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It seems that Mexicans have lot of names for us. None of them very flattering. What's the problem?
No problem, really...it's a matter of culture. Culture is EVERYTHING, and has the power to elicit probably the strongest emotions we experience....and most of the time, cultures do NOT 'translate' very well.
Mexican culture (particularly the 'lower classes) is HEAVY with 'nicknames' of every description, and for every occasion. Friends, relatives, workmates, and even sometimes strangers will give each other descriptive nicknames that would probably cause great offense in the 'anglo' culture up here; yet, in that culture, no offense is intended, and none is taken.
OCCASIONALLY, in anglo-American culture, in certain settings, (mostly all-male),we may see just a little of this...in a military barracks, a sports team, an offshore oil rig...we MAY hear of a "Tex"...or a "Red"....or a "Pappy", etc...but normally, nicknames in Anglo culture aren't appreciated unless one knows the other very well.
In Mexico, however, such names as "baldy", "chubby", "whitey", "darkie", "curly", "blondie", "skinny", etc etc etc are freely assigned, even among casual acquaintances. In this context, "gringo", "guero", or "gabacho", while they may be informal, are hardly to be seen as offensive.
Up here, however, these terms CAN sound offensive....and so can many similar terms...because "up here", it's not part of the culture.
Cultural differences can be the most difficult of all differences to reconcile.
It seems that Mexicans have lot of names for us. None of them very flattering. What's the problem?
There isn't anything wrong with "estadounidense" or "americano". I have no problem being called either. I think it's mostly Mexicans in the USA that use the slur word "anglo" to lump all "white" Americans in one group as though everyone has one ethnicity. I don't think Mexicans in Mexico use it much.
No problem, really...it's a matter of culture. Culture is EVERYTHING, and has the power to elicit probably the strongest emotions we experience....and most of the time, cultures do NOT 'translate' very well.
Mexican culture (particularly the 'lower classes) is HEAVY with 'nicknames' of every description, and for every occasion. Friends, relatives, workmates, and even sometimes strangers will give each other descriptive nicknames that would probably cause great offense in the 'anglo' culture up here; yet, in that culture, no offense is intended, and none is taken.
OCCASIONALLY, in anglo-American culture, in certain settings, (mostly all-male),we may see just a little of this...in a military barracks, a sports team, an offshore oil rig...we MAY hear of a "Tex"...or a "Red"....or a "Pappy", etc...but normally, nicknames in Anglo culture aren't appreciated unless one knows the other very well.
In Mexico, however, such names as "baldy", "chubby", "whitey", "darkie", "curly", "blondie", "skinny", etc etc etc are freely assigned, even among casual acquaintances. In this context, "gringo", "guero", or "gabacho", while they may be informal, are hardly to be seen as offensive.
Up here, however, these terms CAN sound offensive....and so can many similar terms...because "up here", it's not part of the culture.
Cultural differences can be the most difficult of all differences to reconcile.
I think gabacho is always a negative word -- but some words describing physical traits may or may not be. I know within many families, they will call one child "La Guera", and a son "El Negro" and call another daughter "La Gorda" and apparently no one is offended.
And nicknames are the norm -- and they aren't just shorter version of the actual name. Nacho, Tacho, Tito, Pepe, Pancha, and so on-- but none are similar to the real name.
I've heard a lot of the use of the word "Anglo" in South Florida, typically used to distinguish between white cubans (and more recentlty, other white Spanish speaking descended populations such as Venezuelans and Argentinians) and the "rest" of the non-spanish speaking decent whites. Never really from Mexicans though.
Pop on over to the Miami, Florida forum and you'll actually have people refer to "Anglo/Cuban" marriages as INTERRACIAL, lol.
I've heard a lot of the use of the word "Anglo" in South Florida, typically used to distinguish between white cubans (and more recentlty, other white Spanish speaking descended populations such as Venezuelans and Argentinians) and the "rest" of the non-spanish speaking decent whites. Never really from Mexicans though.
Pop on over to the Miami, Florida forum and you'll actually have people refer to "Anglo/Cuban" marriages as INTERRACIAL, lol.
No wonder because the categories black-latino-asian-white are practically used on the same level thus each combination of them is considered interracial.
So you would not consider it interracial if this Cuban woman
Married this Anglo man
....so, are you saying if they did get married, and had their first argument, it would be a "Race Riot"?......sounds serious to me. We need to learn more about this, before we can give an opinion.
So you would not consider it interracial if this Cuban woman
Married this Anglo man
Only a small minority of Cubans/Cuban-Americans in South Florida look like her. Most look a LOT closer to the "Anglo" guy than to the mulatta girl. We've been over this again and again and again. You CANNOT stereotype Hispanic groups as being of a certain race because any single Hispanic person can be of any race or racial admixture. TriMT7 was referring to people who misuse the word "race" when they call inter-ethnic white Anglo/white Cuban marriages "interracial." I would say that 1/5-1/4 of the white people I knew growing up were half white Cuban and half Anglo, Italian, or (Eastern European) Jewish. A Euro-Hispanic person marrying a non-Hispanic white person was seen as no different than an Italian marrying a Brit or a German Jew marrying a Spaniard. Race played no role, and due to the high degree of assimilation of Hispanics where I was raised, ethnicity played only a small role.
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