Why is the term Hispanic used as an ethnic category instead of Mestizo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Thank you PP. here is another thought OP- consider educating yourself instead of demanding other people do it for you. If you spoke like this at work I would think you were deeply ignorant and excessively concerned about making sure white people arent mixed with brown people. I really think you should take a hard look at yourself.

Hash on the OP. it sounds like he is trying to educate himself, and keeps back asking pretty thought provoking questions (imo) that people would rather take offense to, or be coy about, than some good, thought provoking answers (though there are some--the columbus Indian sideline is fascinating).

I think people like the PP who shut down conversations with a snappy "look at yourself" are the ones doing a disservice to these conversations.

[Anonymous]

The other issue is that many countries in Latin America have racial categories that we do not have. (Hispanic is definitely not a race.) However, as I found out when I lived in Brazil, people very rarely define themselves along the same guidelines as Americans do. There are names for specific mixtures and honestly, it was very difficult for me as an American to understand it and/or apply it. Most Brazilians are classified as White followed very very closely by Pardo, or mixed (47 % and 43%). To further complicate things, there are multiple categories for Pardo, for example Mulatto is Black and White while Cafuzo is Black and Indian.

I don't know how Giselle defines herself, but if I had to fill out her form, I'd check White as her race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hash on the OP. it sounds like he is trying to educate himself, and keeps back asking pretty thought provoking questions (imo) that people would rather take offense to, or be coy about, than some good, thought provoking answers (though there are some--the columbus Indian sideline is fascinating).

I think people like the PP who shut down conversations with a snappy "look at yourself" are the ones doing a disservice to these conversations.

There's a whole world of Internet out there with thought-provoking answers to OP's questions, available to OP for less effort than typing stuff on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hash on the OP. it sounds like he is trying to educate himself, and keeps back asking pretty thought provoking questions (imo) that people would rather take offense to, or be coy about, than some good, thought provoking answers (though there are some--the columbus Indian sideline is fascinating).

I think people like the PP who shut down conversations with a snappy "look at yourself" are the ones doing a disservice to these conversations.

There's a whole world of Internet out there with thought-provoking answers to OP's questions, available to OP for less effort than typing stuff on DCUM.

Ok, guess DCUM is useless to you then, since there is a whole internet about relationships, breastfeeding, potty training, careers, money management too? So why have the conversation here? You can go elsewhere. For me, I like it here, mostly because of other smart people who are willing to chime in about anything. We'll miss you but we probably won't notice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Np. Erik Estrada is Puerto Rican. Aesthetically, he looks triracial (Spanish, Indigenous and African).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Np. Erik Estrada is Puerto Rican. Aesthetically, he looks triracial (Spanish, Indigenous and African).

Wasn't Poncharelli italian? Yum yum don't care. Good looking is good looking!

[Anonymous]

OP, per current trend in demographics, Hispanic is an ethnicity, and people can be of many races and nationalities within that. So they can be indigienous Hispanic Peruvian. Or White Hispanic Argentinian. Also the trend is to SELF identify, not to impose some kind of logically or scientifically correct definition. So since nobody, as far as I am aware, is interested in calling themselves "Mestizo" it's a moot point. I also agree with other posters that you're trying to create a "Hispanic - White" category and a "Mestizo - all nonwhites" category, which is problematic.

[Anonymous]

Because the data tracking categories were created a long, long time ago, and changing anything on the scale of the federal government (particularly something that has been a mainstay for decades) is ... very challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The discussion on the Entertainment board regarding whether Giselle Bundchen is Hispanic got me thinking, why is the term Hispanic used instead of Mestizo? The category of Hispanic is so broad that it is practically meaningless. Technically a person of any race who hails from a Spanish/Portuguese speaking country of Central/South America is Hispanic. But in reality, I think most people tend to think of Hispanic as a brown person from one of these countries. and not all Hispanics are brown. The brown ones are a mix of American Indian and European ancestry. They are Mestizo. These are the people who others can identify as being Hispanic and are more likely to experience racism. When people speak of Hispanic as a racial category they are generally referring to those who have the American Indian ancestry, not someone from Mexico who has practically 100% Spanish ancestry. It just seems that the official definition of Hispanic does not match the reality of what people actually consider Hispanic. What people consider to be Hispanic is actually Mestizo, so why don't we start using that term instead?

OP, good question, but your answers make no sense.

The main point to keep in mind is that being Hispanic/ Latino is an ethnicity -- your culture, your values, your historic references, your social links, your language and music and food.

It has nothing to do with race.

And, yes, this is difficult for race-obsessed Anglos to understand, but it's pretty much the norm not only in Latin America but in many other regions.

Perhaps many in our country could learn a thing or two from them.

I get this. But most whites don't consider indigenous looking Hispanics to be White and I doubt that they consider themselves white either. And most people don't feel comfortable referring to someone like Giselle as Hispanic because she's white. So why isn't the term Mestizo used more often sense it seems to be a more accurate descriptor?

I would call Giselle whatever she wanted to call herself. The "comfort" of the white person in declaring another person's identity is not really relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Thank you PP. here is another thought OP- consider educating yourself instead of demanding other people do it for you. If you spoke like this at work I would think you were deeply ignorant and excessively concerned about making sure white people arent mixed with brown people. I really think you should take a hard look at yourself.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because the data tracking categories were created a long, long time ago, and changing anything on the scale of the federal government (particularly something that has been a mainstay for decades) is ... very challenging.

This is interesting. Adding fields and subcategories to legacy systems! Maybe in the next release...in 2025...
It's really interesting to consider this from a bureaucratic standpoint, so thanks for this insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Np. Erik Estrada is Puerto Rican. Aesthetically, he looks triracial (Spanish, Indigenous and African).

If he looked African he wouldn't have been cast as the lead in a Mexican telenovela that ran for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Np. Erik Estrada is Puerto Rican. Aesthetically, he looks triracial (Spanish, Indigenous and African).

If he looked African he wouldn't have been cast as the lead in a Mexican telenovela that ran for years.

And? Do you know what percentage of Mexicans "look African"?

You should travel a bit more.

Estrada is much more representative of the people who actually live in Mexico vs in your racist and outdated imagination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Thank you PP. here is another thought OP- consider educating yourself instead of demanding other people do it for you. If you spoke like this at work I would think you were deeply ignorant and excessively concerned about making sure white people arent mixed with brown people. I really think you should take a hard look at yourself.

Hash on the OP. it sounds like he is trying to educate himself, and keeps back asking pretty thought provoking questions (imo) that people would rather take offense to, or be coy about, than some good, thought provoking answers (though there are some--the columbus Indian sideline is fascinating).

I think people like the PP who shut down conversations with a snappy "look at yourself" are the ones doing a disservice to these conversations.

It's not up to people of color to educate the ignorant. Educate yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Is Mestizo offensive? I'm honestly not aware of this and if so of course I don't think it should be brought back. I use it because that is the only term that I know of that describes people who are Spanish and American Indian mixed.

I should also add that it's not that I have a "need" to sort people out, but I find it peculiar that our society uses the term Hispanic to racially categorize a group of people when Hispanic is not a racial designator. For those of you attacking me for asking this, I ask you, what race is Erik Estrada? Most people would say Hispanic, but as has been pointed out over and over again that is not right. So what race is he then?

OP, here are my suggestions.

1. Consider learning more about a term before you propose that people use it.
2. Stop saying what "most people" would say.

And if you want to know what race Erik Estrada is, ask him.

Thank you PP. here is another thought OP- consider educating yourself instead of demanding other people do it for you. If you spoke like this at work I would think you were deeply ignorant and excessively concerned about making sure white people arent mixed with brown people. I really think you should take a hard look at yourself.

Hash on the OP. it sounds like he is trying to educate himself, and keeps back asking pretty thought provoking questions (imo) that people would rather take offense to, or be coy about, than some good, thought provoking answers (though there are some--the columbus Indian sideline is fascinating).

I think people like the PP who shut down conversations with a snappy "look at yourself" are the ones doing a disservice to these conversations.

It's not up to people of color to educate the ignorant. Educate yourselves.

OP posted on a website. I agree that OP should also seek out other resources, and that they have a rather limited frame of reference. But OP was hardly asking people of color to educate him/her.