This entry was posted
on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Blog.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
On the first part of the Latina broadcast. The word Hispanic has a heavy history with People of Latin American heritage living in America. For the most part you observe traditional analyses of Mexican, or Latin-American persons with strong pyscholigical complexes you still see today all over Latin America, because of the legacy left by European Spain. By no means am I being one of those Chicanos that must define every living aspect of their existence in terms of race(I didn’t know there was such a thing till age 15), but from living in Mexico, and other Latin American nations its clear why some Mexican-Americans are quite proud of wearing the name Hispanic -because it traces their roots with stronger definition to White Spanish origins and less on their indigenous blood.
For one, the term Hispanic was made popular by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and to this day in Madrid they celebrate “dia de hispanidad”, in glorification of “castellano” glory in the new world. If you look back at Chicano history, groups such as LULAC, effectively hated and rejected terms like Mexican, Latin-American, Latino and other, because it disassociated them from mainstream American culture by rejecting “Whiteness” from a supposed Spanish origin. Furthermore, if you read any of the LULAC’s letters from their presidents from about 1920’s-50s, you’ll see that they have these mental Inferiority complex where part of them is shameful of their indigenous roots, and as such their letters proclaim they are of stronger Spanish Blood because of their superior dominance in the Americas. LULAC’s early history sought to eventually remove any strong ties to their ancestors and assimilate perfectly into American culture. Obviously their physical differences provoked a clear distinction from regular white folk, and many of them suffered great discrimination for being Latino, Mexican, or whatever. A clear psychological response is to claim whiteness via Spanish decent-Look at many early Mexican-American writing, where children are asked what they are and they respond with “spanish”, when they have no immediate ties to the Iberian peninsula.
Back to what i said about these complexes in Latin America. There is still great segregation in these countries, and if you are whiter, with green eyes perhaps, chances are you’re grandma’s favorite. If your darker and “indian” looking, then people do not praise your physical appearance in a place where almost everyone has brown eyes, skin, and hair. in studies by UNAM, your earning power is typically about 40 % greater than the average population if your appearance is more European. Moreover, a common form of disrespect is to call someone an “INDIO” or Indian. Indigenous people are still treated like shit, and people are strangely delighted in the streets of México when you compliment their visage as something European or white- and offended with the opposite. So when many Mexican-Americans “Prefer” to take on the title of Hispanic, I see a clear link to these ongoing traumas, where “Spanish” or “Hispanic” gets them one step closer to full assimilation, and the title of “Latino” creates for many on more difference. At first I really didn’t care about the title you gave to me: Mexican, Latino, Hispanic, but as I read more on the history of why people favored the word Hispanic, and saw its relevance to what’s still going on today in these countries of origins, It was logical to me why many people of Latin-American descent favor the word Hispanic, as opposed to anything else that creates a distinction to their ethnic makeup.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:01 am
On the first part of the Latina broadcast. The word Hispanic has a heavy history with People of Latin American heritage living in America. For the most part you observe traditional analyses of Mexican, or Latin-American persons with strong pyscholigical complexes you still see today all over Latin America, because of the legacy left by European Spain. By no means am I being one of those Chicanos that must define every living aspect of their existence in terms of race(I didn’t know there was such a thing till age 15), but from living in Mexico, and other Latin American nations its clear why some Mexican-Americans are quite proud of wearing the name Hispanic -because it traces their roots with stronger definition to White Spanish origins and less on their indigenous blood.
For one, the term Hispanic was made popular by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and to this day in Madrid they celebrate “dia de hispanidad”, in glorification of “castellano” glory in the new world. If you look back at Chicano history, groups such as LULAC, effectively hated and rejected terms like Mexican, Latin-American, Latino and other, because it disassociated them from mainstream American culture by rejecting “Whiteness” from a supposed Spanish origin. Furthermore, if you read any of the LULAC’s letters from their presidents from about 1920’s-50s, you’ll see that they have these mental Inferiority complex where part of them is shameful of their indigenous roots, and as such their letters proclaim they are of stronger Spanish Blood because of their superior dominance in the Americas. LULAC’s early history sought to eventually remove any strong ties to their ancestors and assimilate perfectly into American culture. Obviously their physical differences provoked a clear distinction from regular white folk, and many of them suffered great discrimination for being Latino, Mexican, or whatever. A clear psychological response is to claim whiteness via Spanish decent-Look at many early Mexican-American writing, where children are asked what they are and they respond with “spanish”, when they have no immediate ties to the Iberian peninsula.
Back to what i said about these complexes in Latin America. There is still great segregation in these countries, and if you are whiter, with green eyes perhaps, chances are you’re grandma’s favorite. If your darker and “indian” looking, then people do not praise your physical appearance in a place where almost everyone has brown eyes, skin, and hair. in studies by UNAM, your earning power is typically about 40 % greater than the average population if your appearance is more European. Moreover, a common form of disrespect is to call someone an “INDIO” or Indian. Indigenous people are still treated like shit, and people are strangely delighted in the streets of México when you compliment their visage as something European or white- and offended with the opposite. So when many Mexican-Americans “Prefer” to take on the title of Hispanic, I see a clear link to these ongoing traumas, where “Spanish” or “Hispanic” gets them one step closer to full assimilation, and the title of “Latino” creates for many on more difference. At first I really didn’t care about the title you gave to me: Mexican, Latino, Hispanic, but as I read more on the history of why people favored the word Hispanic, and saw its relevance to what’s still going on today in these countries of origins, It was logical to me why many people of Latin-American descent favor the word Hispanic, as opposed to anything else that creates a distinction to their ethnic makeup.