Why do Hispanics refer to themselves as Spanish?

[Anonymous]

I asked my husband, who grew up in Honduras, your question and he immediately asked where you were from. He guessed New York (we are in the Midwest). He thinks he remembers hearing that this is more of a Puerto Rican, Dominican, Spanish speaking island "thing" in the North East. He can't remember where he heard this, but thinks it was in a movie. He's never referred to himself as Spanish. Usually as Honduran, Hispanic, or guess.

[Anonymous]

Now I know why we have Trump. Middle aged white ladies actually think 8 year old Hondurans are self-identifying as Spanish to their peers to try to pull off some kind of racial fraud. Get a fucking grip!

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

I am Spanish - from Spain. Whenever I tell people that it makes me Hispanic - they don't believe me. These are educated people too. I have given up.

Whenever I tell people who speak Spanish but are not from Spain (but from another Spanish-speaking country), they seem to think it is cute that I speak Spanish but don't really accept me as being like one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Here's the monolingual clueless gringo. Yes, of course there are some regional differences...but Spanish in Latin America is much more similar to that in Spain than American is to British English. And there's a much stronger cultural connection even today.

Just saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Black Hispanics? Do they call themselves Spanish, Black, Hispanic, Latino, or country of origin?

Black Hispanics? Are you referring to those from African origins who live in Spanish speaking countries and speak the language? Aren't you crossing ethnicity?

No, not those who just "live" there, but Black people born and raised in those Spanish speaking countries who were the descendants of the slave trade, i.e. Black Africans shipped and sold to countries/islands such as Panama, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Cuba to harvest sugar cane and tobacco after all the native inhabitants died from the diseases of the white colonists and slave traders. These people, (like me and my family) call ourselves "Panamenian, or Dominican or Cuban, but most white people or African Americans call us "Black."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Spanish - from Spain. Whenever I tell people that it makes me Hispanic - they don't believe me. These are educated people too. I have given up.

Whenever I tell people who speak Spanish but are not from Spain (but from another Spanish-speaking country), they seem to think it is cute that I speak Spanish but don't really accept me as being like one of them.

Are you a Charo fan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Black Hispanics? Do they call themselves Spanish, Black, Hispanic, Latino, or country of origin?

Black Hispanics? Are you referring to those from African origins who live in Spanish speaking countries and speak the language? Aren't you crossing ethnicity?

No, not those who just "live" there, but Black people born and raised in those Spanish speaking countries who were the descendants of the slave trade, i.e. Black Africans shipped and sold to countries/islands such as Panama, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Cuba to harvest sugar cane and tobacco after all the native inhabitants died from the diseases of the white colonists and slave traders. These people, (like me and my family) call ourselves "Panamenian, or Dominican or Cuban, but most white people or African Americans call us "Black."

If they still maintain some their cultural roots, they'd say they are Latino like everyone else.

If they have become fully Americanized, they'd probably pay more attention to their skin color and would lead with Black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 assure you this is not a troll post. Go sub at some schools along Route 1 and you will hear kids of Central American descent calling themselves Spanish. Are you trying to claim that they don't? I realize that Hispanics/Latinas don't refer to themselves as Hispanic/Latina (indeed that is what this post is about). I would not find it odd at all if they did refer to themselves as Mexican, Honduran, Salvadoran, etc., But they don't. They call themselves Spanish instead. I find that weird.

To put it another way, I find it strange that someone from Guatemala would call themselves Spanish instead of Hispanic, Latino or Guatemalan. Most people describe themselves by either their nationality or race. A person from Guatemala has Guatemalan nationality and would be considered Hispanic/Latino racially. Spanish is not a race and it is not the appropriate nationality for someone from Guatemala.

I'm in my 40s, majored in Spanish, work in a public interest field with Spanish-speaking clients, and I've never heard anyone in the DC metro area refer to themselves as Spanish unless they are from Spain...and Spaniards always clarify by saying, "I'm from Spain." Literally everyone I encounter identifies themselves by their ancestral country ("I'm Nicaraguan/Honduran/Dominican/Salvadoran, etc.").

If you are working with young kids being raised by non-citizen parents, they probably haven't heard the term Latino or Hispanic before...because as I said earlier, that's an American label we put on them. People in El Salvador don't call themselves Latinos or Hispanics. They call themselves salvadorans. I imagine when Spanish speaking kids from a variety of countries are thrown together in a US public school, they quickly realize who speaks English and who speaks Spanish. They're self-sorting and identifying themselves that way...rather than using a label they've never heard (Latino or Hispanic). They're simply noting that a fellow classmate speaks the same language. Makes perfect sense to me.

I suspect this is what's going on.

Also, HISPANIC IS NOT A RACE. Hispanics may be white, native, African, mixed, even Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Here's the monolingual clueless gringo. Yes, of course there are some regional differences...but Spanish in Latin America is much more similar to that in Spain than American is to British English. And there's a much stronger cultural connection even today.

Just saying.

I'm a linguist who's fluent in both English and Spanish. I'm familiar with regional dialects etc. Can you quantify your statement for me, please? How are English accents/variances less similar than Spanish ones? Sounds like bull to me.

[Anonymous]

Y'all just ain't got shit better to wonder about do you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Spanish - from Spain. Whenever I tell people that it makes me Hispanic - they don't believe me. These are educated people too. I have given up.

Whenever I tell people who speak Spanish but are not from Spain (but from another Spanish-speaking country), they seem to think it is cute that I speak Spanish but don't really accept me as being like one of them.

It must feel good to reiterate how stupid even the educated Americans are... Sigh.

Now, in the U.S. "Hispanic" most commonly refers to mestizos from Mexico and Central America. Maybe you should not give up on your education, PP. As in, when in Rome, do as Romans do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all just ain't got shit better to wonder about do you?

LOL I'm taking bets on whether Irma will turn off my lights. So far, so good. As always, CNN predictions were full of sh*t. What's new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am Spanish - from Spain. Whenever I tell people that it makes me Hispanic - they don't believe me. These are educated people too. I have given up.

Whenever I tell people who speak Spanish but are not from Spain (but from another Spanish-speaking country), they seem to think it is cute that I speak Spanish but don't really accept me as being like one of them.

Are you a Charo fan?

No clue who that is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am Spanish - from Spain. Whenever I tell people that it makes me Hispanic - they don't believe me. These are educated people too. I have given up.

Whenever I tell people who speak Spanish but are not from Spain (but from another Spanish-speaking country), they seem to think it is cute that I speak Spanish but don't really accept me as being like one of them.

It must feel good to reiterate how stupid even the educated Americans are... Sigh.

Now, in the U.S. "Hispanic" most commonly refers to mestizos from Mexico and Central America. Maybe you should not give up on your education, PP. As in, when in Rome, do as Romans do.

It does not feel good, it is just a fact.