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Anonymous wrote:I’m trying to understand why anyone would think Giselle B isn’t Hispanic just because she’s white. Are Afro Caribbean Hispanics now less Hispanic too? This is ridiculous.

Hispanic refers to a culture and it doesn’t matter what color you are, you’re either part of that culture or you’re not.

+1.

I think OP is the typical American racist who truly can't understand why others are not as racist as he is.

OP here. I am not racist nor did I ever question whether Giselle is Hispanic. I know that Hispanic refers to culture and that Whites, Blacks, and Mestizos can all be considered Hispanic. But in practicality the term is often used as a racial category. You will hear people describe a Mexican's race as being Hispanic, even though that is not accurate because Hispanic is not a race. What is commonly thought of as looking Hispanic is in actuality Mestizo. So why isn't the phrase in use?

Because it refers to a fraction of the Hispanic population and sounds dated and silky like “mulatto”. What’s in it for you with this, anyway? Why do you care? And are you going to find esoteric names for people who are Italian/Indian, German/Indian, German/Afro Caribbean, etc? When are you going to be satisfied that we have correctly categorized all our racial specimens?

Is this really such a morally terrible question to ask or too difficult to understand? Maybe I'm not explaining myself clearly. Both Nelson Mandela and Charlize Theron are from South Africa. You could call them both South African but racially one is Black and one is White. Now take two Mexicans. One is light skin and of 100% Spanish ancestry. The other has an ancestry that is more common among Mexicans, one that is a mixture of Spanish and the indigenous population, otherwise referred to as Mestizo. Both of these people are Mexican. Both are Hispanic. One is White. What race is the other one? Most people would inaccurately label it as Hispanic, but this is not correct since Hispanic is a culture. So what is this person's race? Mestizo would seem to be the most accurate descriptor, so back to my original question why describe this person (in regards to race) as Hispanic instead of Mestizo?

But, OP, as people have said over and over, and as even you are saying and then contradicting, Hispanic is NOT a race. So people describing a person as Hispanic are, very simply, not describing the person's race. A Hispanic can be of many races.

I think you are misunderstanding me. I understand perfectly well that Hispanic is a culture and NOT a race. That is the entire point of my question. People often use the term Hispanic as if it were a race. If you showed someone a picture of Giselle and asked what her race was, people would say White which is correct. If you showed someone a picture of Ricky Martin and asked what his race is people would say Hispanic, which is incorrect, because Hispanic refers to culture. How then should one describe Ricky Martin's race? Mestizo is the most accurate description but is not commonly used. Hispanic is commonly used but inaccurate. I just don't really understand why there is not both an accurate and commonly used descriptor to describe the race of such people.

Why in the world do you think Mestizo is accurate for Ricky Martin?? Puerto Rico is most obviously a mix of white and black, European and African, maybe with the tiniest bit of indigenous. Even though I think it is really weird that you want to bring back a throwback term, I can see why you are asking this very interesting question with regard to many Mexicans or Central Americans. But using "mestizo" to describe Ricky Martin makes zero sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m trying to understand why anyone would think Giselle B isn’t Hispanic just because she’s white. Are Afro Caribbean Hispanics now less Hispanic too? This is ridiculous.

Hispanic refers to a culture and it doesn’t matter what color you are, you’re either part of that culture or you’re not.

+1.

I think OP is the typical American racist who truly can't understand why others are not as racist as he is.

OP here. I am not racist nor did I ever question whether Giselle is Hispanic. I know that Hispanic refers to culture and that Whites, Blacks, and Mestizos can all be considered Hispanic. But in practicality the term is often used as a racial category. You will hear people describe a Mexican's race as being Hispanic, even though that is not accurate because Hispanic is not a race. What is commonly thought of as looking Hispanic is in actuality Mestizo. So why isn't the phrase in use?

Because it refers to a fraction of the Hispanic population and sounds dated and silky like “mulatto”. What’s in it for you with this, anyway? Why do you care? And are you going to find esoteric names for people who are Italian/Indian, German/Indian, German/Afro Caribbean, etc? When are you going to be satisfied that we have correctly categorized all our racial specimens?

Is this really such a morally terrible question to ask or too difficult to understand? Maybe I'm not explaining myself clearly. Both Nelson Mandela and Charlize Theron are from South Africa. You could call them both South African but racially one is Black and one is White. Now take two Mexicans. One is light skin and of 100% Spanish ancestry. The other has an ancestry that is more common among Mexicans, one that is a mixture of Spanish and the indigenous population, otherwise referred to as Mestizo. Both of these people are Mexican. Both are Hispanic. One is White. What race is the other one? Most people would inaccurately label it as Hispanic, but this is not correct since Hispanic is a culture. So what is this person's race? Mestizo would seem to be the most accurate descriptor, so back to my original question why describe this person (in regards to race) as Hispanic instead of Mestizo?

But, OP, as people have said over and over, and as even you are saying and then contradicting, Hispanic is NOT a race. So people describing a person as Hispanic are, very simply, not describing the person's race. A Hispanic can be of many races.

I think you are misunderstanding me. I understand perfectly well that Hispanic is a culture and NOT a race. That is the entire point of my question. People often use the term Hispanic as if it were a race. If you showed someone a picture of Giselle and asked what her race was, people would say White which is correct. If you showed someone a picture of Ricky Martin and asked what his race is people would say Hispanic, which is incorrect, because Hispanic refers to culture. How then should one describe Ricky Martin's race? Mestizo is the most accurate description but is not commonly used. Hispanic is commonly used but inaccurate. I just don't really understand why there is not both an accurate and commonly used descriptor to describe the race of such people.