Why do Hispanics refer to themselves as Spanish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like OP want them to say, "Okay, we admit it, we are not Spanish (which would make us Europeans and part of the white race), we are just lowly Mexicans, far beneath you, superior white one in class and status." Not sure why this is a big deal to her but I sure as hell am happy you are not my kid's teacher.

+1.

Some Americans, especially those raised in the US, are plain crazy.

(And everyone knows it, but don't tell them)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Been round Hispanics my whole life and most I know identify with their country of origin.

Yup.

OP and some posters here must live in some parallel universe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend 's family is from Cuba and they say they are Spanish because their ancestors were from Spain.

Spain conquered the S.Am. Countries so most of their ancestors are from Spain.

Why do the jersey shore kids say they are Italian when they are clearly American?

Why do red heads say they are Irish.

it's their ancestors,why would you want to erase their family history?

This exactly. Why do you think they speak Spanish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spanish is the Caucasian side. Perceived as more desireable.

This. These kids have picked up on the perceived higher SES status of white European descendants in the Americas and want to identify "their people" as such. It may not even be conscious on their part but just parroting what they hear from older generations. Its really sad actually and demonstrates the horrible infection of racism, even of people's who are the victim of it.

[Anonymous]

I don't know any Latinos who do this. They say they're Mexican, or, Puerto Rican or whatever. Maybe you don't know your students well.

[Anonymous]

I generally hear Latinos refer to themselves as Latino and not Hispanic. Although, I do hear Latinos refer to themselves as Hispanic around white people, but not among themselves.

[Anonymous]

I used to teach ESOL in Alexandria to primarily Spanish-speaking adults. We once had a discussion about this during one of our sessions. The overwhelming majority said they did not like the term 'Hispanic' and felt it was only accurate in discussing the history of the Spanish conquests. None felt like it was an accurate identifier for modern-day Spanish speakers from the americas; if anything, it was perceived negatively - none of them said they feel particularly 'Spanish' or connected to Spain. Even the Spanish that they speak is quite different to Castilian - they've taken that heritage and morphed it into their own thing and are proud of being Puerto Rican, Honduran, Salvadoran, etc. All preferred the term Latino/a.

[Anonymous]

Maybe similar to how many Russian-speaking immigrants and refugees from the FSU use the word "Russian" as a catch-all in the US, even though they would never describe themselves as Russian in Russia or in their home countries. I ws born in an FSU republic (not Russia), my family is from another FSU republic (also not Russia) and am of mixed descent, with no Russian ancestry whatsoever. But in the US, I would often refer to myself and other FSU people as Russian because it described our social reality in the US as a semi-cohesive group in relation to Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:At least the kids do, I'm not sure about the adults. I am a substitute teacher -primarily middle and high school, and I've noticed that kids from Mexico and South America call themselves Spanish. Yesterday while subbing I overheard a discussion where kids (all Hispanic) were shocked to find out that one of their classmates was half "Spanish". The girl actually said that her mom was white and her dad was from Guatemala, but to them that counts as Spanish. Don't these kids know that Spain is in Europe? Why don't they just refer to themselves as Hispanic, Latino, or their individual nationality? White Americans don't go around calling themselves English.

Why do People from the USA refer to themselves as Americans? They're from the US, not the whole continent. Do they not understand geography?

Truth!

Not truth. America is the name for the United States.

There's North America, South America, and Central America (not an official continent, but a geographical signatory). There are many separate countries in North America. Only one of those is the US.

Ok, but citizens of the U.S. Don't use the term American as a racial designation. Hispanic kids refer to their classmates as being White, Black, or Spanish. I find it odd that they don't seem to realize that Spanish is a nationality that describes someone from Spain. It's not a racial designation.

Why does this upset you? Do you care if someone says Caucasian versus white? It's not just Hispanic kids who do this, the white kids call the Hispanic kids Spanish too. Do they not know that Spanish means from Spain. You sound uptight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spanish is the Caucasian side. Perceived as more desireable.

This. These kids have picked up on the perceived higher SES status of white European descendants in the Americas and want to identify "their people" as such. It may not even be conscious on their part but just parroting what they hear from older generations. Its really sad actually and demonstrates the horrible infection of racism, even of people's who are the victim of it.

You clearly are not around a lot of Hispanic kids. Starting at a young age they just use Spanish to mean people who speak Spanish, but they also identify based on their parents' country of origin. Nothing to do with trying to appear white, it's just a designation for a sense of community with others who speak the language. It's similar to people who are from the Caribbean, they have a sense of community with others from the Caribbean, but identify as from the individual country. The people who actually go out of their way to say the are Spanish to identify as white are not the lower SES kids, it's the house higher SES bigots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spanish is the Caucasian side. Perceived as more desireable.

This. These kids have picked up on the perceived higher SES status of white European descendants in the Americas and want to identify "their people" as such. It may not even be conscious on their part but just parroting what they hear from older generations. Its really sad actually and demonstrates the horrible infection of racism, even of people's who are the victim of it.

You clearly are not around a lot of Hispanic kids. Starting at a young age they just use Spanish to mean people who speak Spanish, but they also identify based on their parents' country of origin. Nothing to do with trying to appear white, it's just a designation for a sense of community with others who speak the language. It's similar to people who are from the Caribbean, they have a sense of community with others from the Caribbean, but identify as from the individual country. The people who actually go out of their way to say the are Spanish to identify as white are not the lower SES kids, it's the house higher SES bigots.

You are correct. I grew up in Los Angeles. These kids have absolutely no desire to be white. They are identifying by the language spoken.

[Anonymous]

CHARO RULES!

[Anonymous]

It's just short for Spanish-speaking and used when nationality is unknown/unclear. My Latino husband never, ever refers to himself as Spanish, nor does any of his family. Every once in a while, though, when using English some of his more uneducated family members will refer to someone as "Spanish" to me. I think they think that's the term they're supposed to use with me, as if I don't know specific nationalities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spanish is the Caucasian side. Perceived as more desireable.

This. These kids have picked up on the perceived higher SES status of white European descendants in the Americas and want to identify "their people" as such. It may not even be conscious on their part but just parroting what they hear from older generations. Its really sad actually and demonstrates the horrible infection of racism, even of people's who are the victim of it.

Watch any Telenovela on Univision or Telemundo and you'll see what the "desireable" look among Latin Americans is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a troll post.

Most people from Spanish speaking countries refer to themselves as Mexican, Honduran, Salvadoran, Peruvian, etc. They'll tell you that white/Asian/black/whatever Americans are the ones who lump them together as latinos or hispanics. It's our label, not their label.

I also heard kids using this when I taught. It was used by all the students, white, black or Hispanic it refer to Hispanic students.