, its just a way of describing White and Black Americans.

Why do White and Black Americans often call Latinos, Mexicans or Cuban, etc? Surely they dont mean that I'm from Mexico, right? The answer is that its a way to describe them because their ethnic background distinguishes them from their groups.

Its just about different backgrounds. I have Hispanic friends that are White as hell yet call Anglo-Americans "White people" because they have a different background, not because theyre a different race. I also have seen the same from Black Hispanics referring to African-Americans as Black people.

inb4 your usual crop of Miami haters come in and tell all the Cubans to move back because of this silly way to describe certain groups of people.

[miamihurricane555]

well in my case I don't call someone based off where they are born I go based off where their parents are from. so if they were born in the usa but their parents are from cuba then I'll call that person cuban not american. since most of us already have american citizenship it's already understood that they are american so it's a way of keeping the cultural differences defined. like I was born here in miami but my mother was born in venezuela and her parents are from cuba and colombia while my dad is caucasian american. so I'm Venezuelan-American or simply hispanic white(my mother is also white).

[Coralsex]

The hispanics that do this will usually only refer to Caucasian people as "Americanos". It could be a white guy from France. If he speaks English without an accent, and is not known to be from France, He will be referred to as "El Americano". But they won't call a 2nd generation, born in the U.S.A. American of Latin decent an "Americano", nor are African Americans with generations of roots in the U.S.A. referred to as "Americanos". It just became the nickname for white people instead of "gringo". It has absolutley nothing to do with being ashamed of being an American citizen or anything like that. Maybe the majority of Caucasian people that visited their homeland were American and that's how that nickname started.

[Choice_Licker]

But that is incorrect; a Caucasian can also be Hispanic. Some of you people here clearly don't realize that Hispanic is not a race. Look at people from Spain ... mostly White!

Differentiating White and Hispanic to refer to genealogical, Geographic, or otherwise multi-ethnic people to spare a little culture is discriminating.

So because I am a Hispanic I must live until the day I dir knowing the "Americans" surround me, but I can't be one of them exactly?

Also, I have to accept that what you're telling me is a fact? I am not racist, but I'm not afraid of the truth, so I won't give the benefit of the doubt to anyone.

If a citizen-born Hispanic means American to be White, what does that make them? Not White? This is revolving stupidity to assume the term "American" just means non-Hispanic, and defending it only hides the potential meaning behind it.

If we didn't look in to anything "deeply" we would still be in the jungle. I want to know the facts, not the cupcakes.

[Coralsex]

Originally Posted by Choice_Licker

But that is incorrect; a Caucasian can also be Hispanic. Some of you people here clearly don't realize that Hispanic is not a race. Look at people from Spain ... mostly White!

Differentiating White and Hispanic to refer to genealogical, Geographic, or otherwise multi-ethnic people to spare a little culture is discriminating.

So because I am a Hispanic I must live until the day I dir knowing the "Americans" surround me, but I can't be one of them exactly?

Also, I have to accept that what you're telling me is a fact? I am not racist, but I'm not afraid of the truth, so I won't give the benefit of the doubt to anyone.

If a citizen-born Hispanic means American to be White, what does that make them? Not White? This is revolving stupidity to assume the term "American" just means non-Hispanic, and defending it only hides the potential meaning behind it.

If we didn't look in to anything "deeply" we would still be in the jungle. I want to know the facts, not the cupcakes.

If you're directing that towards me, don't get angry with me. I'm just telling you what some hispanics use that word "Americanos" for. It's more of a nickname than anything. No reason to take it personal. I'm pretty sure they know that African American citizens are indeed American and they know Hispanics born in America are American. Just because they don't refer to you as an "Americano" does not mean that you "can't be one of them exactly" as you put it. They refer to hispanics as "latino" or "hispano", Just like you may refer to an American of asian decent as "The asian guy at work" when he may have never been to Asia before in his life.

[Choice_Licker]

I do not agree with you at all, and I share some of the anger towards you personally as well since you have contributed to this discussion negatively, incorrectly, andbias

[unclealbertt]

There's not much behind it. They aren't giving up their American identity, it's just that people's mindset in Miami is very much aligned with where their parents come from. It's an immigrant mentality, they just wanna know if you grew up in a Cuban household or Brazilian one for that matter. If you're white non-hispanic, they just assume you're not identifying as German-American or Swedish-American. Immigration from countries that Americans presume as being anglo isn't what it used to be.

This is a timely article on this

Why Losing The Hyphen Is Easier In Miami Than Other Places

...

Growing up in Miami I never felt different. In fact, I never felt like anything other than an American. Not a hyphenated American, not a compound noun American, but simply American. Although my culture, heritage and background play a huge part in who I am, English is the language that I speak most, the one that I feel most comfortable with. It’s the language that I speak with my friends; it’s the language that I think in. So, it’s usually the language that I choose for entertainment (television, movies, music.)

I am not an arrepentida, a phrase that Cubans use to describe people who are ashamed of, and therefore reject and deny their culture. But my thoughts and beliefs are a product of growing up in the United States. And, growing up in Miami, I heard people speaking English, Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, Patuá and countless languages and dialects. I had friends of all different cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds. I was used to people of all shades and colors, and I thought nothing of it.

I thought that this was normal. I always believed that Americans were people who left behind their old lives to begin anew, like my parents who emigrated to the United States and worked to build new, successful lives. It is why I have always believed in the possibility of achieving the American Dream.

...

[WINTERFRONT]

Newcomer Cubans don't use the term "arrepentida" as much as South American newcomers use it.

[Thomas Jefferson]

The only group that called people from the US "Americans" or "Americanos" are the Cubans. The rest of the Hispanics crowd call them "Gringos'