coolcat said:

I KNEW it was some kinda consipiracy or plot!

Teah there are lots of asians in North America, South America, and Australia.....what about Europe?

One thing I do notice about the latino men here (Cuban & Peurto Rican alike), and I'm totally not making this up, but there's a large number per capita that aren't very tall and have very nice compact, tight asses. I mean, like beautiful asses.

Does anyone else notice this? (before I get flamed, I am totally not saying this as a joke--I mean I'm totally serious. There's a large number of them that posses this feature...relatively short height...very tight ass.)

MoniGram said:

Yep. My parents worked in agriculture, cannery's, you name it. They said they did it for me, their only child. Yes, that's right. I'm an only child. (heehee).

Like any other race there are stereotypes. I fit into some but not into others.

I think I have a grasp on it, but could y'all break down the difference between Hispanic and Latino for a bruh? And where both might be used, which do you prefer?

One misconception is that there is a single, universal position -- or even two completely opposed positions -- of Cubanos on the Cuban Cultural Revolution and Castro legacy. Their nuanced experience is rarely colored by the all-or-nothing assessments we hear so often thrown around by either political pole.

My parents were very hard workers god bless their soul. They each worked 2 jobs, to feed 4 kids and have the american dream, own a home. They came here legally and worked their asses off, my Dad was a construction worker, and he cleaned pools after his day job. My Mom worked in a hotel and took in sewing in the evenings. They managed to buy a home, feed 4 kids, and take us to Disneyland once every year. Their proudest moment was when they became U.S. Citizens!

veronikka said:

I think that what you have here is the difference between Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans or Chicanos. Mexican immigrants (legal or not) are the one's that come to the United States to work. That is their whole main goal. They want to work. The Chicanos or American-born Mexicans seem to be the ones that join gangs, deal drugs and rely on government assistance. Of course that is only a small portion of us (I am Chicano) but it makes the rest of us look bad. And Chicanos aren't the only ethnic group relying on government assistance. You can say the same for Black and White America. Most Mexican-Americans I know went to public schools and either graduated high school or college and hold down regular day jobs like myself. It's awkward to be a Chicano working at a nice bank with a desk and computer and see my immigrant counterpart emptying out my trash. As an American, that is a job I don't want to do. I was born a United States citizen but when I hear people complaining about immigrants "stealing our jobs" I feel like that's just total bullshit.

that only people who speak spanish can claim to be Latin.

My proudest Latino moment is right now, our grandparents and parents worked manual jobs for little money. Our next generation, my son, my nieces and nephews are all professionals.

Lammastide said:

To me (100% pure Mexican), those two terms are interchangable. It's kind of like saying "Black" people or "African American".
However, just like there are many types of "black" persons, ie Cubans, Nigerians, Ethiopians etc, there are many types of latinos ie Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Brazilians. etc.

I hate when latina women are always portrayed as crazy-ass Rosie Perez types

Revolution said:

Yep

Lammastide said:

This argument is very complex. I was FOR being Latino and not Hispanic but I just read this interesting article that makes the issue even more complex. Now I'm thoroughly confused.

I'm a citizen of the world. That is all.

fluid said:

That for some reason we know what it's like to cross the Rio Grande, a hot desert, or picking fruits/vegetables in hot fields.
I say this because when I was in high school all the Latin kids got a letter with a survey of these questions.

I've never understood the whole "their taking our jobs" argument or they're illegally crossing the border...

#1 If it was your job, they wouldn't have it. They're doing the work the Irish, Polish, German, African American, Eastern European all once did.

#2 Sorry, Arizona, Texas and California ARE ALL MEXICO. Deal with it.

I love the culture, the families and the people of Mexico that I've had the pleasure of really knowing. Now Spain, that's a different story that I know little about.

Slave2daGroove said:

Not on any map that matters today. Sorry. That's like saying NY, Michigan & Minnesota are all Canada.

Slave2daGroove said:

Don't forget Colorado (Red) and Nevada (Snowy). Heehee!!!

Arizona,Cali, and Texas are almost Mexico. Despite they face that Mexico gave them up over 100 years ago they still have alot ooof mexicans and culture.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

What? An only child! What kind of Mexican are you? J/K

My hat is off to your parents!!!!

fluid said:

it's American culture. remember salsa is the most purchased condiment in the US.

In Florida, I lived within the Latino community for many years, so for a long time I never had any idea of what people's misconceptions were OUTSIDE of that community. I remember before I went at the end of the 80's, everyone in my little northern enclave was having a fit and questioning why I wanted to go and be around a bunch of Miami Vice wannabe Puerto-Ricans who were playing "Scarface" That was the only thng I had heard in terms of misconceptions for years. I guess they thought that every Latino in Miami was a drug dealer, or Puerto Rican. Outside of Miami Sound Machine, Chico and the Man or The Girl from Ipanema, phrases like "Cuban-American", "Mexican-American",or "Brazilian-American" (as well as others) hadn't even REMOTELY made it into mainstream cultural lexicon yet.

Now that I've moved to Europe,I find that there is a similar lack of understanding in the differences amongst Latino cultures...for example, it always irritaes me to no end when I prepare Mexican or Cuban food and people don't undersand that there's a DIFFERENCE in between the 2 countries in spices, ingredients,preparation, ect...it's like they all think it's only rice, chicken, and beans that you just throw on a plate, they have NO clue on the subtleties of each cuisine whatsoever and that gets under my skin to no end . The same is true regarding music. Ask anyone here to tell the difference between a cumbia, mariachi, rhumba, or bossa nova song, and it's all over. I was listening to an Elis Regina live cd one day, the band was doing a straight up JAZZ VAMP, FUSION for God sakes, and because of her singing (in Portuguese I must add), and they thought I was listening to MARIACHI music....?

One thing that I learned from being within the Latino community though, is that they are NOT a monolithic people, all Latinos are not unified in life experience nor life and political agenda, and it shocked the SHIT out of me to learn that there even is inter-cultural racism in their community. Two of my best girlfriends are 37+ years old Latina with black mothers and white European dads;they have told me stories about their life experiences, and how they view the history and current events regarding latin-American inter-cultural racism that are pretty harsh. Additionally, when I lived in Miami I became very accustomed to hearing Cuban and Puerto-Rican acquaintances bash the hell out of Mexicans and South Americans that were Indian or patial Indian descent. It was like the worst thing you could possibly be was"Indian" or to have "have Indian blood", they got talked about nastily as if they were beasts or aliens from outer space . I didn't understand it at the time, but given my own history as a black woman in the United States where color politics have been part of our cultural DNA for centuries, I should have been quicker to grasp it all, I guess

fluid said:

This is all I was saying.

ehuffnsd said:

What's american culture? So far as I can tell we came from a whole bunch of countries. Even hotdogs and BBQ which are eaten on The 4th of July are from other cultures.

So you'd be correct by saying Mexican-American culture. Salsa can't be the most purchased condiment.....maybe in California. I can't even say it is here in Texas.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

This chick I dated from Belize said "Hispanic" was a name the government came up with to group them all together and that the correct term is "Latino". Can anyone verify any of that?

I have a crush on an Org Latina!!

I have a crush on an Org Latina!!

DexMSR said:

OMG, who?!

thekidsgirl said:

we took her Latina card away a long time ago..