The Off Topic Topic

[Maladict]

RIP Sean Lock 

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/aug/18/comedian-sean-lock-dies-aged-58

Edit: didn't see it in the other thread 

[Sheilbh]

Interesting - seems like there's a campaign going on after the census. Loads of fly posters going up in my area saying "we are Latinos not 'others'".

[Valmy]

Interesting - seems like there's a campaign going on after the census. Loads of fly posters going up in my area saying "we are Latinos not 'others'".

Pretty sure the only place you can be a Latino is the United States. I suspect in Mexico they don't have Latino as a census category.

[Tamas]

But the UK is far ahead in being culturally assimilated into US politics.

[Sheilbh]

But the UK is far ahead in being culturally assimilated into US politics.

Also we have a pretty significant Latin American community

I imagine there's possibly something similar in a Spanish or Portuguese census?

[grumbler]

Pretty sure the only place you can be a Latino is the United States. I suspect in Mexico they don't have Latino as a census category.

The BBC says otherwise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RN9DQMrgSg

[The Larch]

But the UK is far ahead in being culturally assimilated into US politics.

Also we have a pretty significant Latin American community

I imagine there's possibly something similar in a Spanish or Portuguese census?

Not here, our census doesn't cover ethnic background.

[Valmy]

Pretty sure the only place you can be a Latino is the United States. I suspect in Mexico they don't have Latino as a census category.

The BBC says otherwise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RN9DQMrgSg

I just want to point out the woman is clearly an American with an American accent. I don't think anybody in those 20 countries she mentions consider themselves "Latino".

I like how she says "We" have recently adopted "Latin X" as an alternative to "Latino". Who is "we"? Americans.

I also appreciate how "Hispanic" does not include non-Spanish speakers. Which is idiotic any place that is not the United States. This is all how we think about it in the United States, but the idea that should apply universally is ridiculous.

[Josquius]

It's funny as it's going backwards a bit.
There did used to be quite the distinction made between white people and those shifty Latin types. But that hasn't been the done thing for a long while.

[Sheilbh]

I just want to point out the woman is clearly an American with an American accent. I don't think anybody in those 20 countries she mentions consider themselves "Latino".

But they definitely have a common Latin American identity and consider themselves Latin American. Which is sort of the point here, no?

For context the poster was (from a quick scan ) all the Latin American flags - it definitely included Brazil. And then the slogan over it "Somos Latinos no 'otros'". I can only guess it's to do with the census.

And I think "Latino" probably should have been included. I think the latest estimates are somewhere around 250,000 which is nothing in the US context - but I think is the second highest in Europe. It is also apparently one of the fastest growing groups in the UK - and has only really emerged since the 90s and 2000s (there's connections and communities from before then but in the low thousands). So in a lot of ways it's a first generation community that's just starting to become visible.

And I think the estimate might be low. My area is the centre of Latin American London (again only an estimate but about 9-10% of the borough is thought to be Latin American) - mainly Colombians and Brazilians.

Given that the census is used to shape government spending decisions and services I imagine their needs aren't being met in part because there's no specific stats.

Edit: Apparently my council and Lambeth (borough next door) have a category for "Latin American" when they're collecting data - so that may be the route we go down instead of Latino. I think I prefer Latin American.

[HVC]

i thought Brazilians didn't consider themselves latino?

[Valmy]

But they definitely have a common Latin American identity and consider themselves Latin American. Which is sort of the point here, no?

There is not. There is a common Latin American identity among immigrants to the United States. But Mexicans do not consider Guatemalans "one of us".

If they did let's just say things would be a little different for Central American immigrants to Mexico.

Speaking of Central America, if there was such a united identity surely the United States of Central America would still be around.

[Sheilbh]

There is not. There is a common Latin American identity among immigrants to the United States. But Mexicans do not consider Guatemalans "one of us".

If they did let's just say things would be a little different for Central American immigrants to Mexico.

Speaking of Central America, if there was such a united identity surely the United States of Central America would still be around.

There's a difference between having a common broad identity and thinking someone is "one of us" or inevitably leading to a federal government.

There is definitely a common Latin American identity - from reading (Latin American writers are incredibly conscious of "Latin American-ness", political movements inspiring each other and referencing each other, all the historic connections etc) and speaking to Latin Americans and just from travelled a fair bit in Latin America (including Central America). It's more like common European identity from Ireland to Russia or African identity, rather "we are one - let's become a country"

Edit: Another comparison would be Arab identity. And actually my impression is the opposite in the US that because there is a large Latino community there are more specific identities - it seems a more common in stuff about the US to see, say, Dominican-American, Mexican-American, Salvadorean-American etc at least in the last few years.

[Duque de Bragança]

But the UK is far ahead in being culturally assimilated into US politics.

Also we have a pretty significant Latin American community

I imagine there's possibly something similar in a Spanish or Portuguese census?

Not here, our census doesn't cover ethnic background.

The ethnicity/race obsession does not show up in census in Portugal as well. Brazilians can get special Portuguese IDs with almost all the rights and duties of Portuguese citizens under the treaty of Porto Seguro but that's far from what was brought up here.

[Syt]

https://twitter.com/kingsrush/status/1428139569271115782?s=20

Chicano Marine
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