African-American=bad, Mexican=good??

[Alobar]

I refuse to use the term African-American, because I think its stupid, and the people who use it are just PC monkeys. Obviously not all black people are americans, and not all africans are black. I'm white, he's black, end of story. But this has been gone over already.

I realized tho that I refer to everyone from south of the border as Mexican. Shoudlnt that be equally as stupid a term? Not everyone with darker skin who speaks spanish is from mexico. So why don't I use the term "hispanic", which seems to be at least a little better in terms of definition.

The thing is tho, I've lived in the southwest my whole life, my best friend and many of my other friends are Mexican/hispanic, they all refer to themselves as Mexicans, and when anyone out here talks, regardless of what race they are, thats the term they use to describe somone who appears to be Mexican. The only time the term "hispanic" is used, is when a newspaper or the news is trying to be PC. Then there is the whole "latino" thing. I looked Latino and Hispanic up, and they are basically the same word. NO ONE out here uses the word "latino", but from what I understand thats the term used on the east coast and especially in florida.

So what the hell? Am I hypocrite for not using the term African-American but using the term Mexican? Should I start refering to everyone as Hispanic or Latino? Is this just one of those things I shouldnt try and comprehend?

What are others opinions or feelings on this subject?

[illunious]

African American is 7 syllables, way easier to say black. If the PC term was "afc" and you used "black" instead, then maybe.

If you know of a polite 1 syllable word for mexican, then go ahead and use it.

[istewart]

All I know is that I enjoy calling Lennox Lewis African-American.

[CallMeIshmael]

[ QUOTE ]
NO ONE out here uses the word "latino"

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never heard it used either. Outside of porn related activities.

[ChoicestHops]

I never say African American, and I wont start. Im a caucasian, but Im white. You dont need to be politically correct.

Here, however, alot of Mexicans I have met like to be called Latino.

[gorie]

i only know 1 mexican and i usually just go with referring to him as 'sexican' cuz he's sexy.

[ChoicestHops]

Me and my mexican buddy at work call each other perro.

[David04]

[ QUOTE ]
If you know of a polite 1 syllable word for mexican, then go ahead and use it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Is Juan okay?




I'm sorry that wasn't very nice of me.

[Lazymeatball]

On the east coast we use the term hispanic of latino instead of mexican, because for the most part the people who speak spanish over here aren't from mexico.

[Mr_Gordon]

My gf is full blooded mexican. She is from AZ and when I refer to someone on t.v. as mexican she gets mad because I don't know where their from. She prefers the term Hispanic. However her mom hates the word Hispanic. I think people are just way to touchy about race in general(but thats probably because I'm white).

[wacki]

Mexico exists. In Mexico there are people called Mexicans.

Africo America is a figment of some overly sensitive imagination.

Ignorance is not the same as stupidity.

[Eurotrash]

[ QUOTE ]
If you know of a polite 1 syllable word for mexican, then go ahead and use it.

[/ QUOTE ]


not one syllable, and probably not polite, but how about "ese"


That's actually pretty cool slang, it's fun to say

[JaBlue]

ese is good.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]

If you know of a polite 1 syllable word for mexican, then go ahead and use it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Spic.

[The Goober]

I agree that african-american is a stupid term.

But, calling everyone from central or south america "mexican" is really stupid. Do you call all asian people "chinese"?

And what does one have to do with the other, anyway?

[turnipmonster]

in my experiences in texas (mostly houston) and nyc, non-mexican latinos (colombians, peruvians, etc) get very very offeneded if you refer to them as mexican.

[nothumb]

Where I work (which is with mostly black people) I was talking about a black kid in front of a Nigerian kid. For some reason I described this black kid as African American. The Nigerian kid said, "Look, I'm African American. That nigga is black. Get it straight."

So I say black now, too.

Calling anyone from SOTB "Mexican" is weak sauce. If he's your friend, learn where he's from. I don't know about you, but around here there are a lot of people from Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador, etc, who would not want to be called "Mexicans."

NT

[Arnfinn Madsen]

On a side note, I walked into a shop today being the only white man; and a black man and a pakistani were discussing how many white immigrants have arrived lately and that they run into them everywhere. It was a bit strange to hear but a reminder that we (whites) thinks that everybody except us belong to a race while we are sort of the norm. Arrogant.

[ClaytonN]

"In Texas, if your name is Carlos, you're a Mexican. In Florida, you're a Cuban. In New York, you're a Puerto Rican. And I come here and I find out I'm an Eskimo." -- Carlos Mencia

[PLOlover]

What about the feminist scum who start yelling at you for saying oriental and telling you you must say asian?

[StacysMom]

Latino is the best term. This past semester I actually took a Latino studies class. Hispanic is the label the gov't imposed. Latino means from Latin America and is the term the aforementioned ppls chose.

[jakethebake]

Mexican refers to nationality, like Canadian. Living in the Southwest, pretty much every hispanic person you meet happens to be Mexican. It's the same in Texas. Moving to Miami has blown me away. The various latin cultures, ethnicities are actually very different. But I occasionally do find myself stereotyping them as Mexicans out of habit...I'm working on it.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
My gf is full blooded mexican.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hilarious.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
What about the feminist scum who start yelling at you for saying oriental and telling you you must say asian?

[/ QUOTE ]

So is gookamenese out too?

[maryfield48]

Get over yourself Alobar.

[xadrez]

So would you be bothered if someone decided to refer to all white North Americans as "Canadians"?

[FouTight]

[ QUOTE ]
So would you be bothered if someone decided to refer to all white North Americans as "Canadians"?

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't even describe how much that wouldn't bother me. I think that would be absoutely hysterical.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
So would you be bothered if someone decided to refer to all white North Americans as "Canadians"?

[/ QUOTE ]

That would just be stupid. We white Americans look nothing like Canadians.

[M2d]

what if you put a texan in a toque, give him a molsons and a cruller? would you be able to tell the difference?

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
what if you put a texan in a toque, give him a molsons and a cruller? would you be able to tell the difference?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. If you tried to do this, the Texan would be the one pointing the gun at you.

[M2d]

given the choice between facing down a bible thumping, nra card carrying texan and a crazed fur trapper who hasn't seen the sun or another human for the past few months, I take my chances with the texan.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
given the choice between facing down a bible thumping, nra card carrying texan and a crazed fur trapper who hasn't seen the sun or another human for the past few months, I take my chances with the texan.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what this means? Choice? What does this have to do with trying to make a Texan eat crullers and wear funny hats? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[jedi]

[ QUOTE ]
I never say African American, and I wont start. Im a caucasian, but Im white. You dont need to be politically correct.


[/ QUOTE ]

There's a difference between being "politically correct", and just being plain wrong. For yourself, you are both caucasian and white. For some black people, they may not be African, nor American so I feel blindly calling black people "African-American" is being PC at best, wrong at worst unless you KNOW that they're both African and American. If I'm generalizing, I won't use that term unless it has importance, such as their rights within the country. If I'm talking about police racism, for example, I'll say a person is "black" because racist cops won't care if a black person is African nor American.

Likewise, I'll refrain from calling someone "Mexican" unless I know they're from Mexico. Latinos in the SouthWest probably just grouped themselves as Mexicans because they figure gringos don't know any better.

That having been said, the term "Asian," "Chinese," or "Asian-American" is fine when describing me.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Latinos in the SouthWest probably just grouped themselves as Mexicans because they figure gringos don't know any better.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think they've grouped themselves that way. That's the way gringos think fo them, and in the Southwest 99.9% of the time they're correct.

[Rhone]

I don't understand what the big deal is. First of all, just because African American does not equal black, does not mean that either or both of these terms should be thrown away. Same thing for Latino/Mexican/Hispanic. Simply use these terms where they are appropriate and don't use them where they're not.

African American should be used the same way Irish American is used, to denote an American whose ancestors came here from Africa/Ireland.

Black refers generally to physical characteristics.

A tourist from Ghana is not African American, he is African.
An American citizen whose parents were born in Haiti is not African American, he's Haitian-American. An American citizen who traces his ancestry to slaves who were brought here in the 17th century from Africa is African American. All three can be black, though.

As far as I understand, Hispanic and Latino are generally interchangeable words that refer to someone who's mother tongue is Spanish. (though I'm not sure if someone from Spain would count as Latino).

Within that category there are Mexicans, Guatemalans, etc. Again, just use whatever term is appropriate for the situation, and which denotes the level of specificity or generality you're trying to convey.

[jakethebake]

Who the hell talks about Irish Americans?

[Rhone]

Irish Americans is a very commonly used and commonly understood term. Do a google search on it.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

You are so [censored] stupid.

Hispanic = someone who speaks Spanish
Latino = someone from Latin America

Sorry if this has already been said, but even it has, it's worth saying again. Get a [censored] dictionary and figure out the right word to use, idiot.

Or just ask the people you're refering to what they like to be called. They will probably say, "James" or whatever their name is.

[Censored]-head, this is not the kind of [censored] you poll a bunch of pale, male, nerd poker players about!

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Irish Americans is a very commonly used and commonly understood term. Do a google search on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure if anyone ever talked about an Irish American, I'd understand what they were talking about. I just wonder why anyone would?

[DBowling]

i use "hispanic" unless i know the country of origin

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
[Censored]-head, this is not the kind of [censored] you poll a bunch of pale, male, nerd poker players about!

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you really just type:

[Censored]?

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
You are so [censored] stupid.

Hispanic = someone who speaks Spanish
Latino = someone from Latin America

Sorry if this has already been said, but even it has, it's worth saying again. Get a [censored] dictionary and figure out the right word to use, idiot.

Or just ask the people you're refering to what they like to be called. They will probably say, "James" or whatever their name is.

[Censored]-head, this is not the kind of [censored] you poll a bunch of pale, male, nerd poker players about!

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, who shat in ure cereal? I asked the question because I am interested in what other people who live in other parts of the country/world think about the subject. Because im sure its very different than what the people in my area think about the subject.

And while your are mentioning google and dictionary terms, try looking them up for yourself fucktard, cuz you didnt even get them right.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

[ QUOTE ]
Did you really just type:

[Censored]?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes. It's not funny?

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Did you really just type:

[Censored]?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes. It's not funny?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's very funny.

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Irish Americans is a very commonly used and commonly understood term. Do a google search on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure if anyone ever talked about an Irish American, I'd understand what they were talking about. I just wonder why anyone would?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I guess you'd have to ask an Irish American. But it's not too surprising, is it? It doesn't take much more than a cursory look at the world around us to realize that ethnicity has a pretty strong hold on people's understanding of their identity.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

[ QUOTE ]
And while your are mentioning google and dictionary terms, try looking them up for yourself fucktard, cuz you didnt even get them right.


[/ QUOTE ]

uh, yes I did:

[ QUOTE ]
His·pan·ic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (h-spnk)
adj.
Of or relating to Spain or Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Of or relating to a Spanish-speaking people or culture.

n.
A Spanish-speaking person.
A U.S. citizen or resident of Latin-American or Spanish descent.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
La·ti·no ( P ) Pronunciation Key (l-tn, l-, lä-)
n. pl. La·ti·nos
A Latin American.
A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States.

[/ QUOTE ]

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
It doesn't take much more than a cursory look at the world around us to realize that ethnicity has a pretty strong hold on people's understanding of their identity.

[/ QUOTE ]

We're <insert ethnicity here> and proud of it. We <insert ethinicity here> have a rich cultural history of <insert whatever you want to here>...but please don't stereotype us. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I guess you'd have to ask an Irish American.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought they were pretty much just like any other drunk, brawling, white firemen/policemen, except on St. Patty's day when they seem to come out of the woodwork.

[Alobar]

yeah, looks like pretty much same word to me, not some giant distinction like you made it out to sound.

I'd love to see you walk up to a spaniard and call him hispanic tho just cuz he speaks spanish. The ass kicking you would receive would be funny to watch.

[lucas9000]

this is pretty informative. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic#Synonyms_and_antonyms)

[Bulldog]

I have a friend who is Colombian who is offended when someone calls him "Mexican".