Originally Posted by ilbegone
I have to go back to what exactly is the "Latino community" and the race obsessionists who presume to speak for it.
Flip it over.
What is the "white community" in America? You have people of all personality ranges and temperaments. There are various regional differences with respect to customs, traditions, social expectations and what is considered to be polite to get along - and what really constitutes hypocrisy. A Cajun, Californian, and someone from New Jersey might find it uncomfortable to be in one anothers company until they get past their preconceptions and local expectations and get to know one another.
Within all that are honest, upright people and dishonest hacks; hard working people, lazy slackers; generous saints, shameless opportunists;various degrees of religious belief, or not; political belief from anarchism to all forms of totalitarianism; eco-terrorists to gross polluters; and more.
Then there are immigrants and visitors, who may or may not be legal, from Europe who's second language is English and all they bring within themselves; and all the English speakers from the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.
At times, we can have trouble understanding the other's dialect of "English" around the English speaking world.
Then imagine a loose group of white American supremacist racists who appoint themselves to speak for the whole above group while inserting themselves into education, government, and social services to promote their racial agenda, and the media kisses their asses while carrying their water.
Flip it back over with two languages and fours types of communication: English only, bilingual with English as the first language (High school Castilian Spanish is not by any means Mexican Spanish), bilingual with Spanish as the first language and Spanish only.
Add to that the various dialects - even within just one country - derived in different degrees from 15th and 16th century Castilian and Andalusian dialects mixed with widely different Indian words and different non Hispanic European words from other migrations and the occasional pretension - to the point of mutual uninteligibility; differing local customs within the umbrella culture; and old national wounds, suspicions, and dislikes.
And all the different foods, from Northern Mexico to Southern Mexico to Central America to Venezuela to Colombia to Equador to Peru to Bolivia to Chile and Argentina.
Consider that Bolivia is to Argentina what Mexico is to the United States as Guatemala is to Mexico as well.
Then there are the "Latinos" who's families have been in the US for generations, whether or not there is a vestige of Latin America remaining, and those who are derived from two cultures and belong to neither one. As well, for various reasons, there is often friction between Mexican nationals and Americans with Mexican ancestors - they aren't the same people.
Then a loose group of brown American supremacist racists who appoint themselves to speak for the whole above group while inserting themselves into education, government, and social services to promote their racial agenda, and the media kisses their asses while carrying their water.
Palm trees to Cactus, Cubans aren't Mexicans and Bolivians aren't Argentinians, "Mexican - Americans" aren't Mexican - and not one foreign national from any country in Latin America is "Latino" or "Hispanic" until that person is in the United States and classified by others as such - They will identify by nationality. As well a "Latino" can be of any race or mixture, any culture, or speak any language, have any political belief, believe in any religion, be American born and still be a "Latino".
"Latino" and "Hispanic" is an American fiction, born of lazy convenience and identity politics.
Think about it.
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