Or a Latino? Which is a race, which is a cultural distinction? Where do Brazilians fit into all of this??? What if your parents are from Europe but you were born in Argentina and your only language is Spanish??? What if your parents are from Mexico but you were born in the US and your only language is English??? What if we were allowed to check up to five different boxes for race/ethnicity on the census? (Southern New Hampshire University)ethnicity, hispanic, latino, race
brilliant question, taylor.
ReplyDeletesince no one yet has posted, i'd like to share an answer to this question that a salvadorenyo once told me: latinos are a mixture of everyone on the planet.
that sounds a lot like what i heard growing up in the seventies, when 'race-consciousness' was first becoming a concept fit for polite conversation: that latinos were 'cosmic,' the children of the old and new worlds.
as such we are inherently liminal. between and among two different (and oppositional?) categories.
dkp
Great post Taylor, and definitely one that brings up far more quesstions than answers.
ReplyDeleteBusiness magazine "Diversity Inc." covered the issue of Hispanic/Latino identity in September. It's a good article to check out (registration required): http://www.diversityinc.com/members/login.cfm?hpage=17186.cfm&CFID=1373718&CFTOKEN=24909874