America is a diverse nation when examined in terms of cultural and racial elements. Commonly scholars have identified a binary between the white and black populations and this has acted as the main way social scientists have examined race and its effects in our nation. But would it be possible to expand this beyond the black white binary and include Hispanics into this racial examination. With the growing Hispanic population in the united state we might need to examine them as a separate group or at least introduce another binary? I believe that this action is supported by the fact that Hispanics make up about 15 percent of US population while African-Americans make up about 13 percent. These statistics also do not count any amount of illegal immigrants which if counted might increase the Hispanic population to about 20 percent of the country. My main point is that the racism that is directed at the Latino population within our borders is not totally parallel that of black racism and that we might need to expand beyond the simple black-white binary and look at relationships between all races in America.
Hispanics are in many ways a distinctly segregated population than African Americans because the media keeps portraying Hispanics as people who are taking US jobs, are only able to speak Spanish, have increased crime and are destroying our health care and public schools. People are in many ways more afraid of this "unknown" culture because these immigrants seem so unlike "us." But many Americans seem to ignore the fact that the majority of Hispanics are legal citizens and they have values closer to the white American. Many Hispanics are conservative- emphasizing family values, they are also Catholics, and in many cases are more inclined to support the republicans’ economic ideals. The current xenophobes keep telling us that this population will corrupt the spirit of America but maybe they are just helping it transform into a new America? Are immigrants not the basis of this nation? I think that while many view them as a threat and others view them as a crucial piece of America. Which creates a second binary – whether Hispanics are a threat to our way of life or a good addition to this nation?
Personally the race binaries as a whole make too many generalizations and I think we could do better without race as a whole. Are all black people the same? No there is some level of ethnic diversity or a dissimilar immigrant past which affect who they are, not simply the color of their skin. Mexicans and Cubans are not the same; each ethnic group is diverse and in many cases is treated differently even within America. Even Asian Americans should be looked at within their own ethnic groups not as a single entity, because Japanese and Chinese hate one another. Even white people, are they to be viewed as one all inclusive blob? My point is that while we can never stop our people from seeing the physical traits of others, we should try to focus on the diversity of an individual and what that brings to our society based on their abilities and skills.
4 comments:
It is true that there are different characteristics of the discrimination toward Latinos is different than that toward African Americans, but part of me thinks "it is still just discrimination." Yeah, they are seen as more "foreign" than African Americans which adds another dimension to the discrimination, but it is pretty much still just racism. I don't even think the language has that much to do with it. Spaniards and Argentineans speak Spanish, and at least according to my observations, they are considered cool. This is contrasted with Mexicans or Hondurans who are, once again my observations, not considered as highly . . . to put it mildly. In the lecture the commentator said that whites and light skinned African American have very similar social status, jobs, income, etc. I would venture that this is similar for Latinos. Skin color is the first thing people see and is the quickest way to "judge" someone. I think that it all goes back to racism.
I can identify with that sort of thinking. Being Filipino, I get that "Are you really Asian?" bullshit from a lot of people. From whites I usually just dismiss it as "Those crackers don't know their geography." But I soon discovered that there was an hierarchy within the Asian races as well. When people hear the word "Asian" the stereotype immediately goes to Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Southeast Asians are seen in very much the same light as Mexicans and Hondurans, to compare to Emily's contrast. I suppose our cultures are very different from what is traditionally seen as "Asian," but I have to pose the question: Who gets to decide what is traditionally Asian or not? Or more generally, who gets to decide what is "better?" Maybe everyone needs a geography lesson, or maybe I just need to start punching everyone in the throat before they get the chance to judge. I'm partial to the latter.
~jyo
The city in which I am from, San Antonio, TX, is densely populated with Hispanics due to its close proximity to the US-Mexico boarder. Because Hispanics make up 56% (according to the U.S. Census Bureau) of the population and Anglos only make up 34% of the population, Hispanics are clearly the majority and therefore it is hard for me to view Hispanics as “distinctly segregated”, like you mentioned in your post. Hispanics went to the same school, lived in the same neighborhood, and hold just good, if not better, jobs than whites.
However, I do think it is a good point to look at how the racism directed at Hispanics is not parallel to that of black racism in the past. Maybe this shows that in today’s society, whites are more accepting and have in fact learned from their previous mistreatment of blacks. This may be a stretch but it's interesting to think about.
I do agree that society should look for the benefits that these people contribute, but this could also be a problem. Jesse said that many hispanics hold better jobs than whites. I feel like this situation could create resentment because the whites may feel that they should have better jobs. However, in actuality the whites just may be lazier than the hispanics. So in examining the strengths of these people, racism can be promoted.
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