[Craig31899]

To Latinos: Is it true that ‘gringo’ isn’t a racial slur? Also, if you speak Spanish and English, do you like or dislike someone trying to speak Spanish with you? Also, I would like to hear comments from people who are Chicano but do not speak Spanish. A white friend of mine went to Salsa night, where the majority of the people were native Spanish speakers, but when he would say, ‘Hola, como estas?’, he would get, ‘I don’t speak Spanish. Why would you assume that?’

User Detail :  

Name : Craig31899, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[ACC25072]

Gringo is from griego, meaning a Greek or someone you can’t understand. It’s like saying Yankee. It just means where you are from, a land where fewer people speak Spanish. I’ve never heard it except in Mexico or in old movies. The reaction to talking in Spanish would vary from person to person. A recent Latin immigrant would appreciate it, but hardly anyone else. My own Spanish is weak and loaded with slang, so even in Mexico, I’d tell Americans who assumed I was from there, ‘Let’s stick to English.’ Most of my friends are in the same boat. I know some people get offended by Anglos trying to talk in Spanish to them because that implies, ‘Oh, Mexicans, they don’t know English. They just got here.’ In other words, speaking Spanish to them unless you were asked to first is almost like calling them illegals.

User Detail :  

Name : ACC25072, Race : Mexican and American Indian, City : W. Lafayette, State : IL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Nelson-A20166]

‘Gringo’ is said to come from the Mexican-American war, when the mexicans yelled ‘green go home’ (refering to the american soldiers’ green uniforms). It now means just an ‘american’ and is not offensive at all. I’m called that sometimes because I speak english fluently. About your other question, I am white/latino born in Venezuela, raised in the US (Kansas City) in a Spanish speaking household. I’m fully bilingual and so are my nephews and nieces,who were born, raised and have always lived in the US. We want the family to be multicultured (educationally worldly) and bilingual. This did not happen with the old Mexican immigrants, they wanted so bad for their kids to be ‘american’ that they didn’t teach them spanish or their roots. Now these kids are paying the consecuences, because they look like the stereotypical mexican but they don’t speak spanish. So to the eyes of white-america they are american citizens but not ‘really’ american. So when white america hires employees, for example, and see ‘brown’ skin, they ask if you are bilingual. If you are, great, you have an edge, but if you’re not, you have to compete with jim, steve and ashley. So the chicanos ended up in a social limbo. That’s why their is a distinct difference between the chicanos and all the recent (last ten years) latin migrations, who learned the lesson and now strive for their kids to learn the language and preserve the culture. I have some english-only chicano aquaintances and they hate it when white-americans associate them with mexicans, but deep down inside (as so they have told me), they wish they were bilingual. Spanish speaking latinos (like myself) appreciate other peoples’ interest for the language and the culture and are more than happy to help the ‘gringos’ practice their spanish.

User Detail :  

Name : Nelson-A20166, Gender : M, Age : 31, City : Caracas, State : NA, Country : Venezuela, Occupation : lawyer/business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Dan31643]

Gringo is the Latin American equivalent of ‘Yankee.’ However, the word ‘gabacho’ is racist, at least in Mexican Spanish. I think a ‘gabacho’ is a white fruit that grows somewhere in Mexico. And I gotta tell you, you really struck a chord when asking about Chicanos who don’t speak Spanish. I cannot speak Spanish at all. Neither can my parents. I probably know more than my mom just from cuss words I learned in junior high. My grandparents speak it rather poorly. However, I do not know how many times someone has approached me speaking Spanish and I’ve had to respond with ‘no habla Espanol.’ I’m almost apprehensive to go to friends’ parties and weddings because I know their relatives are going to think I’m either a gringado (whitewashed) or a complete oddity. However, I haven’t had a white person pull that on me yet, though I have had plenty ask if I speak Spanish. They’re often suprised to find I can’t speak a lick of it. You see, most Latinos who are brought up in the United States either speak very poor, basic or broken Spanish, and there is a growing segment that can’t speak it at all (like me). I’ve known very few U.S.-born Latinos who can speak perfect Spanish. In fact, most people I know who are from Mexico can’t speak Spanish as well as they could when they were little. For instance, a friend came here when she was 10, and her Spanish never progressed beyond that point. Also, with my friends who are bilingual, someone trying to speak Spanish who isn’t Latino is many times taken as being patronizing. Either that or the Spanish the person learned in high school is totally out of whack with the Spanish they were raised with.

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Name : Dan31643, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 22, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Carlton19262]

According to the books, ‘gringo’ is an actual spanish word meaning ‘foreigner’ or ‘unintelligible gibberish,’ This probably comes from ‘griego’ which means ‘Greek.’ In many languages ‘Greek’ is used as a synonym for anything that is completely foreign and not understandable.

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Name : Carlton19262, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 29, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, 

[Nelson-A20165]

‘Gringo’ is said to come from the Mexican-American war, when the Mexicans yelled ‘green go home’ (refering to the U.S. soldiers’ green uniforms). It now means just an ‘American’ and is not offensive at all. I’m called that sometimes because I speak English fluently. About your other question: I am white/Latino-born in Venezuela, raised in the United States (Kansas City) in a Spanish-speaking household. I’m bilingual, and so are my nephews and nieces, who were born, raised and have always lived in the United States. We want the family to be multicultured (educationally worldly) and bilingual. This did not happen with the old Mexican immigrants; they wanted so bad for their kids to be ‘American’ that they didn’t teach them Spanish or their roots. Now these kids are paying the consequences because they look like the stereotypical Mexican but don’t speak Spanish. So to the eyes of white America they are U.S. citizens but not ‘really’ American. So when white Americans hire employees, for example, and see ‘brown’ skin, they ask if you are bilingual. If you are, great, you have an edge, but if you’re not, you have to compete with Jim, Steve and Ashley. So the Chicanos ended up in a social limbo. That’s why there is a distinct difference between Chicanos and all the recent (last 10 years) Latin immigrants, who learned the lesson and now strive for their kids to learn the language and preserve the culture. I have some English-only Chicano aquaintances, and they hate it when white Americans associate them with Mexicans, but deep down inside (or so they have told me), they wish they were bilingual. Spanish-speaking Latinos like myself appreciate other people’s interest for the language and the culture and are more than happy to help the ‘gringos’ practice their Spanish.

User Detail :  

Name : Nelson-A20165, Gender : M, Age : 31, City : Caracas, State : NA, Country : Venezuela, Occupation : lawyer/business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Lucy22421]

I think it’s fine if white folks want to speak Spanish. It’s not like Spanish speakers belong to an exclusive club and no one can know our secret language. I am a Chicana and don’t really speak Spanish. My family has been in California since California was part of Mexico. You know the saying, ‘We didn’t cross the boarder; the border crossed us.’ I know some Spanish just from growing up in a town with a lot of immigrants from Mexico. I was pretty fluent for a while when I worked in a store and had a lot of customers who didn’t speak English. Those people were always happy if a white person spoke Spanish because it meant they could get what they needed and get on with their day. Now, if someone speaks Spanish to me and I know they speak English, I will just start talking in English. If they only know Spanish, then I will try to talk to them as best I can. This happens a lot in airports and with public transportation – a person who speaks only Spanish will ask me for help figuring out where they are supposed to go.

User Detail :  

Name : Lucy22421, Gender : F, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 26, City : San Jose, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Rosa]

I think of the term gringo as being a non-offensive word to a person. True, it is basically used in refering to Caucasians, but my whole life I never understood it to be disrespectful. As for people other than Hispanics speaking Spanish, I think it’s great. It is always a benefit to speak another language. It could also be of benefit to others. As for your friend getting rejected, perhaps the people didn’t know Spanish, or maybe they were just being mean. That’s the real world.

User Detail :  

Name : Rosa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Catholic, Age : 19, City : Porterville, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Omar-Vega19966]

We latins are quite happy that other people speak Spanish. That means that the person made the effort to understand a different culture. Besides, there is a fact that is commonly forgotten. English speakers have arrived to spanish speaking countries for centuries. Many british and irish people migrated to our countries in the past and they mix in our population. Some were famous and remain in history books, other just integrated silently. But the impact remains. So we have seen ‘gringos’ for a long time. By the way, ‘Gringo’ just means ‘germanic’ or light skin person. When a Latin kid got blue eyes and brondie hair they are called ‘gringitos’ as a nice nickname. As the matter of fact most of the ‘ethnic’ nicknames in Spanish are friendly and not derogatory. Men call black (negrita), chinese (chinita) or fat (gordita) to their beloved women as a way to show love (So do it women). That it is a huge difference from the traditional anglo mentality of differences, hate and racial correctness. A latin from South America.

User Detail :  

Name : Omar-Vega19966, City : Santiago, State : NA, Country : Chile, 

[Ramon]

Commenting on the the questions and two posts before mine, I will start with: To Craig: In the southwest “Gringo” is often used as a derogative term used by many Hispanics/Latinos/Chicanos as a reversal to the oppression felt from the term “Spic” that was given to them. Not to be confused with “Guerro” (which can be used as to describe both Anglos and light-skinned Chicanos), it also can depend on the context in which it was used. For example “Pinche Gringo” is, basically, “F***** Whiteboy.” As far as your friend goes, consider where you live…Minneapolis. The majority of those who have Hispanic descent probably do not speak English or have now knowledge of their heritage. They would not be able to tell you a thing about their Iberian heritage or even the Inca/Azteca heritage. Secondly, Chicano was created by Mexicanos during the times of Cesar Chavez and the U.F.W. Mexicanos, with the x being pronounced as an h traditionally, was once pronounced with a ch sound because Spanish Conquistadors could not pronounce the h sound; it wasn’t common vocabulary. Now people of all Spanish descent (e.g. Puerto Ricans, Cubans, etc.) have coined the term for themselves. I you approach them with simple Spanish, the may take offense to it because of detest of the Mexican race. Once again, since you do live in Minneapolis, I suspect that the majority of these chicanos do have Spanish descent but are not Mexicanos. For Dan/A.C.C.: Considering the amount of college that both of you have had, you should have considered taking a Chicano Studies class or two. To most of us, you are considered the “lost race” because of the fact that you can’t speak Spanish and that you have no clue about you cultural identity. Honestly it’s a disgrace/embarrassment to hear your perspectives on it and yet you never once mentioned any historical context or racial viewpoint in your responses. Some feel that you can consider yourself a Chicano even if you don’t speak Spanish; I disagree with that. You experience a cultural fixedness if you try to experience the world through your own language. For example, you would not gain the same experience as myself going to Mexico, on vacation, because you cannot gain an insight to that culture without speaking to them. This would apply to me as well if I tried to deeply and fully understand concepts of French or German life.

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Name : Ramon, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Catholic, Age : 19, City : Garcia, State : NM, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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