A Hispanic Color ID Chart according to a Pew research:
I love “research” like this. Without having to go to the effort to read pages of “investigation”, you know there is a heavy political tint in it. And I am not accusing the researchers of malice at all, but it is simply what they have probably been taught: Race is color and color is the only to be considered in the interaction between people.
And that makes them ever so wrong. Hispanic is not skin tone based but culture based.
According to the chart, I am a Hispanic Number 2 Shade (I feel like I am a Revlon eyeliner all of the sudden) which makes me White. But when you use the word “White” in the US, you get the Anglo-Saxon connotation : English Language native, Protestant and enjoys the snow and Macy’s Parades. If you know a Hispanic, specially one born outside the US , you know that there is nothing ever so different with the same skin color than your Anglo and a Catholic, snow hating, soccer-watching Hispanic. And if you have a lot of Hispanic friends, you know our skin color comes in Crayola box variety.
And then, to make things more confusing, Hispanics get balkanized per country/region: You may sit me in between to an equally “melaninized” male from Uruguay and a dark black lesbian from Dominican Republic and I will have more things in common with the woman than the male simply because we were raised in the Caribbean basin sphere of influence. From the accent of your Spanish to the commonalities in the food we eat and the music we hear, we share many similar aspects, including the deep envy for the quality of beef the Uruguayan bastard has access to, allegedly some of the best if not the best in the world.
And then, if you really want to be confused, add the immigrant aspect to the Latino mix. Argentina has a well known German immigrant history, Brazil somewhat less. Peru has a lot of Japanese descendants and Venezuela had a lot of people coming from the Middle east back in the late 1800s, early 1900 which for some obscure reason were always tagged as “Turcos” (Turkish) even if the were from Saudi. Now and to get even more confusing, add the European refugees from the wars of Mid 20th Century and you will have kids from different colors and cultural backgrounds whose parents and grandparents came all over the world, but they themselves identify as Hispanic because they speak Spanish, live in Latin America and even they do maintain cultural ties with their parent’s land of origin, they have the commonality of the culture they grew up with. And because of some sort unexplainable magic, all balances.
Trying to shoehorn Latinos into a politically-motivated racial mold is a fool’s errand, but one that provide us with many chances of laughter.
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