Identification question

[alarcojon]

There must be about a brazillion names for different Latino groups: just for starters Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, Hispanic, Latino, Boricua, ......

Whad'yall think about that?

[EFerrari]

1. Great question!

I think I see it pushing in both directions. I identify with "Latinos" even if I'm half gringa. There is, for me anyway, a sense of a culture that bridges, that has fundamental values and ticks and needs and beauties.

On the other hand, when I meet people from the places my family has lived or from places dear to me, that's another level of enjoyment.

What about everyone else?

[Lost-in-FL]

3. For me Latinos/latinas

are people of those countries who speak any language derived from Latin (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, etc.).

Latino according to wikipedia:

The English word Latino derives from the Spanish word latinoamericano (the Portuguese word is latino-americano) and refers to inhabitants of Latin America, and their descendents living outside of Latin America. Its usual connotation is Ibero-American or Spanish American; Francophone Canadians are not normally referred to as Latino, even though they speak a Romance language.

Hispanic

Hispanic (Spanish: Hispano) is a term denoting a derivation from Spain, her people and culture. It follows the same style of use as Anglo indicates a derivation of England and the English. Thus, the Spanish-American War in Spanish is known as Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, the "Spanish-German Treaty" is Tratado Hispano-Alemán, and "Spanish America" is Hispanoamérica.

I don't really know what CHICANO means but I do know is related to Mexico. As for BORICUA means someone that is from Puerto Rico which was called BORIKEN or BORINQUEN during Pre-Colonial times.

[Cybergata]

5. Chicano

It started out as a term for people in the Southwest with Mexican heritage, but was a term embraced by other Hispanics in the Southwest who families had lived in the Southwest before the the U.S. took it from Mexico. To me it always meant pride, and activism because in the 60s and 70s the Chicano Activists were inspiring and beautiful.

[Lost-in-FL]

2. The more the merrier?

:shrug:

[ugarte]

4. El problema parece que va para largo

Mis padres son de Costa Rica, pero me identifico con mis cholos, porque me crié en la chicanada de Los Angeles. Pero lots of Chicanos y mexicanos have a problem with "hispanic" porque los gachupines...ya sabemos. "Latino" es tan...no sé...bland. I wish there was a better word that encompassed all.

[Cybergata]

6. Those are just the words that my...

father used over 30 years ago. I always thought that Chicano and La Raza referred to Mestizo - Indian and Spanish. Mexican are predominantly Mestizo, as many of us in the Southwest are as well.

[alarcojon]

7. Yeah, I think most Ecuadoreans (including myself) are mestizo

but if you look at our soccer team, there is also a significant African heritage which many of us play down (not pointing a finger at anyone here, of course).

[Cybergata]

8. Same here

I was surprised to find out just how many Afro-Hispanos I've been finding in the records of the people who came to New Mexico. It makes perfect sense. A lot of the people who came to New Mexico came to get away from the very controlled and unfair class system in New Spain. New Mexico's leaders were often chided by the officials of New Spain for how readily everyone intermarried in New Mexico, but nobody really paid attention to their concerns. Many Conversios were being dogged by the Inquisition, so many escaped to the isolated frontier hoping to be left alone. Mestizo and Afro-Hispanos also had the opportunities in the frontier not open to them in New Spain.

My Hispanic family is full of Light skinned, blond and blue eyed folks, but I've found ancestors listed as mulatto. My brothers extremely curly dark thick hair is about the only clue of that heritage. I was so excited when I found my first Afro-Hispano ancestor. You know, when it comes down to it, Spain had a long period of Moorish occupation and influence. Africans go way back and are deep in the Spanish gene pool. Of course so do the Scandinavians and Celts. When ever I hear anyone say they are pure Spanish I have to laugh because being Spanish for most of North America means being a mixture.

[EFerrari]

10. When I visited El Salvador in 68. there was so much overt

racism that I couldn't wait to go home again. As if the ethic of the colonizers had somehow sunk into the DNA of the colonized. I've never experienced that when visiting Mexico but my visits there have been much more superficial in terms of contact with the culture outside of tourist areas.

[Cybergata]

14. All I can say about Mexicans is...

they are sure nice people. Every time I've been there people have been warm and friendly. I noticed that too in Spain as well, but not to the extent that Mexicans are.

The racist attitudes goes way back to Spanish colonial times, especially in El Salvador. It was also a method of securing the wealth for those few controlling families who owned everything. Racism always comes down to those few who have everything want to keep everything and not fell bothered by the others starving outside their door.

[EFerrari]

19. I think that freaked me out more than anything. We'd be at the table

at my aunt's house having dinner and hungry people would call out at the front gate. I actually lost 12 pounds during the month I was there. There were literally hungry people at the door. And at 11, that was probably a first lesson in "grown ups can't really control everything".

[Cybergata]

12. I'm double replying!

I forgot to mention that Ecuadorians have such an amazing Native history. Well, all of the Andean Native History and the ties that Archaeologist have been finding between the Andes and the Amazonian Natives and the Atacama ancient cultures just fascinates me to no end. The most exciting aspect is that Archaeologists are finding evidence that pushes the date of Civilization in South America right at the the date other cultures of the world formed great their great Civilizations. Archaeologists are shredding apart the Euro-centric ideas that prevailed for so long. Europeans weren't superior to the rest of the world, just more lethal. Everyone should be proud of their Native and African heritage as well as their European. The true melting pot of the Americas is in the Latino world, and I for one have always loved being part of that melting pot.

[EFerrari]

20. "Europeans weren't superior to the rest of the world, just more lethal."

:rofl:

[alarcojon]

24. Well put

We Ecuadoreans have an amazing cultural heritage, and an amazing mix of influences. For example, the Can~ari Indians of the Cuenca region claim never to have been colonized by the Incas. Of course, the Oriente was largely, but not completely culturally separate from the Highlands. Then, of course, there is the coast, which is the part of the country I know the least about.

[XemaSab]

25. Latin America is the melting pot of the world

You've got Native Americans who originally came from Asia (or somewhere else ;) ), you've got the Spanish from Europe, you've got the Middle Eastern Moorish influence (much in evidence here in Santa Barbara), you've got the descendants of the African slaves, and you've got a surprising number of more recent Asian immigrants. And all these groups have contributed heavily to the culture.

[ninkasi]

9. Puedo tomar parte?

Yo soy gringa, pero mi primer esposo era Mexicano. You puedo hablar un poco de espanol. Mis tres ninos son mestizos ? entonces, verdad? I'm sorry, but my Spanish is limited, but since my grown children are mixed, I identify myself as someone who married a man of a different nationality. As far as of a different race, I assume that, while his ancestors came from Spain, there would have been marriage into the local population. There are members of the family in Mexico with blond or red hair, fair skin, and some with dark hair. They are all family.

So...I'd like to be a member of the Latino/Hispanic group, if that's ok. My extended family is something only somebody with some knowledge of Mexican customs would understand. Oh, by the way, this techno-idiot doesn't know how to place the correct punctuation marks in Spanish.

[EFerrari]

11. Hi there, ninkasi. Neither do I. When I do translations, I use

Word and the Spanish alphabet. Short of pasting them in that way, I've no clue how to do it. :)

[Cybergata]

13. Accent keys

Here is a web site that can help with the accent keys that I found helpful. http://www.spanishnewyork.com/spanish-characters.html It is even easier to set up macros in MS Word for accents. I set up alt + a to give me á.

We also have red heads and blonds as well as dark hair in my family. My mother was Anglo, but both she and my father had the same skin, eye, etc color. In fact they looked like they could be related, but if they were, their shared heritage has to go back to about AD 900 in Santiago Spain. That part of Spain had lots of Celtic influence, and wearing kilts and playing bagpipes goes way back in their heritage.

[Lost-in-FL]

15. That is an awesome page!

Thank you!!

[Cybergata]

17. I always feel naked when I don't...

have the accent in my name. It is my father's fault. He taught me how to write my name that way when I first learned to write. Knowing my wonderful father, López is the first word I learned to write. Actually I've been trying to put all the accents in my Hispanic Genealogy records, plus I type out information about New Mexico History for my students and want to use the correct accents, so I had to find an easy way to type them quickly. I can not almost type ñ as fast as I can a three letter word. Thanks Adrian González Martínez. I'd send a thank you via email, but I've never been able to find one on this site.

[ninkasi]

18. Oh, thanks for the website

It's interesting, isn't it, about how much alike people of supposedly different "races" can be? My family was mostly Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and English, and my father had much darker skin than my late husband, who was considered full blooded Mexican. There is also a big different between nationality and race. The Celtic influence was obvious in both of us. Whatever goes into our makeup, we are all human, which is the most important thing of all.

[EFerrari]

22. Thanks so much! n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

16. Bienvenida!!

:hi:

[ninkasi]

21. Gracias!

Yo creo que me va a gustar mucho estar aqui. Y por favor, those of you who are fluent, feel free to correct my Spanish, it's the only way to learn.:hi:

[Cleita]

23. I think it's better to have many different names because we

are many different people and races. Although I use the generic term hispanic so people know what I'm talking about I really don't like it anymore than I like the term anglo. They are just convenient. I mean when you talk about anglos who are you referring to? English speaking people? People of European ancestry. I mean how do you lump together Americans, Canadians, British, Irish, Australians or New Zealanders?

It's the same with people with a Spanish heritage who may also be Native Americans who were forced to be baptized and adopt Spanish as their language at the hands of the Spaniards. Many still speak their native Amerind languages. Our maids, who were mostly Aymara Indians, spoke their native tongue among themselves and Spanish only to us.

[calico1]

26. I think it serves to help identify

different cultures within the Latino/Hispanic community. I am Boriqua but my culture is quite different in many ways to say, Mexican. Its no different from me to saying "Irish" or "German" as opposed to just "White."

[Xipe Totec]

27. Here's a few more

Pocho - Mexican term for a Mexican American.

Chuco - Term for certain Mexican immigrants in south US. Short for Pachuco; from Pachuca, capital city of the state of Hidalgo Mx (typically migrant workers).

Mexinaco - Mexican of native american ancestry. A play on the word Naco; a native tribe in southern Mexico.

Gachupin - Mexican term for a Spaniard. From the original aztec word cachupin, which means shoe or shod (as opposed to barefoot).

All these terms are still in use in South Texas.