I never thought about it that way until now

First off, another thread here got me thinking about this. I thought it was off topic there, so I decided to create a new thread for this specific topic.

So, I'm considered to be "Hispanic". I have always believed this and nor do I doubt it. Let me tell you about my ethnic background. My mother is of Greek and Spanish Jew decent. My dad is of Mexican, Spanish Jew, and Irish or English decent. So I'm all of that. My mom is "white" and my dad was really dark complected and had grey eyes. My older brother and my little brother are "white" and my sister is dark complected like my dad. I am some where in between. l tan well, lol. I always believed that we were called "hispanic" because of our last name and my mom was Spanish and my dad was part Spanish too.

But heres where I get confused. As you head further and further past the border, the "hispanics" become browner and browner and more Native North and South American looking in appearance, to the point of possibly having very little or next to none Spanish european genes.

Now when I say this.

" A white guy, a black guy and a "hispanic" walk into a bar......

So in your mind, do you think, "a white guy, a black guy and a brown guy"?

or do you think of two white guys and a black guy?

And since there are black hispanics too, it really could be "a white guy and two black guys".


Here's what I'm getting at. To be considered "hispanic" you have to have Native American blood in you to be "hispanic". Thats the brown part. Its the result of European and Native genes right?

So, my whole family is considered to be "hispanic". My white mom and my white brothers along with my brown sister and dad are classified as the same thing. How can this be? My mom has no Native blood and my dad has a little.

So if its the Spanish genes that make us hispanic, why would the census bureau classify another White race as something different?

And if its the Native blood that makes me "Hispanic", why arent every white folk that claim to have Native blood "hispanic" too? Or at least some other made up "ethnic" name?

I feel that it is unfair for the white folk not to be able to take advantage of their ethnic backgrounds. "Hispanics" Just like my white brother can receive scholarships for college. Regular ol white folks with probably more Native blood in them than me can not.

I know a "white" woman who kept her Spanish last name after her divorce just so she could get into med school easier. It worked. Now she goes by her maiden name.


I would be so pissed if I knew I had Cherokee or Choctaw or Navajo blood and I couldn't use it for my advantage.

I dont know if this is a rant or just an observation.

I wouldn't overthink about skin color and what it means to something. Rather that would be white, Hispanic, or whatever. Most of the way we categorize people is modern understanding on race, which doesn't properly explain what it means to be human. Let alone addresses human evolution and genetics, culture, migration and so forth. In other words it's relativism, and your mileage will vary when it comes to categorizing people be it by race, skin color, religion, cultural, etc.

a reply to: galaga

I'm Hispanic when I applied for college. I'm white/caucasian when it suits me. Some Hispanics accept me, some don't.

Anymore I decline to answer, and I reject these silly labels.

That's a very good topic you've brought up. Some of my closest friends are "hispanic". But, if you talk to some of them, particularly those with roots in South Texas, they identify as native Texans, and identify more as Native Americans than as "hispanic". And they are very serious about that - Ive listened to them a bunch of times and I agree.

Same here. All my kids are white, just like the rest, two blonds and a brunette. But.... I have already taught them to use their last name to their advantage. And I totally know what you mean by some accepting you and some don't. I get the same thing.

It's a divisional tool.

These days it's out of fashion to identify too closely with your European heritage, so you want to identify as Hispanic similar to how my husband is having to bite the bullet and start considering actually claiming the Native American blood he never really cared about before because it could be what stands between him and promotion.

Otherwise, it's just an interesting bit of history for all of us.

a reply to: galaga

I'm confused about when you say to be Hispanic you have to have native American blood. Did you mean central american? To say one is native American on an application or something I'm pretty sure you need some kind of certification of native American blood.

But I totally hear what you are saying. It's a color coded world even these days when many people are mixed. I'm 100 % Italian so Caucasian and my wife is considered Hispanic , but she's mixed Spanish (euro) and central American. My kids are therefore mixed but will be taught to pick Hispanic when it benefits them such as college or job applications.

a reply to: mkultra11

I think he's referring to mestizo.

a reply to: mkultra11

Isn't it sad that we have to go there? Because I'm like you - our son will be taught to pick the heritage box that benefits him.

originally posted by: galaga
Same here. All my kids are white, just like the rest, two blonds and a brunette. But.... I have already taught them to use their last name to their advantage. And I totally know what you mean by some accepting you and some don't. I get the same thing.

I think the most ridiculous time this issue came up was when I went to donate blood for medical purposes (not for an actual donation that would be used.)

The phlebotomist wouldn't draw my blood until I checked my race/ethnicity. I was torn between "white" and "Hispanic."

She acted like it was super important--but even she was clueless saying things like, "Well your name is ____ so you must be ________, but you look _______, so maybe you're ________."

God bless this elder lady who still thinks race is a thing, and not an imagination!

I just checked both and realized how stupid these labels are. They mean nothing to me now.

I am just who I am and not going to place a huge importance on my family's supposed lineage.

I think given time these classification boxes will fall out of use. Give it a couple decades, bet on it.

a reply to: galaga

I am really confused by your OP.

I was under the impression that Hispanic, the term, applies only to those who have some variant on Latin origin. There are not many people living south of the US border, who can say with absolute certainty that they have no Spanish in their genes what so ever. Most of those who CAN say that with a reasonable degree of certainty, are members of tribes discovered in only the last hundred or so years, and their numbers are nothing like statistically relevant.

I was not aware it had ANYTHING to do with being Native American. Can you clear up exactly what you meant?

In any case, it's largely irrelevant what genes a person has, until you come to things like hereditary traits and things like that. That is a level of granularity of thought that is uncomfortable for all different kinds of people, from all over the world, so it's largely unimportant in the grand scheme of things. We are all human first, before we are anything else!

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: galaga

I was not aware it had ANYTHING to do with being Native American

It doesn't. As another poster surmised, the OP was likely referring to the mestizo label, invented to describe a mix of Native Mexican and Spanish lineage.

Hispanic is a huge blanket term to describe Latin origin, and like saying Asian, or African descent, is too big a term to really describe anything other than mankind's need to group, lump, and categorize.

a reply to: galaga

My father is white. He's SO white that he's been pink all his life. He doesn't tan. My mother is from the Caribbean and she is brown. Down here, we think of people as white, brown and black. Those that would be "a brown man" here might be considered black in the U.S. I consider myself to be icy beige

What has occured to me is that it really doesn't matter. It might matter in the U.S. and other countries where ethnicity might influence or be required on a job application. I don't believe such variables should play a part in a person's qualifications.

On my father's side is Irish and Scottish. I've identified with the Scottish since I enjoyed for a time participating in the Highland Games in the U.S. Caber toss. Dangerous and fun. Does that make me Scottish? Oh hell no.

We can identify with that part of our geneology that gives us pleasure, because in the final analysis, we're really all mutts.

Now when I say this.

" A white guy, a black guy and a "hispanic" walk into a bar......

So in your mind, do you think, "a white guy, a black guy and a brown guy"?

or do you think of two white guys and a black guy?

In my mind I think the following : Three guys walk into a bar...

Their colour or their ethnic appearance has no importance to me, (unless we end up having a drink together and start discussing and sharing with each other our present/past cultural differences.)

Kindest respects

Lag

a reply to: ketsuko

True, I guess that's the price of white privilege my kids have to live with.