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

[bliaz]

5 minutes ago, Robburro said:

Então o Brasil virou um país europeu?

I explained two months ago. I'm don't want to revive an old discussion.

 

Brazil is the exception, they live in Latin America, this applies mostly to those born/raised in the U.S. of Latino parents and have become detached from their roots and do not speak Spanish/Brazilian Portuguese but only say they are Latino because "it's trendy".

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by bliaz

[StarsAllAligned]

Latino is a pointless title anyways, that term and the term “Latin America” were created by the French in the 1800s to find a connection between Iberians in the Americas and France. It groups racially and culturally diverse places in two continents that share no real connection to one another aside from being colonized by Iberians. 

[DoubleRainbow!]

I was born and currently living in a Latin American country and when I see those people arguing on social media about Latinos born in a first world country, I can feel some kind of jealousy and resentment against them for not having to go through all the **** and lack of opportunities like we do in our third world countries. 

 

And since they have a point, I also feel for those born in the US, Canada, etc. who actually love and admire their roots and I can't imagine being told that I'm not something that I thought I was all my life.

[Great808]

Latino people need to start labeling themselves as their mother race and stop hiding behind Latino, that would humble a lot of Latino’s particularly the White ones

[Ombre]

2 hours ago, Great808 said:

Latino people need to start labeling themselves as their mother race and stop hiding behind Latino, that would humble a lot of Latino’s particularly the White ones

What mother race?

[Ombre]

Latinos in Latin America should not be policing people who identify as Latino but live in Canada/US. There is no real way for them to know who is doing it for clout, or because it is trendy, and who is doing it because they want to embrace their roots. People do not take the white-phenotypic whitewashed non-spanish speaking self-identified Latinos as an accurate representation of the Latin American experience anyway. 

 

Both of my friend's parents are latinos and although he can perfectly understand spanish, but can barely speak it, he does not identify with a lot of aspects of what he considers being Latino. He says he doesn't like spicy food, the machismo/gender relations or the religion of his parents' home country. And yet when we started our first year in hs the first thing somebody said when they saw him come in was "*** why are there so many Mexicans here dude?". Identifying as Latino outside of Latin America is a meaningful and appropriate label because it expresses a cultural experience and sense of otherness. 

 

Maybe some cute moniker can be given to 1st/2nd gen latinos who embrace their roots but want to distinguish their experiences from those of Latinos living in Latin America

[Relampago.]

As a Latino who speaks Spanish, I personally don't base other Latino's identities on the language of the colonizer, so no you can still be Latino if you don't speak Spanish. If we want to engage in that kind of conversation, I'd say they're not Hispanic, but can still be Latino.

 

If they are not attached to Latino culture in any capacity whether that be in their cultural practices or phenotype (mestizo, indigenous, Afro-latino, etc), then yeah they aren't "technically" latino I guess. It's annoying that Latinos have to make these arbitrary distinctions anyways though, because Latinidad being based in culture/ethnicity when Mexicans have more in common with Southwestern US than Cubans, but both are Latino anyways is just  

 

Being 'Latino' is whatever you personally want it to be, 99% of Latinos do not care about this topic and identify as their nationality/ancestral background anyways

 

EDIT: WaiT, I just watched the TikToks in the OP-- not this WHITE ass man trying to gatekeep being Latino  This is why I have such trouble with the term "Latino" cause not only is it ambiguous, but if that man does not open his mouth and walks around the US, not a single soul is gonna say a thing to him about anything. Meanwhile, a White woman like Rosalia would be more likely to get discriminated against cause she looks "more Latina" despite not being Latina at all. It's all such a dumb concept. Be who you want, and do what you want, I guarantee the people who care about this at all are .01% of the Latino population anyways.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Relampago.