[Nelson A.]

By what I read in Y? Forum, it appears the vast majority of people, including the U.S. government, consider Latino/Hispanic to be a race rather than a culture. I'm very Latino/Hispanic but very white/Caucasian also, and 35 percent of Venezuelans are just like me, same as Argentinians, Uruguayans, etc. I'd like to read the opinions of others on this subject.

User Detail :  

Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[ACC24011]

Some US Latino civil rights groups like LULAC lobbied for Latinos to be counted as 'white' as far back as the 1920s because they wanted to try and avoid as much institutional racism as possible for their people. The census forms still count Latino/Hispanic as 'white' even though an overwhelming majority of us have nonwhite ancestry. But most US Latinos know that's a fiction. We know Latino and Hispanic are cultural terms, not racial. We know that the great majority of Mexicans are predominantly Indian and most Latinos from the Caribbean have black ancestry. You hear Latinos calling themselves 'brown and proud' all the time in the US. Yet most whites in the US have an either/or way of thinking about 'race'. Anyone who is darker than Stallone is considered 'not white'. The really strange thing is that many whites will consider a light-skinned Latino 'not white' if they have 'ethnic' accents, but consider them 'white just like us' if they lose the accent. That is slowly changing and some are starting to accept that people can consider themselves multiracial, a way of thinking closer to the Latino notion of mestizaje.

User Detail :  

Name : ACC24011, Race : Mexican and American Indian, City : W Lafayette, State : IN Country : United States, Occupation : Grad student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[K.J.]

Hispanic is definitely not a race. It denotes a culture. One can most certainly be Black, Caucasian, American Indian, or Amerindian and still be Hispanic. Just take a look at the variety of colors you see in the Hispanic community.

User Detail :  

Name : K.J., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 17, City : Bronx, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : High school student, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nicholas F.]

Thank you for that. I've been trying to make that point for some time. Many of the spanish speaking people from Mexico and Central America are of indian decent, not Spanish. I especially like it when they call english the 'white man's language'. Anyone who has ever been to spain can tell you, and I have, that you will find a whole lot of white people there. You are, of course, right. You are also white, just like me, a person of Irish decent. Just like in Venezuela, there are also many white people living in Mexico, Central America, and many other places in Latin America. You are also right in stating that it is a language/culture thing and not ethnic.

User Detail :  

Name : Nicholas F., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Human, Religion : Catholic, Age : 38, City : Panorama City, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Network Engineer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[powell]

as far as the US government is concerned, in 1990 Hispanic was not a race. it was considered an ethnicity. that means you could be black-hispanic, white-hispanic, asian-hispanic. i'm not sure if that will change with the 2000 census, but i don't think so. as far as my personal opinion: i feel that those who consider themselves hispanic should decide if they want to be a race or an ethnicity. the US government adds new races and deletes others that it doesn't feel apply.

User Detail :  

Name : powell, Gender : M, Race : Asian, Age : 24, City : Madison, State : WI Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[LaTangela22962]

It depends. I am very Puerto Rican and part white, but I do not conisder myself white. This is because Puerto Ricans have a very African ancestry, so that would not make Puerto Ricans white. Now, if you are from Spain and did not have a blood mixture, maybe you would think differently.

User Detail :  

Name : LaTangela22962, City : Baltimore, State : MD Country : United States, 

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