Does Hispanic mean Mestizo?

by donny 9 Replies latest social current

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  donny

  With all the hoopla going on in Arizona, I have been hearing a lot of comments about the State of Arizona being racists against "Hispanics". I always thoght Hispanic meant someone whose promary language was Spanish or in some cases Portugese. Has the word Hispanic come to mean only mestizo's (people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry)?.

  I grew up in a neighborhood that had a lot of "Hispanics" and while most would probably fall into the category of "mestizo", there were also many who were of 100% European decent. I dated a couple of girls back in the day that no one would guess they were "Hispanic" until they actually spoke. I also knew some Hispanics who were of African decent. Can you really be racist against "Hispanics" or "Latinos?"

  Donny
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  sir82

  "Racist" has morphed in meaning into something more like "extremely prejudiced". There are probably few true "racists" still around.

  Considering the shift in meaning, I'd say yes, you can be "racist" against Hispanics, Latinos, left-handed paper-hangers, etc.
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  PrimateDave

  According to my understanding, Hispanic includes people from Spain as well as Latin Americans.
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  cyberjesus

  Hispanic (Spanish: hispano, hispánico ) is a term that originally denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania (geographically coinciding with the Iberian Peninsula). [ note 1 ] During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain.

  Still more recently, primarily in the United States, the term has also (or alternatively) been used to denote the culture and people of countries formerly ruled by Spain, usually with a majority of the population speaking the Spanish language. These include Mexico, the majority of theCentral and South American countries, and most of the Greater Antilles. The Philippines and other nations formerly pertaining to the Spanish East Indies are sometimes also included in this definition, as their culture has many Spanish or Latin American elements.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic

  In the United States the term Hispanic is usually used for people whose descent is from a Spanish speaking country. Philippines, Haiti and Brazil are not Spanish speaking countries.

  Racism in the US is usually targeted towards people who do not look of an European-white descent. Sometimes "white looking mexicans" do not experience racism until either they speak english with a mexican accent or people find out they are from the south of the border.
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  JeffT

  There was a great episode of "Hill Street Blues" hears ago. One of the cops (can't remember is name) gets a "Hispanic officer of the year award" they're having this big ceremony complete with a mariachi band, enchiladas, tacos etc. Then the cop gets up to the microphone and points out that he's from Columbia.

  My wife worked with a very nice lady from Spain a few years ago. The one way you could rile her up was to call her "hispanic." She would very bluntly tell you she is SPANISH.

  This years census form had a bunch of sub boxes under Hispanic so you could tell them what kind of Hispanic you are.
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  JWoods

  I think Glenn Beck has a TV program this week in which he discusses this and other issues with legal mexican-to-U.S. immigrants.
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  LongHairGal

  Primate Dave,

  I believe you are right.

  Jeff T,

  That lady from Spain who gets riled up if somebody calls her 'hispanic' is because the term has come to mean in the U.S. a 'mestizo' type of person, i.e. somebody with a lot of visible native heritage as opposed to a European type. But, technically, the term would have encompassed somebody like her. It is just that now the term means something else to many people. I have also felt that the term "latino' has come to mean the same thing as 'hispanic' to many people. The two words are used interchangeably when describing somebody who is non-European looking, Spanish speaking person.

  People will argue forever over this because it has to do with people's perception of how they see themselves versus how others see them.
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  cyberjesus

  To answer the question, no Hispanic doesn't mean mestizo. Only refers according to the census to people who speak spanish. There are Hispanics who are indian-indian or white-white. If a mestizo is someone who is a mix of amerindian and european, then by a lot of people in the US that look white (european) are mestizos :-)
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  goldensky

  Hello, everybody!

  As the most Hispanic of all (born and raised in Spain), but with an arian look (weird, isn't it? - German grandmother), I remember how surprised I was at the look on people's face in the U.S.A. whenever I said I was Spanish. After a few days I realized the reason was that I didn't fit into the prototype you guys have of what we look like. So I ended up saying, "I come from Spain", instead of "I'm Spanish". Ins't it strange? Actually, quite a few of us in my country have blond hair, blue eyes and light skin, walking the same streets as the dark-skinned, dark-haired, brown-eyed Spanish beauties (no flowers in their hair, though, sorry).
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  Thunderinus

  Goldensky, there are a lot of nordic type individuals in southern Europe and in most instances (recent intermarriages being an exception) their origins go back to the days of the collapse of the Western Roman empire and the migration there of Germanic tribes eg the Vandals to Spain and Portugal, the Goths and Lombards to Italy followed later by the Normans whereas in places like northern and eastern France the nordic element became predominant. Later during the crusades nordics settled as far away as Greece, Cyprus and even the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine).