Posted on 12/29/2004 1:47:38 PM PST by Stoat
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Where is the picture of the 1950s white guy that say not this SH-T Again?
Hispanics and Latinos:
A Culture - Not a Race!
Now, repeat after me: "Hispanic is not a race." Disregard nearly every U.S. Government form which asks for race and shake your head in dismay at the cultural ignorance of nearly every writer in practically every newspaper in the United States, yes! the United States, because the term "Hispanic" or the equally misused "Latino" is nowhere used in so many wrong applications as it is in our politically correct, but sometimes culturally incorrect nation.
Go ahead, pick any random issue of the Washington Post, or the latest book of essays by the great Camille Paglia or the wording in some of our 50 states' Equal Rights laws. You will also find countless medical surveys or economic studies where "races" are broken into Black, White, Asian and Hispanic; Congressional Black Caucus members complain that U.S. Government policy is different for Cubans because they are "light-skinned Hispanics." The samples go on and on.
For the last time: Hispanicism is NOT a race! Hispanicism is the cultural legacy which sometimes unites nearly every country in the New World south of California into a diverse group of peoples and races joined by a common language. Oh, by the way, I suppose one must throw in Spaniards, although I was shocked and amazed to listen to a San Francisco Mexican-American politician declare a few years ago that " Spaniards were not Hispanic because they were Europeans and white."
There are white Hispanics (Cuban-American actress Cameron Diaz and Spanish actor Martin Sheen a.k.a. Guillermo Estevez and his warren of sons come to mind), Black Hispanics (the late great Puerto Rican baseball player (and one of my childhood heroes) Roberto Clemente), Asian Hispanics (Peru's former President, Señor Alberto Fujimori), Indian Hispanics (sorry, but the term Native American is not widely used in Latin America and somehow the term "Native American Hispanics" just seems odd) and the 46,656 possible permutations found in colonial Spain's attempts to codify the races into 16 possible marriage mixtures. Since many Hispanics or Latinos are white (especially in Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and of course Spain) and some are black (also Cuba, Dominican Republic, Panama, etc.) and a small number Asian (Central and South America) and a large number are mestizo (most of Central America and Mexico) it is complete nonsense to categorize them as one race.
Given the huge cultural diversity among the people we call Hispanic in this country, it must be understood that the term comprises many ethnic groups and it is an arrogant and ignorant error to classify them, in race-obsessed America, as a "new" race. The key here is to recognize that there is ethnic and cultural diversity not only in our nation as a whole, but also within Latin American Hispanics as well. While Cubans may be culturally and historically closer to Spain and the United States, Mexicans are fiercely proud of their Indian heritage and Argentines share strong cultural and blood ties not only to Spain but also to Italy and Germany.
It is then no wonder then that we Hispanics shake our heads in disbelief when we read that Coppola initially wanted to film "Evita" in Mexico City. For anyone who has taken a stroll in the wide, elegant avenues of sophisticated Buenos Aires or has shopped in the wonderfully colorful markets of overcrowded Mexico City , the differences are as clear as black and white (yes, yes, pun intended).
bump
I still want to slap the sh-t out of any PR or Dominican I meet who refer to themselves as "Spanish," thereby confusing the local rubes.
I'm with you brother!
Their ancestors occupied what was was part of Spain until it became part of the United States back in the 1800's. I doubt however that they consider themselves a separate race.
Anglos, Latinos, Celts, Slavs, you can go on and on. They're all ethnic groups. The problem with assigning a race label is that with each generation we are more and more mixed. It's pretty much a futile attempt. Last I checked, the only label that doesn't cause confusion is "human."
The fact is that there are many millions of people from Mexico and parts south living here, who who share many characteristics (mestizo?). They are generally what first come to mind when hearing the words Latino or Hispanic.
Do they need to have their own cultural, ethnic or racial moniker? Do they want one? If so, what do they want to be called?
Do we, as a nation, need a Department of Racial and Ethnic Classification to make sure people are classified properly? I can only see one justification for this and that is the distribution of race based benefits or restrictions.
So as far as I'm concerned, we need to do away with race/ethnic monikers and all the programs, benefits and impediments that come with them.
Caramba! It's all I can do to stay out front in the rat race!!!
This "Hispanic/Latina" agrees with you 100%! I am so sick of those stupid labels. What I'm even more sick of is the fact that as a "Hispanic" I am lumped by bureaucrats into a special category for "oppressed minorities." I am an American of Dominican & Spanish heritage and I have never been treated with racism, ever! Well, that's not totally true; I was certainly treated in racist manner when I received full scholarship to NYU on the basis of my "race." As a straight-A student, with numerous extra-curricular acheivements and scholastic awards, I exepected to receive some sort of financial award based on my MERIT (or more probably, my FINANCIAL NEED). It was a great blow to my pride to find that although I was receiving an academic scholarship, it was not based on WHO I was, rather on WHAT I was. Instead of receiving the award simply because I was an intelligent student, I received the award precisely because I was an intelligent Latina student. To me, that's racism.
You don't need to explain your accomplishments to anyone. It's none of their business. You're a good student.
on my college application i put down "North Atlantic Islander" my family came from the scottish isles.
read my post #36 lol
If it sounded like I was trying to toot my own horn, I wasn't. :) Simply put: people should be judged by merit not by some abstract concept of oppression. As Americans we ALL have wonderful opportunities that people in other nations--of whatever race--do not.
Sorry for the vent, as this was a long time ago (I'm an old lady of 27 now).
Borg, I'm sure you've been mistaken for a Boricua yourself. ;-)
I happen to agree but don't feel obligated to explain you're qualified to people who may question you based on your ethnicity.
27 isn't old :-)
Yes and Dominican too :-)
"La Raza"?
"La Raza Cosmica" is stictly a Mexican term that is not used by any other ethnic group. It was coined by the Mexican sociologist/propagandist Jose Vasconcelos at the turn of the last century, who believed that Mexicans represented the best of the Indian and the European, forming "a cosmic race." La Raza takes their name from them.
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