Spanish vs Hispanic (DC Metro Area)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[/b]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that I hate the term "hispanic". It is completely antiquated and vaguely meaningless. I just assume a person is unsophisticated or very old if they use that term (the same way very old blacks or whites say colored or negro and you just have glide right over it)

horrible analogy. hispanic is still preferred by some groups, and [b]nobody wants to be called a negro.

Negro is the name of a race of people and it is not racist. African American, Hispanic, Latino/a, Korean American, etc., is hyphenated Americanism and, as the country is one big meltint pot, we should simply be Americans, as we once were.

Right, because we have a biracial President it does not mean we are in a post-racial America. But we are moving in that direction. I'm not sure it is really helpful to the healing and unity process to tell people to "just get over it" and be "Americans."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[/b]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that I hate the term "hispanic". It is completely antiquated and vaguely meaningless. I just assume a person is unsophisticated or very old if they use that term (the same way very old blacks or whites say colored or negro and you just have glide right over it)

horrible analogy. hispanic is still preferred by some groups, and [b]nobody wants to be called a negro.

Negro is the name of a race of people and it is not racist. African American, Hispanic, Latino/a, Korean American, etc., is hyphenated Americanism and, as the country is one big meltint pot, we should simply be Americans, as we once were.

Right, because we have a biracial President it does not mean we are in a post-racial America. But we are moving in that direction. I'm not sure it is really helpful to the healing and unity process to tell people to "just get over it" and be "Americans."

any time you take a snapshot of a nation of immigrants, you will see the same thing.

today's immigrants will be perfectly assimilated within a generation or two, and some other groups will be coming along. USA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have Argentinian second cousins who visited us a couple times when I was growing up. They were very, very old and spoke German with my parents. They died sometime during the late 80's and my mother now claims they never existed and pretends to have no idea what I am talking about when I refer to them. Surely they were Nazis? Both times they visited they brought cheap boxes of milk chocolate that they probably bought at the airport. I still remember the shock of the tropical smell that rose from their packed clothes when they opened their suitcases.

Not necessarily Nazis. My grandfather was born and raised a Jew in Germany, and left in the 1930s for Argentina when things were getting bad for Jews in Europe. Lots of European Jews went to Argentina before the Nazis started going there too. So your relatives could have been Nazis, Jews, or just plain immigrants. Lots of European families in Argentina who came well before the WWII era also.

And BTW, all my Argentinian relatives also INSIST that they are of PURE European descent, with no mixing with native blood. It's an extremely racist society down there. They do call themselves Latino/a.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[/b]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that I hate the term "hispanic". It is completely antiquated and vaguely meaningless. I just assume a person is unsophisticated or very old if they use that term (the same way very old blacks or whites say colored or negro and you just have glide right over it)

horrible analogy. hispanic is still preferred by some groups, and [b]nobody wants to be called a negro.

Negro is the name of a race of people and it is not racist. African American, Hispanic, Latino/a, Korean American, etc., is hyphenated Americanism and, as the country is one big meltint pot, we should simply be Americans, as we once were.

Because of this country's racial history, you'd do best not to refer to anyone as Negro unless they tell you that is their preference. Please do not play ignorant as to why that word has largely fallen out of use (other than with people of the older generation who are used to that being their racial classification).

There is nothing wrong with being a hyphenated American. When you say we should all just be one big melting pot as we once were, what exactly which golden age of racial harmony are you referring to?

It must be before the native people of this country had their land stolen from them, because there hasn't been racial harmony since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly right, just like people from Central and South America proudly refer to themselves as Hispanic or Latino, not as Spanish.

Not my South American in-laws. The entire extended family refers to themselves as Spanish because they don't want anyone to think their blood is mixed with the indigenous populations. They may be from Argentina, Peru and Bolivia but they are Spanish, not Hispanic or Latino.

If the family has been in South America for several generations, they are indeed Hispanic/Latino (as well as Spanish). They are in denial, but that's like Don Francisco saying he's not Hispanic because his parents were German-Jewish immigrants.

Race- white (descendants of Spaniards)
Nationality- Argentinean/Peruvian/Bolivian
Ethnicity- Hispanic/Latino

Is your husband also a pompous ass who fears anyone mistakenly assuming his lineage has been tainted with savage blood or did he escape the madness?


I'm the first PP quoted here - it doesn't matter how you think my in-laws should be defined, what's important is how they define themselves. Certainly there's a caste element to it and it exists not only here but in the countries they're from. I wonder, though, why people are so angry about how people chose to define themselves and how there must be a single label.

On a slightly different note, in FCPS, we weren't supposed to identify my kids as Hispanic unless we had ties to the country the family emigrated from or significant cultural involvement. I'm trying to find which particular form that was but it annoyed me.

[Anonymous]

Good enough to commit heinous crimes to steal indigenous peoples' land, resources and freedom and too good to be mistaken as one of them. There is a super special place in Hell for these people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No it didn't prove OP's point - I didn't call anyone Spanish - I misread the question.

The question was about Spanish people. Your response was about Latin American people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm the first PP quoted here - it doesn't matter how you think my in-laws should be defined, what's important is how they define themselves. Certainly there's a caste element to it and it exists not only here but in the countries they're from. I wonder, though, why people are so angry about how people chose to define themselves and how there must be a single label.

On a slightly different note, in FCPS, we weren't supposed to identify my kids as Hispanic unless we had ties to the country the family emigrated from or significant cultural involvement. I'm trying to find which particular form that was but it annoyed me.

Not angry about how your in-laws choose to identify- I just think it's hilarious they are obsessed with making sure everyone knows they are white.

And if your white-not-Hispanic-not-Latino in-laws don't want to be identified as Hispanic and your white-not-Hispanic-not-Latino husband doesn't want to be identified as Hispanic, why do you care that your kids can't identify as Hispanic?

Make your in-laws proud and check that Caucasian box!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No it didn't prove OP's point - I didn't call anyone Spanish - I misread the question.

The question was about Spanish people. Your response was about Latin American people.

The OP actually talked about Spanish and South American people (as well as Central American, although she's not up enough on her geography to know that).

Sure the poster "misread" the question or whatever, but this is a discussion board. People will post what they want.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the thoughts on this topic. Sorry about the Central American reference, I do indeed know better.

Funny thing, people ASSUMED that I was white and I even think someone ASSUMED the father was my husband. Gee, that's worse than a little geography slip-up, to assume everyone is white.

A Salvadoran co-worker refers to himself as Spanish (he was adopted by a Jewish family) but clearly looks like the indigenous people. I was wondering if this was an attempt by South and Central Americans to name themselves or an attempt to downplay their native ancestry.

Again, thank you for the discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good enough to commit heinous crimes to steal indigenous peoples' land, resources and freedom and too good to be mistaken as one of them. There is a super special place in Hell for these people.

yes, because the "indigenous" people didn't steal land from those that came before them, did they? you think the incans and mayans were a bunch of boy scouts????

[Anonymous]

and aztecs were the worst of the bunch ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the thoughts on this topic. Sorry about the Central American reference, I do indeed know better.

Funny thing, people ASSUMED that I was white and I even think someone ASSUMED the father was my husband. Gee, that's worse than a little geography slip-up, to assume everyone is white.

A Salvadoran co-worker refers to himself as Spanish (he was adopted by a Jewish family) but clearly looks like the indigenous people. I was wondering if this was an attempt by South and Central Americans to name themselves or an attempt to downplay their native ancestry.

Again, thank you for the discussion.

People probably assumed you were white because of your seeming obsession with letting people who ask if your daughter is part Spanish know that she is a white Spaniard and not a Central/South American. Perhaps your coworker from El Salvador is indeed of Spanish lineage and you are just mistakenly assuming that he is not, just like you are worried that people mistakenly assume your daughter isn't part white. And your experience with one coworker leads you to ponder the emboldened text? Seems like you have more than a geography problem...

Also, it's not strange for someone to ASSUME that the father of your child is your husband.

[Anonymous]

This will reverse in a couple of generations when Hispanics become the most populous people in the world. No one will want to be mistaken for being white.

[Anonymous]

Sorry 22:34, I never said that I tell people she is part Spanish. In fact, you got it all wrong. Read again.