discussion Latin American people: "You're not a Latino if you don't speak Spanish"... thoughts?

[Archetype]

I think it depends on how close they are to their ancestral culture.  It's weird because the US is a country full of Latino, European, and Asian immigrants.  Some are several generations down the line and still very integrated into the cultures of their ancestors (ex. Italian-Americans, especially Sicilian-Americans), whereas others are completely removed (Dutch, German, French, British descendants completely abandoning their ancestral cultures over time). 

 

I'm not Latino, so I can't really speak on how things are in the Latino-American communities, but I think it's important to denote if you are Latino-American, Italian-American, Chinese-American, etc if you were born or predominantly raised in the US.  However, because the US is so diverse, people often will say they are Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mexican, etc because they are referring to their ethnic background and DNA makeup, not their place of birth or first language.

[bad guy]

I don't get it. Is someone not Italian if they don't speak the language? Is someone not Arab if they don't know Arabic or didn't grow up in the Middle East? You can't just erase someone's ethnicity 

 

If you only claim Latin roots when trying to cash in on the Latin music trend and can't speak a lick of Spanish then yeah that's opportunistic and embarrassing but they're still technically Latino, no? 

[manwhore]

the same girlies from LAm, telling us latin Americans in the states we obsess over colorism, sex, religion and race but telling us we arent sh**. Im telling yall, some of yall are walking contradictions. Theyll be the first to uplift white blue-eyed european actors and claim them as their own though. Spanish or not.  

[blueberries]

that's dumb

[manwhore]

5 minutes ago, blueberries said:

that's dumb

please, context to this hit gif.  please direct me to the original footage because im intrigued. 

[Pandora30012]

I must admit I do side eye artists who suddenly started claiming their latino side and came out with spanish music when it become trendy. Despite not speaking a word spanish. But that doesnt take away they've always been latino. 

[Azulito]

I understand what the OP was saying but the way Haitians are constantly ignored in these conversations is lowkey racist. 

[Harrier]

I'm not Latino so take my opinion with a grain of salt - but does it really hurt to include those people? It's such a wide ass category anyway covering such a diverse number of ethnic groups & nationalities.

 

I understand the resentment with people like Selena Gomez who are descended from Latin Americans, but are completely white passing. There's a feeling that she has not had to face any of the adversity most latinos face in LATAM.

 

But what about brown or black Latinos that don't speak Spanish? They're certainly still being treated as Latinos in the US, that's for sure. I have a friend who is that and it feels spiteful to deny his Latino identity, he's still connected to Salvadoran culture even though he can't speak Spanish well.

 

 

 

[manwhore]

1 minute ago, Harrier said:

I'm not Latino so take my opinion with a grain of salt - but does it really hurt to include those people? It's such a wide ass category anyway covering such a diverse number of ethnic groups & nationalities.

 

I understand the resentment with people like Selena Gomez who are descended from Latin Americans, but are completely white passing. There's a feeling that she has not had to face any of the adversity most latinos face in LATAM.

 

But what about brown or black Latinos that don't speak Spanish? They're certainly still being treated as Latinos in the US, that's for sure. I have a friend who is that and it feels spiteful to deny his Latino identity, he's still connected to Salvadoran culture even though he can't speak Spanish.

 

 

 

good observation.  . 

[OneAndOnly]

Quote

If you don't speak Spanish, you can't consider yourself to be a Latino.

 

There’s hundreds of thousands if not millions of Latin American people who are born and raised in Latin American countries that speak NEITHER Spanish, Portuguese, or English but instead speak an indigenous language. So this is already incorrect.

I’m not here to gatekeep, if someone is of Latin American descent then yes they are Latin American. Sure not everyone is connected to their roots, may not speak the language of origin, and maybe a fourth generation Latin American descent US person is not the same as someone born and raised in LaAm, maybe they’re trying to pass off as more LaAm than they are for some sort of ulterior gain even… they’re still Latin American. 
 

Spoiler

It’s also hard for me to take this “movement” seriously when white Latin American people like in the first and third tik tok videos trying to gatekeep, as if they themselves aren’t privileged as well for being WHITE. At least the second tik tok makes sims valid points.

 

[CaptainMusic]

3 hours ago, fentypark said:

they made some points. i’m black but i don’t refer to myself as african-american bc neither me nor my parents have any close familial ties to africa. 

 

and this may be problematic but i question the blackness of black americans who don’t understand aave 

 
-

They’re Latino whether they speak Spanish or not. 

[Robert]

Poor Brazil I guess

[Oceania]

Well, they are not wrong. Cultures/nationalities aren't races and, therefore, immigrants' children born and raised in a different country are factually part of that new reality.

 

For instance, my mother's originally from the Seychelles but I can't consider myself a creole seselwa. I may not look like one, but I'm 100% european.

 

Not that actually care lol, I'm the least patriotic/proud/whatever person on the planet and this whole "reclaim my culture/identity/community" thing is pure nonsense.

[TheBoss]

Tbh the only thing I hate is the "latin influenced" pop songs that have been dropping non-stop since 2016, they're all awful and absolutely inescapable, como dijo Benito "les falta sazón".

 

 

 

Besides that yeah people like Lele pons or whatever that make being "latino/a/x" their entire personality arr annoying, but so are like 99.9% of the internet, so whatever 

[blueberries]

51 minutes ago, manwhore said:

please, context to this hit gif.  please direct me to the original footage because im intrigued. 

its an user avi but i think it's one of the c*ck destroyers meme woman 

[ProudLBS]

Yikes.

 

Even if you speak the language at home with your kids every day it’s hard to pass it down past the first generation, let alone in the case of mixed families.

 

And ‘Latino’ is not an ethnicity.

Edited June 22, 2022 by ProudLBS

[The7thStranger]

That's a very weak argument. What about people who have learning disabilities and struggle to learn one language let alone two? This is an argument I hear sometimes in my own circle in the debate between native-born Italians and Italians born abroad. Thankfully, it's not nearly as extreme with us as it seems to be here with people from Latin America. As important as language is, culture (and a willingness to learn) should be the deciding factor(s) here. If you are born into a culture, understand it, and you continue to uphold its values, I don't see what the problem is here.

[yamiyuuuu]

I don't think not speaking spanish/portuguese is enough to not consider someone latino, but it is important. What bothers me is when people who doesn't speak the language but also lived their entire lives as 'white' (meaning they've never embraced the culture) profit from their latino heritage when it's convenient. Examples of this are Christina Aguilera and Selena Gomez doing 'latin' EP's in which they basically cosplay as latinas, wearing flowers on their heads and using darker makeup and releasing reggaeton.

[Riot]

Language is a huge part of a culture. You can still appreciate it, but you'll never be part of it 100% imho.

[discreetinside]

What is this fake woke trending? 

 

This is just like you're not Chinese if you don't speak Mandarin and/or if you oppose ccp propaganda and support Taiwan independence.

Edited June 22, 2022 by discreetinside

[feelingsonfire]

1 hour ago, yamiyuuuu said:

I don't think not speaking spanish/portuguese is enough to not consider someone latino, but it is important. What bothers me is when people who doesn't speak the language but also lived their entire lives as 'white' (meaning they've never embraced the culture) profit from their latino heritage when it's convenient. Examples of this are Christina Aguilera and Selena Gomez doing 'latin' EP's in which they basically cosplay as latinas, wearing flowers on their heads and using darker makeup and releasing reggaeton.

Lol this is just not true, Selena embraced her latin heritage since day one and released Spanish music for her whole career

 

 

[manwhore]

Latin american to US born Latin Americans: 'You are not latin, no espanol jlo.  Jlo the white women wannabe."   

 

Also Latin american in native soil: "yass kween from France, we embrace you as our own because youre blonde white and beautiful and you say you love my country. --one of us. Espanol? She's learning it to do novelas!" 

 

 

Did i lie. You know i didnt and it will trigger you. 

Edited June 22, 2022 by manwhore

[bleuwaffle]

ehhhh i get the idea but this is stupid gatekeeping. while it is kind of shitty to profit off a culture you barely understand, your blood is still latino.

[brainmaniac]

1 hour ago, yamiyuuuu said:

I don't think not speaking spanish/portuguese is enough to not consider someone latino, but it is important. What bothers me is when people who doesn't speak the language but also lived their entire lives as 'white' (meaning they've never embraced the culture) profit from their latino heritage when it's convenient. Examples of this are Christina Aguilera and Selena Gomez doing 'latin' EP's in which they basically cosplay as latinas, wearing flowers on their heads and using darker makeup and releasing reggaeton.

Now this is a lie. Christina has never “cosplayed” as Latina. She isn’t fluent in Spanish, because she was raised primarily by her Irish mother after they left her abusive Ecuadorian father.  

 

But she never forgot her roots and has always proudly stated that she is Latina since the start of her career. She recorded a Spanish album at the very start of her career in 2000 and recorded various songs in Spanish after, so it’s not like she didn’t dabble in Latin music or embrace her culture until her new EPs.

 

Her label even pressured her to change her last name to something more Middle America appealing, knowing the racist attitudes many Americans have towards Latinos, but she refused.

 

 

[arceus]

At this point people are just hating on anything American related  as they should