-----Original Message----- From: Carole Villarreal [mailto:cvilla@alltel.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 10:49 PM To: SHAW-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [SHAW] England and Migration Debate Why do many North Americans use the same term "Spanish" to describe people regardless of whether they are from Spain, which is in Europe, or countries in this hemisphere such as Panama, as if they are all the same nationality. They don't do this with the French (for example- Canadians, Haitians, and people in Paris and The Cameroun all share a tongue, but North Americans don't call them all French or Hisfrench ("Hispanic"). Is it lack of interest in where the Spanish-speaking perosn is from? Is it disrepect? Is it only done if they're Native (meaning brown Indio) looking? Do Europeans do this? I ddoubt it. Mike, my response to your post was sent, but never posted! Hmmmm. The short version: in my long experience working with Limited-English-Proficient students and their families from all parts of the world, I've found that Mexicans prefer to be called "Mexicans" and prefer to say they speak the Mexican language, even when they might be full-blooded Apache or second-generation Germans living in Mexico, or whomever. Those from other Latin American countries--Central and South America and Puerto Rico--prefer to be called "Latinos", for the most part. I have found that those people who prefer to be called Hispanics are usually ones who are very familiar with American social status and wish to set themselves apart from those they consider the uneducated classes. Mike Gregory wrote: > To those following this thread, > > I think this thread has gotten off the path it took. It sounds to me as some > are confusing nationality with race, or vice versa. Us humans really like > labels and tend to choose the ones that suit us best. > > Nationality: Wouldn't an Englishman, or rather English person, be one who > was born and raised in England? Just as an American is one who was born and > raised in America, a Scottish person is one born and raised in Scotland, and > an Irish person is one who was born and raised in Ireland? The nationality > of your ancestors does not matter! My father was the first of his namesake > lineage to be born in the States (the rest are "English"), it would be silly > to say he wasn't an American because of his parents wouldn't it? > > Race: Biologically, there really is no such thing as race, but us humans > like to think so that we can discriminate against others. The only true > "race" that could call themselves American's are the Indians. It is too > difficult to categorize humans by pure race unless you go back hundreds of > years in history before humans were so mobile. Even then it may be > difficult. The travel and interbreeding between different populations makes > race a difficult concept. > > Regarding the term Hispanic... What is a hispanic? I would argue that it is > neither race nor nationality. It is a culture that developed in America > among Americans born to Mexican or Spanish ancestry, that didn't want to be > labeled as either three. In our discriminating times, Hispanic sounds a lot > less offensive than "Mexican" There is no nation called "Hispania" nor is > their an Hispanic language. My wife's ancestry is from Mexico, but she > considers herself and American, and her second language is Mexican, not > Spanish or Hispanic! Something else I wondered... do those living in Mexico > or Spain call themselves Hispanic? I doubt it. > > I have so many Nationalities in my lineage I could claim to be just whatever > I wanted, but when I comes right down to it I'm just a plain old American. > One could even go as far as to call me a Californian, for where I was born > and raised, but that might be a different arguement entirely. > > Mike Gregory > Bakersfield, California > genealogy@bak.rr.com > http://home.bak.rr.com/mg/ > > ==== SHAW Mailing List ==== > > ============================== > Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! > http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2 ==== SHAW Mailing List ==== ============================== Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!