General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhite Americans shouldn't see hispanics / latinos as very different from them
One of my pet peeves is Americans seeing hispanics as separate and different (compared to other Europeans). Yes latino americans may seem pretty foreign compared to white americans (mainly mestizo), but the culture is largely derived from Spain, and Spaniards (as well as unmixed Spanish in Latin America like in Argentina and Mexico City) are often as european looking as anyone else in Europe. In fact, if you are British or Irish, some of your closest relatives in terms of race are Spaniards!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/celts-descended-from-spanish-fishermen-study-finds-416727.html
One thing that annoys me is that the typical representation of a Spaniard in this country is Antonio Banderas or Penelope Cruz, they don't look typical! Also I've seen several Spanish woman portrayals in American media as shown as dark haired and very tanned. Not representative!
And here's a video showing some Spaniards that prove my point, many of them would pass as a non-hispanic white person in this country (especially starting at 1:14 for the first one):
And even in the United States, and even among mestizos, I've seen so many latinos across the west that are light skinned that it baffles me when people think of latinos as brown skinned.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)The Mexican side of my family seems to have avoided any European genetics for hundreds of years. All straight black hair, asiatic features, etc. Beautiful people. Other half is Scots Irish Southern. Whitey McWhitey. Also beautiful people (as long as they have their SPF 100)
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Spain sent far fewer people to their colonies than did England. The majority of Latin Americans are mestizos of mixed European and native (and African, often) ancestry. If you're British or Irish, some of your genetically closest relatives may be Spaniards; if you're Mexican or Colombian? Probably not so much. "Hispanic" isn't so much an ethnic group as it is a linguistic and cultural one. European Spaniards may be "Hispanic" becuase they speak Spanish; they are not, however, "Latinos".
Warpy
(110,900 posts)Like I told my coworkers, I have prejudices. I don't like 'em and I'm trying to get rid of 'em, but prejudice against Latinos is not one of them, never has been. It's not even that prevalent outside the big cities back east. Inside the cities, you'll find some prejudice but I managed to dodge it. I have cousins in California who do look down their noses at "Mexicans," what they call anybody with an Hispanic surname. I don't get it.
I never went to a segregated school until I was 11. I was a little fearful about going to this "all white" school because I knew I wasn't. Silly me. There were Chinese kids and Cherokee kids and kids from India and Arab kids and kids from all over the western hemisphere. The only part of the human rainbow that was missing was African black (and brown and even as pale as I was). I got the point but it wasn't the point they wanted me to get.
Living in this part of the country is a trip because you do see people with blonde hair and blue eyes from Mexico. They're the minority, but they're certainly around. Local Hispanics range from Indian brown to as pale as I am and I've got an Irish hide.
It's even funnier when I go back east and marvel at how many white people there are back there because I'm so used to seeing as many brown faces as white ones around here.
No one is an overwhelming majority in this state and I am just fine with that.
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Nobody should see anybody else as all that different from themselves. We are all genetically and therefore racially intermixed to one degree or another.
There is no such thing as "racial purity," and people who hang on to that false idea need to discard it and embrace reality.
There it is!
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)We are all part of the human race.