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i am not hispanic, but i think Spaniards are considered Europeans
people from Mexico, latin america, south america are Hispanic
or i usually just say where they are from. (ie, south american, or more specific, Argentinean. or puerto rican, etc)
i have never refered to anyone as Latin. i never understood why they call themselves Latin?
Latin was spoken all over europe, and never anywhre in the Americas...
As far as I understand it, the US census term for anyone that speaks Spanish is 'Hispanic,'' and that includes Spain, even though Spain is in Europe.
Latino is a rather new term that has been thrown around for the past few years, when the influx of illegal Mexican immigrants began to infiltrate the US.
They are referred to as "Latins," because they speak Spanish, which is one of the Romance Languages.
I don't think it has anything to do with blood. It is a culture thing. Latin America was colonized by Spain and Portugal thus they are Hispanic by culture.
The way I understood the poll was about what people perceived not what is the right answer. I know when I fill up a form I check Hispanic because I can't check White(other than Hispanic). I have to constantly explain that Spaniards are a mix of North Europe and North Africa. So in Spain you can find white, blue-eye, blonds as well as brown-eye, brown hair, dark skin. Because the way genetics work the lighter skin, blue-eye, blonds are more rare. In general we look more like Middle Eastern than Mexican. Culturally there is also a lot of Moor influence especially in the south.
Thank you JesuCristo....finally someone that speaks the truth and knows the truth. In Spain, and as a Spaniard I can speak..we are mixed. In Spain you can find people that are white with blonde hair fair compexion and light eyes...however this is not the norm. I would say about 90 % of the time, thses people may be culturally Spanish but they are not totally ethnically spanish. Meaning that there past ancestors within the last 500-600 years were Celts, Vikings or Germans. True Spaniards are a mix of many peoples including the original Iberian Tribes, Celts, Romans, Visigoths, Phoenincians, Greeks, Berbers, Arabs, N African Moors, Gypsy (although many have not mixed in with the Payo ( Spaniard) as much) and many others. I would say 85-90% of us have dar hair and eyes a light olive to dark complexion..dependant. There is this move of Spaniards and some Latin Americans that have gotten on Stormfront to try to proove themselves as White with a bunch of crap. Even as far as saying that only true spaniards are blonde and blue eyed..they are full of it! These people need to go back to the countries that they originated from hundreds of years ago..it ws not ours. The old Kings and Queens of Spain in fact were not even Spaniards..but were from The Austrian, British and German crown. THis is ashame for our culture. These people will go on to say that Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and even Rafael Nadal have got either native american or gypsy blood in them..cause they are dark haired and complexion...are these people nuts? They need help and they need to tell the majority of spaniards the same thing..unless they are blonde and blue eyes they are not spanish. I hate ignorance..I hate ignorance and history spoken about our culoture from racist white wing wannabees that no diddley about who we are!! And furthermore , they are an embarrassment to our people. So I agree with this poster 150%. Although I consider myself caucasian I am not white...I am European,I am HISPANIC and I am a LATIN person..including Latino..however I am not LatinoAmericano.
Last edited by José Antonio; 03-05-2010 at 04:07 PM..
Reason: wrong spellings typing too fast
Sorry, but this is nit-picking at its best. That dosen't make you "hispanic". White people mixing with each other is now called Hispanic. That's news to me.
I use the term Latina (or of Latin American descent) just because I think it makes more sense as it refers to somewhere geographical, kind of like saying "Scandinavian" for example. All "Hispanic" means is that you come from a Spanish speaking country, but people in the US can't seem to separate Spanish speaking ability from race. My mother's grandparents, for example, are of Basque descent and she is pale with green eyes. People balk when they see her speak Spanish. People in the US think that only "brown" people speak Spanish, which couldn't be further from the truth. There are many black people who also speak Spanish as their FIRST language, meaning they come from a Spanish speaking country as well.
This is a website everyone should check out though: The Hispanic Myth Home Page
I use the term Latina (or of Latin American descent) just because I think it makes more sense as it refers to somewhere geographical, kind of like saying "Scandinavian" for example. All "Hispanic" means is that you come from a Spanish speaking country, but people in the US can't seem to separate Spanish speaking ability from race. My mother's grandparents, for example, are of Basque descent and she is pale with green eyes. People balk when they see her speak Spanish. People in the US think that only "brown" people speak Spanish, which couldn't be further from the truth. There are many black people who also speak Spanish as their FIRST language, meaning they come from a Spanish speaking country as well.
This is a website everyone should check out though: The Hispanic Myth Home Page
I think nowdays Hispanic is supposed to refer to a minority. Spaniards are not a minority since they are white. It's pretty easy to figure this one out. It's just the ignorance of Americans.
Hispanic...is a U.S. government term for race classification. I'm not HIS and I don't PANIC. I do speak Spanish, as well as Latin, Italian, Russian and a little Japanese. I have a "Latin" surname. I can trace my families origins to N. America back to 1575. And it says "White" on my birth certificate...
I think nowdays Hispanic is supposed to refer to a minority. Spaniards are not a minority since they are white. It's pretty easy to figure this one out. It's just the ignorance of Americans.
The problem is that when you fill out a form it says White not Hispanic. I would happily check white but I am Hispanic.
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White people mixing with each other is now called Hispanic. That's news to me.