What makes a person a particular race?

[Lettow77]

'Self identifying as hispanic' sounds like it needs to go under Stuff White People Like.

Goodness, but your white.

[Lettow77]

It's happening dude. My cousin and my step-sister are both married to black people. Then look at the forum- Hans, Jacob, *derspiess, and Gaijin all have interracial marriages, probably as well a few I'm forgetting or don't know about.

It's happening, sure- and not on any massive scale. It will never happen on a massive enough scale to distinguish distinctive ethnicities.

[Valmy]

I don't like bullfighting, does that make me less Hispanic?

Then again, what would I be in the States? White? Hispanic?

1. Yes you are a traitor to your culture.

2. Spaniards are White and Hispanic in Texas.  As I said we don't consider being Hispanic (though I hesitate to use that word...Latinos don't like being called Hispanic because it ties them to the hated imperial motherland or something) not a race but an ethnicity.

[Neil]

Second, the bolded part is the important part to me. Though my bloodline is white, I self-identify as Hispanic.

Yeah, but that's just an affectation on your part.  It's not uncommon for some people to emphasize any part of their heritage that differs from straight white.  Thus, you get someone whose great-grandma was half-Indian going on and on about their Indian blood, for example.

[Valmy]

It's happening, sure- and not on any massive scale. It will never happen on a massive enough scale to distinguish distinctive ethnicities.

We shall see

[Caliga]

Yeah, but that's just an affectation on your part.  It's not uncommon for some people to emphasize any part of their heritage that differs from straight white.  Thus, you get someone whose great-grandma was half-Indian going on and on about their Indian blood, for example.

Princesca is Native American because the government says so (i.e. she is legally defined as such).  On her father's side, her great-grandma was a full blooded Cherokee.  On her mother's side, one of her great-grandmas was also a full blooded Cherokee, and one of her great-grandfathers was either a full blooded Cherokee or a Shawnee. 

[Lettow77]

 Neil hit the nail on the head in his analysis, as he invariably does.

[Valmy]

Princesca is Native American because the government says so (i.e. she is legally defined as such).  On her father's side, her great-grandma was a full blooded Cherokee.  On her mother's side, one of her great-grandmas was also a full blooded Cherokee, and one of her great-grandfathers was either a full blooded Cherokee or a Shawnee. 

Does she complain about how the white devils stole her people's land?

[Caliga]

Does she complain about how the white devils stole her people's land?

No, but I enjoy herding her into the basement with the dog, which I consider her reservation.  Also, whenever I have the flu, I sneeze into a blanket which I later give to her as a "nice gesture".

[Grey Fox]

You should stop paying taxes & open a casino then.

[stjaba]

Meri,


What about black kids who are adopted by white families? Could they self-identify as white?

On another note, though the US government has a loose definition of what constitutes Hispanic, many colleges and scholarship programs have a stricter definition: It tends to be 1/4 Hispanic by blood.

And besides, I thought you were Welsh-American? Are you that and Hispanic?

[Princesca]

Since I was mentioned... LOL.

I don't consider myself Native American. While I could legally claim to be such, I have not lived as a Native American, nor suffered the drawbacks of being Native American, so I would consider it an insult to a culture I respect to claim that I am a member of their race. I might have enough blood to claim it, but in every other respect I'm white.

Assuming you aren't in an interracial relationship, I think you are whatever race your kids would be, if you had them.

[merithyn]

So what do you have going on on you to make yourself identify as Hispanic? Which Hispanic cultural traits do you display?

I was 19 before I knew what the English word for "underwear". (They were casones(sp?) to me.) I still refer to things in Spanish without thinking about it, i.e. my daughter is "m'ja", rice is "sopa", and my nose is and has always been my "nadiz". I eat beans and rice with a torn off piece of tortilla at home rather than a fork. I no longer cross myself when I go by a cemetery or church, though I did for most of my life.

There are probably a lot more things, but in all honesty, I don't even recognize them as "different". It's what we do, how we live. Even my biological parents have adjusted and changed due to their close relationship with my foster parents. To my foster family, I am their daughter/sister, though I'm a "weda" (sp?). They are no less my family than my biological parents and siblings. When my foster father and sister died (at different times), my little sister and I were listed in the obituary as their immediate family, were included in the preparations, and were expected to be there with the family for all visitations, etc.

We were literally raised by these people. Much more so than by my biological parents. 

[Princesca]

PS I'm planning to scalp Cal tonight. Get good wampum for white man hair. Shhh... don't tell him.

[merithyn]

Meri, if you were raised by a chinese family would you say you were chinese when asked?

Of course.