A note before I begin: technically, the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” (short for “Latino American”) group all Spanish- AND Portuguese-speaking America, sometimes even including Spain and Portugal. However, the way these terms are used today varies greatly, particularly for U.S. government agencies. And when I say America, I refer to the continent, not the United States.
Here in the U.S., every time there is a census or when we are close to big elections, the word “Hispanic” resurfaces... but what does it mean to be “Hispanic,” and why most “Hispanics don’t want to self-identify as such? I think that part of the answer lies in the multiracial, multicultural, multiethnic make-up of Latin America, and Chapter 14 does a nice job at illustrating how the mixed races came to be, as well as highlighting the social impact of these differences.
The different unions in different parts of the conquered territories (Portuguese or Spaniards with natives and with African slaves) led to the multiracial landscape we see today in Brazil and in Spanish-speaking countries. As Strayer briefly touches on, it also led, from very early on, to a hierarchical social system that had long-term effects that last until today.
From personal experiences, in Argentina for example, the lighter skinned still enjoys more opportunities. Buenos Aires received a new wave of European immigrants (19th and 20th century), and its subsequent racial/ethnic mix created an even stronger disparity between people from the capital and people from the rest of the country. People from the capital city became not only whiter, but also more “European” in customs, and people from the rest of the country is seen as “darker” and less sophisticated in comparison. When people from the rest of the country move to the capital city in search for better opportunities, they face discrimination in many different forms. The “superiority” of the “European-like” still prevails. When the opposite happens, people from the capital city move to other provinces in search for an idyllic way of life away from the craziness of the capital, people from the provinces make the “capitalinos” feel like fish out of water, and they in turn get discriminated. However, if the “capitalinos” are lighter-skinned it is very likely they will still find jobs.
Now, if even within the same country (and I am sure Argentina is not the only country that suffers from the issues I just described) we have many different identities as a result of local variables, one can just imagine what happens if one throws in the bag another 20 or so other countries and territories, and then ask people to self-identify as “Hispanic” or “Latino.” Again, What do those labels mean??? In the minds of people, in the visual images one gets when faced with those words, it’s certainly more than what is described in a dictionary or in a census definition; and some people have a really hard time with that. Are Hispanics white? Are they brown? Is being Hispanic a race? If so, what are the characteristics of that race? Spanish-speaking people from 21 countries and territories cannot be grouped into one “Hispanic race” simply because we don’t have much more in common other than the language and a handful of customs. To illustrate this point, the fact that there were no major civilizations like the Aztecs or the Incas** settled in Argentina already makes our societal make-up very different from that of Peru or Mexico. Argentina received very little African slave influx, and they mostly perished during our civil wars or the yellow fever epidemic, therefore their impact and legacy is very weak compared to that in Cuba, for example. Do we in these four countries (Cuba, Argentina, Mexico, Peru) have much in common? No. Just because we speak the same language or happened to be conquered by Iberians does not mean we belong in the same group, nor do we necessarily have a shared identity. Labeling destroys identities, it gets to the core of who one is, even if it is for a good reason. I understand that in the U.S. there are actually benefits associated with identifying oneself as Hispanic, but at the same time it is an uncomfortable feeling for many. I don’t have mighty Aztec blood or Kongo-Angolan rhythms flowing through my veins, but I am still ME. I think that this chapter explains why millions of “Hispanics” refuse racial categorization, for example for the census... And I haven't talked about how Brazilians feel about it!
**(although the Incas conquered a fraction of the Argentinian northwest under the Tupa(c) Inca expansion)
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