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I am always surprised with how quick people in the United States label all Latinos as one race. The government doesn't do it but the people do as is represented in the media.
I am shocked by this because upon my many travels to Latin America, not once did I hear anyone consider Latinos a "race" of people. People down there categorized themselves as either; mixed (Amerindian/Spanish), white, black or other. But in the United States, all Hispanic people are tought of as Latino.
Why is this? Do Americans really think that Andy Garcia and George Lopez are the same? One is white, the other is clearly more Amerindian looking. Sammy Sosa and Dominicans look totally different from Argentineans. White Cubans can and do look as American as any other White American. Afro-Latinos from Cuba and Puerto Rico can look as black as a Jamaican or African American. Why are they seen as so different?
Why is there such confusion over Latinos in the US?
A Latino is just someone from a geographic area south of us or moved here from that area. I suppose many use the word Latino to cover all those who are from Spanish roots and speak Spanish and are from that geographic area when Hispanic would describe those folks ethnically. I don't think it's a big deal to call them Latino or Hispanic collectively based on the above. It really isn't so much about race but culture based on the Spanish langauge.
Is race a reality or a convenient reductionist tag for people who want to discriminate?
In today's world quite the opposite is true. Especially with our goverment. They tag certain races/ethnic groups in the Census for AA and other reasons to single them out for special priviledges.
Hispanic/Latino is not a race, it's an ethnicity/catch-all term for someone from a Central American/South American Spanish-speaking nation. You can be Hispanic/Latino and be any color. Ever met a Mexican with blond hair and blue eyes? (They exist.) So do black Cubans and Peruvians of Japanese descent. They'd all be "Hispanic" here.
Hispanic/Latino is not a race, it's an ethnicity/catch-all term for someone from a Central American/South American Spanish-speaking nation. You can be Hispanic/Latino and be any color. Ever met a Mexican with blond hair and blue eyes? (They exist.) So do black Cubans and Peruvians of Japanese descent. They'd all be "Hispanic" here.
Of course I know that but the media and a huge chunk of the American public is accustomed to thinking that Latinos are a seperate race.
Humans are a species not a race. So stop with the race doesn't matter thing. It's real but its importance shouldn't be stressed.
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