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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Can't Rafael Use His REAL Name?
Born
Rafael Edward Cruz; December 22, 1970 (age 44); Calgary, Alberta, Canada
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20130818-ted-cruz-born-a-citizen-of-canada-under-the-countrys-immigration-rules.ece
Scuba
(53,475 posts)marmar
(77,090 posts)Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)not as the term is commonly used in the USA, anyway (it usually means "Spanish-speaking person of largely Native Mexican/Latin American/South American or mestizo ancestry" . Cruz's grandfather was from Spain. Spaniards are not "Hispanic" as the term is commonly used in the USA, either.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)H2O Man
(73,605 posts)for the actual correct answer.
marmar
(77,090 posts)kiva
(4,373 posts)Latino would be incorrect.
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Hispanic_vs_Latino
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/difference-between-hispanic-latino-and-spanish_55a7ec20e4b0c5f0322c9e44
http://hispanichouston.com/hispanic-vs-latino-whats-the-difference/
I used three links because I think each makes some interesting distinctions.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)kiva
(4,373 posts)interchangeably, so finally looked them up a few months ago and discovered I'd been doing it wrong all along
I have lived in Spain, majored in the language in college. Even in Spain, "el mundo hispánico" is a term covering the Spanish-speaking world, including most of Spain and all of Cuba. Ironically, I lived in a part of Spain where the local language is NOT "Spanish (correctly, actually, Castilian)," so while our schooling WAS in "Spanish," as required by law in those days, everywhere else, people never spoke it among themselves.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)Also Latino, because they are from Latin (Spanish and Portuguese) America.
Rat-faced Rafael!
Bucky
(54,065 posts)So, since it's a social construct and not a scientific definition, it's perfectly legit to call Cruz Hispanic as well as to call him Ted. No Democrat got onto Thomas Wilson for running as Woodrow; no Democrat cared that James Carter ran as Jimmy. We sure got pouty whenever Republicans mentioned Obama's middle name. It's a distraction.
Quit trafficking in petty distractions. With all the crazy-assed bullshit Cruz believes in, certainly you could find something worth talking about.
liberalhistorian
(20,819 posts)it's always fascinating to see the reactions when we discuss race and ethnicity and I talk about how race is a social construct based on similar physical features, it's not biological, and how ethnicity simply means a shared culture, it has little to do with race or physical features/characteristics. They're often blown away by that. When we do a "pick the right race" exercise that NPR has, none of them ever get it right. It's really interesting.
Liberal Jesus Freak
(1,451 posts)Do you have a link to the NPR exercise?
Bucky
(54,065 posts)I tried googling and searching thru NPR's site, but couldn't find it
WestSeattle2
(1,730 posts)WestSeattle2
(1,730 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,757 posts)community grows in the US. Their concept of personal identity will probably overrule the "conventional" definition.
Latin Americans view Hispanics as people who originated from Hispana, or Spain. Though, they would refer to them as Hispanoles. Thus, Cruz's grandfather would qualify as an Hispanic, in their viewpoint.
Latin Americans view themselves as...Latin Americans. That would include Central and South Americans.
I suspect that Mexican Americans are capable of holding onto their identity as Mexican Americans because of their geographic proximity and numbers.
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Blind KKK member does not know he is black. Parody become reality in the GOP.
Politicsandhiphop
(28 posts)Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)And Edward Moore Kennedy go by "Ted"?
Or indeed, why does Bernard Sanders use "Bernie"?
There are a million reasons to oppose Ted Cruz, but quibbling about his chosen moniker is pretty far down on the list.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Ms. Yertle
(466 posts)and lots of people go by their middle name, and Ted can be a nickname for Edward. You know just like Edward (Ted) Kennedy.
If the only thing you can find to criticize about Cruz is the name he chooses to use, then I think you aren't thinking very deeply.
BTW, I also didn't have a problem with Jindal calling himself Bobby. People can call themselves anything they like. There are more important things by which to judge them.
B2G
(9,766 posts)Why am I even posting to this thread?
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)2naSalit
(86,776 posts)Bucky
(54,065 posts)but I like "Fael Cruz" as nickname
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)choice. He was Panamanian, so maybe it's different there.
Edit: I think the answer is pretty self-explanatory, but unfortunately it's been that way for decades with people immigrating. It's another form of accepting the culture of the country, also de-emphasizing the differences. Back in the day, kids would laugh at "strange" names or accents and life would be hard.
Historic NY
(37,453 posts)Person 2713
(3,263 posts)Same with Jimmy Carter.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)Xyzse
(8,217 posts)I wonder if some of his primary voters would recognize his name if they have to actually use his real name.
I wonder if "Ted Cruz" would then be a write in.
Historic NY
(37,453 posts)lots of write in ballots get spoiled when people do it.
Historically recognized abbreviations or nicknames for a candidate's given name are acceptable for use on the ballot, such as "Bill" for William, "Ned" for Edward, or "
Bob" for Robert, etc
Ted for Rafael
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Well, I don't care that he uses Ted, but the idea of not being able to use a nick name for the ballot is interesting since I didn't even know that he was named Rafael.
Reter
(2,188 posts)Mitt Romney also appeared like that.
onenote
(42,759 posts)bigwillq
(72,790 posts)I don't see the big deal. Lots of folks have nicknames or use a variation of their first or middle name.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)What a non-issue. Many people go by names found nowhere on their birth certificate.
Facility Inspector
(615 posts)are a lot different than Rafael/Ted.
Get it?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I suggest you find out what their names actually are, on their birth certificates.
Bill Clinton is William Jefferson Blythe. His last name wasn't Clinton.
Jerry Ford is Leslie Lynch King, Jr.. NONE of his names resemble the ones he went by.
Both of my sons go by variants of their middle names, and what they are commonly called has very little connection to their legal names. This is more common in some parts of the country than others.
And, yes, there were people who got all a-twitter when GOP speakers emphasized "Barack HUSSEIN Obama". The larger point here seems to be that if he went by "Rafael", then he would be less appealing a candidate to certain people. I don't think we need wallow in that pool of slop. He's obviously gone by "Ted" for a long time, and he is entitled to be referred to by the name he prefers.
Facility Inspector
(615 posts)scary.
onenote
(42,759 posts)The difference is that he's right and you're wrong.
Facility Inspector
(615 posts)it's cute to see you stick up for your Internetz buddy though!
How precious!
onenote
(42,759 posts)Of course, maybe you're the one person on the planet who refers to President Grant as Hiram and President Cleveland as Stephen and President Wilson as Thomas.
Having a passing knowledge of history is a good thing. You should try it.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)it happens with Bobby Jindal too.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)Will continue to refer to Piyush and Rafael and Nimrata
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)The "they do it, so I will" thing is one that is hard for me to understand.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)same consideration for those Ted, Bobby, and Nikki.
They likely won't take it.
Just calling Ted, Bobby, and Nikki their names while republicans get to call Caitlyn Bruce sounds like unilaterally disarming to me.
Gothmog
(145,554 posts)H2O Man
(73,605 posts)This summer, I posted an essay that used his name. Someone I do not know responded that I was "racist." I responded that I also use Willard Romney's real name. People are funny, sometimes.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)South of the border name.
kpete
(72,016 posts)that is EXACTLY the point i was trying to make
thanks for getting ME,
peace,
kp
catnhatnh
(8,976 posts)(named after his father's favorite brand of beer), who was killed walking point for the 101st Airborne in Vietnam in 1970.
B2G
(9,766 posts)Which would be rather confusing for the family.
Not rocket science.
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)Ted is a common nickname for Edward. It's also the only common nickname used for two given names, because many Teds are named Theodore.
Remember the last lamb the GOP led to the slaughter? Some guy named Willard? Boston Brahmin families have been known to give their kids a "first" name that honors some ancient relative and a second name they actually call the kid, but I'm not sure Ted Cruz knows where Boston is.
onenote
(42,759 posts)We never thought of it as "bad" name.
And, looking back, were Lyndon, Adlai, and Hubert all such great names? Probably the main reason they didn't go by their middle names was those weren't so great either: Baines, Ewing, and Horatio.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)The Latin name of the archangel Raphael, as the Bible says, One of the seven who stand before the Lord, and the angel of healing. It is a beautiful name full of ancient lore.
Cruz is hardly worthy of such a name.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,364 posts)instead of BHO.
Will Hillary be PHC? My guess is she'll be HRC, or possibly HDR.
So, let "Ted" Cruz call himself whatever he wants, just as "Jeb" Bush does.
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)I usually love your posts kpete, but there is nothing wrong with using a middle name.
A middle name is a real name. How do you not know that? How does anybody not understand that a middle name is a real name?
By the way, Jerry Brown. Edmund Gerald Brown. See?
But a person of Hispanic heritage, they aren't allowed to use Anglo sounding names even if their parents gave them an Anglo sounding name.
What's next? Criticizing a Chinese American who has been given both a Chinese and an Americanized name and uses the Americanized one?
I know you aren't trying to be racially or ethnically insensitive, but you are being that way in this case. But unlike most who do that here, I suspect you will respond to reason if confronted logically and on the basis of reason.
onenote
(42,759 posts)All went by their middle names: Ulysses, Grover, and Woodrow.
Who cares why they did so.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)"Ted" Cruz
"Mitt" Romney
"Bobby" Jindal
"JEB" Bush
Reter
(2,188 posts)Mitt's first name is Willard, I wouldn't use it either. Self loathing is pushing it. Some of us don't like our first names. I hate mine.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Are you sure that you want to stick up for them?
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)But it really doesn't.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Everyone has one.
Reter
(2,188 posts)Conservative, liberal, commie, libertarian, black, white yellow, or red. I am a defender against all unfair attacks on anyone.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)So save your "attack" definition for your own posts.
Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)The principle is the same - I am the only one who has the right to determine what my real name is. Same goes for Cruz
Plenty of other things to attack Cruz on - including whether he is a bigot - without insisting that he must go by the first name his parents gave him.
csziggy
(34,137 posts)Instead of the one they ran under, Connie Mack?
The originator of the name was a baseball player and became known by it but why didn't his grandson and now his great grandson use their real names in politics?
Yorktown
(2,884 posts)Like there's no sugar daddy in the sky?
DFW
(54,437 posts)I'd say it is obvious--Republicans feel a "foreign (to them)-sounding name" would be a detriment to attracting voters of the party that spawned the birthers. Hispanics often shorten "Rafael" to "Rafa (when speaking Spanish)," and that just doesn't fly with that crowd. We're all cool with Julian Castro, and obviously were not fazed in the slightest with Barack Hussein Obama, though Republicans went ape shit about it at the time.
During the 2008 campaign, there was some dinner where Obama and McCain were both present, and during Obama's speech, one of his best lines was "whoever gave me my middle name definitely never thought I'd ever be running for president." That line even had McCain rolling with laughter, because it was just so true. Even today, you see blog posts everywhere by Republicans who can't get over his NOT being a Kenyan Muslim named Hussein. You can't sell a presidential candidate named Rafa Cruz to THAT crowd, and most Republicans know it. Cruz for sure knows it.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)DFW
(54,437 posts)Don't forget, every kid that ever played with other kids in a public playground played "Marco Polo" at some age or other, so it's subliminally familiar.