Re: Calling all Asians Chinese is racist?
Date: June 29, 2008 08:49PM
tbats Wrote:
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> inkahootz, meeper- you are correct. Somehow
> though. many Latins in the region call themselves
> Spanish, or refer to the group as a whole as
> Spanish though Latino is more prevelant and
> Hispanic not used as much.
>
> Technically speaking if you are French,Italian or
> Romanian American, you are Latin American. French
> speaking Quebec and Haiti are in Latin America??
Semantics alert!!! First off, I am latino, of French, Spanish, German, and indigenous South American indian blood. I also happen to have been born in Quebec, but I don't call myself French, even though I have french blood. In terms of nomenclature, I consider myself latino, although I could lay claim to various other terms if I wanted to. The latin american terminology is used because, the inhabitants of these regions main language and culture is derived from the Spanish, and their colonization of that area. Since the Spanish language is one of the three main 'Romance' languages (French and Italian being the other main ones, as well as a few others), that is truly etymologically based from roots of the Latin language (of Roman Empire times), it was coined by 'gringos' to distinguish between Americans and their neighbors to the south (Teddy Roosevelt used the term loosely himself)! All these different, incorrect, terminologies and classifications are a result of American diplomacy in the early nineteen hundreds. The U.S. has always been a country that likes to catalog, categorize, and differentiate between people ( think of all those census forms and bubble tests you have taken throughout your life here) Yes, Haitians and the Guianese (French Guiana) have more cultural ties to France; as well as Brazilians w/ Portugal, but since they were all lumped together back in the day by the U.S., based on geographical location, they are considered to be part of greater Latin America (Yes, I know Haiti is in the carribean, but so is the Dominican Republic, and they consider themselves Latin American) Besides, there are white, black, asian, mestizo, mullato, and indian peoples all over the Americas, so the term Latin American really has more to do with geography, rather than language and culture, or even race and ethnicity (at least in my opinion). Please pardon the lengthy diatribe!
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2008 09:27PM by inkahootz.