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Some Americans don't know that both Spaniards and Spanish people apply to the same people. I notice when people think of Spanish people, Latin Americans(regardless of actual origin) immediately come to mind. But when the word is switched up a little, Spaniard instead of Spanish, it's clear to most people that the Spaniards are the Europeans who are from either Spain or whose origins are predominately from that country.
That's why people say Hispanic, not Spanish. Even that is incorrect because we all know that the heritages are very blurred in places like that where the Spanish/Portuguese or whatever country colonized a certain area doesn't want the people separating themselves into their heritages because then they will eventually take back their country or at the very least unite and point out who is responsible for what when it comes to the current conditions of these countries.
That wouldn't work out well for the countries that "colonized" these places because they are in fact most to blame for the current conditions of these countries and still exploit them to this day.
This brings up another sad fact: the average American is so dumb as to not know "Jewish" refers to an ETHNICITY (which includes two different skin tones) but refers to a religion AS WELL. A few years ago I was at a swimming pool in a mostly Jewish area of NYC. I saw a young guy who was obviously flirting with the lifeguard ask if she was Jewish. She said "no I'm a Christian" which made me want to faint. He and her were clearly strangers to each other, so I didn't misinterpret this exchange. I guess most "gentiles" in NYC assume every other white person they know is from an Italian background...
This brings up another sad fact: the average American is so dumb as to not know "Jewish" refers to an ETHNICITY (which includes two different skin tones) but refers to a religion AS WELL. A few years ago I was at a swimming pool in a mostly Jewish area of NYC. I saw a young guy who was obviously flirting with the lifeguard ask if she was Jewish. She said "no I'm a Christian" which made me want to faint. He and her were clearly strangers to each other, so I didn't misinterpret this exchange. I guess most "gentiles" in NYC assume every other white person they know is from an Italian background...
Is it really necessary to make generalizations of everybody in a city full of 8 million people based on one person, let alone everybody in a country full of over 300 million?
Couldntthinkofaclevername, that was only one of MANY times that issue has come up for me. Another time I asked my friend if his friend was Jewish, and my friend said "no, Catholic". He should have said "no, Italian (American)" or "no, Italian Catholic" because his friend's looks made me ask.
Hell, a lot of Americans I've met don't even know the difference between an Israeli and a Palestinian, or the difference between an Arab and a Muslim...
Anyway, can we agree that "Hispanic" simply means "of or relating to Spain or former Spanish colonies"? I think where Americans get confused is when they mean to say "mestizo" but say "Hispanic" instead. And "Latino" includes the Portuguese as well as Spanish culture and diaspora. Latin America is made up of 19 ex-Spanish colonies, one large Portuguese colony (Brazil), and a few current French colonies. Haitians (they live in Haiti) speak Creole, which is more like an African language than French. The only independent French-speaking area of the Americas is Quebec. Cajun is like a white rural Louisiana version of Creole. The Cajuns are descended from early Quebec settlers. Creole was also historically spoken by New Orleans African Americans.
Last edited by kleinberglowenstein; 02-26-2012 at 03:35 PM..
The only independent French-speaking area of the Americas is Quebec. ..
Hmm... Quebec is not "independent".
Quote:
Originally Posted by kleinberglowenstein
. The Cajuns are descended from early Quebec settlers..
Cajuns are actually descended from Acadians, who settled in the part of Canada east of present-day Quebec (today the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island).
By "independent" I meant as opposed to ruled by a European country, unless you count the UK now...
OK, gotcha now.
What is interesting about Quebec is that it is the only true "human colony" of France, where a group of people largely of French origin is still today living their lives in French in what might be called an "offshoot" culture.
Whereas other former colonial empires like Britain and Spain have many more "human colonies" or at least variants on the phenomenon.
It's funny how the media portrays full blooded Spaniards like Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and Julio Iglesias as non-whites.
There are many native Spaniards with blue eyes and blonde hair, but just because most have brown eyes, dark hair an a tan, dfoesnt mean they aint white.
I mean most Americans would consider them non-white.
The same Americans would say Christiano Ronaldo (portugese), Al Pacino (Italian-American) and Monica Belucci (Italian) are white.
I've never heard of any Spaniard referred to as non-white.
Speaking of racism BY white Spanish people, a Spanish Olympic basketball team posed for a picture making the "Chinese eyes" gesture. I guess the Spanish do have good relations with the Asians after all; Spain did colonize the Philippines and there are many multiracial Filipinos.
It's funny how the media portrays full blooded Spaniards like Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and Julio Iglesias as non-whites.
There are many native Spaniards with blue eyes and blonde hair, but just because most have brown eyes, dark hair an a tan, dfoesnt mean they aint white.
I mean most Americans would consider them non-white.
The same Americans would say Christiano Ronaldo (portugese), Al Pacino (Italian-American) and Monica Belucci (Italian) are white.
Italian, Spanish and Portugese are all non-White
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