Can I Be Hispanic?

[woot]

This is the token post wherein I remind folks that although "race" and "ethnicity" have two different definitions, they're both cultural constructs with little to no biological significance and are (properly) often conflated.

[New Mexican Disaster]

This is the token post wherein I remind folks that although "race" and "ethnicity" have two different definitions, they're both cultural constructs with little to no biological significance and are (properly) often conflated.

And this is the correct answer. You are Hispanic if you say that you are.

[myboynoah]

Call yourself whatever you want to call yourself, just as long as it isn't Italian.

[Non Sequitur]

My question is this: if your ethnicity were not hispanic, then what would it be? And how would it change your life? I ask, because I can honestly say that I have never considered ethnicity when it comes to myself. I suppose if I lived in a different country I might consider it. Is ethnicity only relevant when one's ethnicity is in the minority?

[Tim]

3. Has anyone ever wondered why Joseph Smith had a brother named "Don Carlos?"

I've been joking for years that that will be the first question I ask Lucy Mack Smith if I meet her in the afterlife. Did she have a confidential Spanish lover? Was there a band of traveling gypsies in the area at the time? The name simply baffles me.

[ewth8tr]

Due to my love of Mexican Coke, I consider myself Hispanic, as well.

[Tim]

Due to my love of Mexican Coke, I consider myself Hispanic, as well.

Mexican Coke is amazing. I've enjoyed seeing it grow in popularity in the US over the last several years. I wonder how long Coca-Cola Corp will go before introducing an actual "Mexican Coke" product into the US market. They can sell it as a premium beverage at a higher price point.

[Parrot Head]

Mexican Coke is amazing. I've enjoyed seeing it grow in popularity in the US over the last several years. I wonder how long Coca-Cola Corp will go before introducing an actual "Mexican Coke" product into the US market. They can sell it as a premium beverage at a higher price point.

I completely agree. On the flip side, the Coke I've had in Europe has been amazingly disappointing. In The Netherlands, it barely tastes like Coke and I've learned to say no to the urge to give it just one more try when over there.

[Mormon Red Death]

Due to my love of Mexican Coke, I consider myself Hispanic, as well.

that's funny I always heard the columbians have the best stuff.

[wuapinmon]

This is actually surprising to me. I wonder if the reaction were different if you lived in a Hispanic cultural center....Los Angeles, Arizona, or even Texas. Chicano pride in SoCal is very real.

No way that the older set will ever buy into your theory.

It is hard to describe. I say do whatever makes you happiest but be prepared for some, if not many, to find your self-designation to be inaccurate.

Ultimately, if you love the culture, that is all that matters.

Agreed to your last sentence there. I am certainly Hispanicized. I'm trying to create the basis for a roundtable discussion at my college about this issue, with the goal being that I can help students get rid of the black/white dichotomy of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. If ethnicity, and race, are cultural constructs, then the exclusionary pressures asserted on each other by the statistically similar populations here are also cultural constructs, with no basis in "nature" as some extol, and therefore, really, implausible. In short, I want us to all get along and stop worrying about "what" we are vs "who" we are. If I can create a debate called, "Is Don Mac Hispanic?" I think it could do a lot for the campus population.

My question is this: if your ethnicity were not hispanic, then what would it be? And how would it change your life? I ask, because I can honestly say that I have never considered ethnicity when it comes to myself. I suppose if I lived in a different country I might consider it. Is ethnicity only relevant when one's ethnicity is in the minority?

I am Anglo-Saxon. That's my ethnicity. Race is white, ethnicity is Anglo-sajón. Ethnicity is relevant in many places besides America. Here it doesn't come up as often in the majority, but that isn't the case in the rest of the world, which is far more divisive in its view of the world.

[I.J. Reilly]

Agreed to your last sentence there. I am certainly Hispanicized. I'm trying to create the basis for a roundtable discussion at my college about this issue, with the goal being that I can help students get rid of the black/white dichotomy of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. If ethnicity, and race, are cultural constructs, then the exclusionary pressures asserted on each other by the statistically similar populations here are also cultural constructs, with no basis in "nature" as some extol, and therefore, really, implausible. In short, I want us to all get along and stop worrying about "what" we are vs "who" we are. If I can create a debate called, "Is Don Mac Hispanic?" I think it could do a lot for the campus population.

While I admire your goal here, perhaps there are unintended consequences that might arise. The thought might be that if ethnicity is fluid, it is easier to kick people out of the group, after all, they aren't manifesting such a strong desire to belong. Then you create kids without identities that have been rejected by one group but not accepted by another. Ethnic refugees. This already happens in black culture (yes, I realize I am conflating the terms) with the group saying, "He's not black enough!" and demanding conformity. If the ethnicity/culture is more fluid, it's even easier to get rid of undesirables and homogenize the group. More kids w/o identities creates a more fractured and alone society than we already have.

[wuapinmon]

While I admire your goal here, perhaps there are unintended consequences that might arise. The thought might be that if ethnicity is fluid, it is easier to kick people out of the group, after all, they aren't manifesting such a strong desire to belong. Then you create kids without identities that have been rejected by one group but not accepted by another. Ethnic refugees. This already happens in black culture (yes, I realize I am conflating the terms) with the group saying, "He's not black enough!" and demanding conformity. If the ethnicity/culture is more fluid, it's even easier to get rid of undesirables and homogenize the group. More kids w/o identities creates a more fractured and alone society than we already have.

I think I have to try because I view this consequence as remote, and the benefit of what I'm doing as impacting.

[wuapinmon]

http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=111

[Commando]

Mexican Coke is amazing. I've enjoyed seeing it grow in popularity in the US over the last several years. I wonder how long Coca-Cola Corp will go before introducing an actual "Mexican Coke" product into the US market. They can sell it as a premium beverage at a higher price point.

I keep my beverage fridge stocked w/ Mexican Coke. Available at Costco in bulk as a premium beverage at a higher price point.

[UtahDan]

Just for the record, I think you can be Hispanic wuap. It makes me think back to high school to a skinny white kid who we had a word for that I would be ashamed to now admit which was indicative of the fact that he wanted only to associate with the black kids and be as "black" as he could be. This included dialect, clothing, dating choices and even the way he walked and carried himself.

I remember at least one occasion when a another black took him on and started down the "why are you trying to be black" road and his black friends immediately defended him and said "he is blacker than you are."

It also makes me think of Dances with Wolves and some of the real life stories of white men who "turned injun." If a person decides to immerse them self in a culture such that the culture accepts him as one of their own, then I say they have become that ethnicity. I might stop short of saying you can chose that for yourself, but I would definitely say that if a good chunk of Hispanic community accepts you as Hispanic, what better evidence is there than you are?