Rareview: Sports Illustrated model Jessica Perez on being a white Latina
Sports Illustrated model Jessica Perez is tired of defending her ethnicity.
She is constantly getting question like, “Where are you from really?" and “There’s no way you speak Spanish, right?”
No one believes her when she says “Yes, I am Latina,” because of the way she looks. Perez was born in Costa Rica and Spanish is her first language, but she has pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes - features people don't typically identify as Latina.
Latinas are diverse, she says, and more than what's on TV or in magazines.
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Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I'm hoping to offer one thing back and help others such as you helped me.
This provides a great opening of dialogue to race and ethnicity. It can begin the healing process, because many people are unaware of preference for whiter skin until they are faced with the negative aspects of racism and discrimination based on skin color. Within each ethnic group, a rainbow of skin tones and physical features exist, but also a sense of contempt against one in exchange for another. Whiteness has been psychologically valued because it allowed for the escape of unjust persecution. Now that people are willing to talk about and admit the wrongs of such behavior, we can now begin to change for the better, for good.
You really have to back on who were the immigrants coming to Costa Rica and then you can make your own mind.
I'm blond, white and i was born in Ecuador. Latin is a CULTURE, not a race!!!! please get that through your heads!!
in Ecuador (as well as other latin american countries) there are whites, blacks, asian, native indians, and mixed.
I completely agree with her. I am from Costa Rica as well, I am blond, very fair and have blue eyes. I was never aware that this was anything particularly significant, until I moved to live in US and had people surprise that I was Latin and even asking me if I was from eastern Europe, due to the obvious accent. The saddest comments were from Latins, who even commented that they thought I was "white" (my skin color is pale). So, please educate yourself, Latin America is a diverse group of countries, where the languages are derivative of the Latin (spanish and portuguese), where different ethicities live together and share the same culture, Latins come in all the colors, but just in one flavor...really hot.
Charlize Theron used to be an African. Now she is an African-American.
That's too funny!! Thanx!
At least she can legitimately call herself that, unlike the ones in the US that call themselves that and weren't born there, much less ever been there.
She's no more African than I am Chinese. Her indigenous roots lie thousands of miles north.
In responsive to Esoteric, African means you are of the continent, it does not define your ethnic makeup. You may be from Africa and your ethnic makeup may come from the many groups that traversed through the continent. As you may be aware Charliz, who is South African, is of Dutch, French and German Ancestry.
as a spaniard i said le metia de todo menos miedo xd
I am from Mexico city and it is funny because here in the telenovelas almost all actors are white and people sometimes complain about it.....and the dark actors do the maid,seravant roles.....in mexico 9 percent of the population are white.
She has those Hillbilly Axl Rose eyes
So in other words she is saying she is "latina" in order to be "exotic" when in reality she is a spaniard. Does the rest of the world not realize the Spanish are pretty light skinned? Is American that dumb and isolated?
What does ths have to do with America?
Uh Costa Rica is in Latin America, not Spain. Latina, Latino is the normal way to reference someone from Latin American countries. A Spanaird is someone from Spain.
The majority of Latins are light skinned.
The dark ones are not true latins but are a mixture of African, Native indians with some Spanish or Portuguese.
Most people in North and South America think if they speak Spanish that they're Latins and it not true.
The real Latin countries are Italy,France,Spain, Portugal and Greece
Greece is not Latin.
As an American with Argentinian parents, dual citizenship in Europe, and Spanish as a first language, I can definitely confirm that many / most Americans can not see beyond 3 inches of their own myopic view. To ask an American to see beyond their own "World of One" is a pretty futile attempt. We're far too busy fighting amongst ourselves to ever be "united", nor to ever make a full attempt to understand someone from another country or culture.
What an incredibly stereotypical thing to say. So, Argentinians are more aware of things? I've heard they are the most racist nation in South America. Saying ignorant things makes you look foolish.
Your post was great until you decided to inject bigotry into it by equating blacks with all of the negative stereotypes listed. Do you not see the hypocrisy in that?
These were not just stereotypes. it is the truth. Most of the Mexican youth in America today wish to incoroprate these negative Black stereotypes into their culture, and they do. It is a fact
These "negative Black stereotypes" that you speak of are more a product of American culturalization than anything else, as a U.S.-born citizen of Hispanic descent that has been through the Caribbean and Central America, I can tell you that all black people are not the same, that U.S.-born gangsta lifestyle is anathema to true Afro-Antillean and Afro-Central American culture. Furthermore, as I was raised and raised my own children in a value system inherited from my Hispanic extended family, which was totally alien to the U.S. commercially-influenced media culture, I can safely tell you that these negative stereotypes that you speak of among ethnic youth in the U.S. come about as a loss of original culture at the hands of inadequate and ill-concieved street/media influenced versions of "assimilation".
Does anyone watch baseball? Just asking. Sammy Sosa, etc. These dark skinned men from the Dominican republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc. If you saw them in Walmart and never heard them speak, you would call them Black guys. Go to Panama, Columbia, Argentina, Venzuela, Brazil, and the list goes on. In all of those places you have people ranging from Blonde hair blue eyed to Wesley Snipes, sometimes all in the same family. So, get over it people. At the end of the day, we are all human beings pure and simple. Focusing on stupid stuff like this is collective waste of our time.
Amen.
Tracy, it is Colombia. The country of Columbia does not exists.
Nit pick much Alejandro?
Other Latinos question her because they are jealous of her white beauty. Not all Latino's have to be brown or black, contrary to popular belief
Why would they be jealous of her being white?? There are just few that they have come in contact with. That is why they are curious
Stop portraying all of us (American Hispanics) as brown, ugly, dirty, disgusting, thick-nosed, flared-nostril, thick-lipped, third world, uncivilized, loud, annoying, lazy, fat, welfare-dependent, followers of the urban youth gang culture, black wannabees, and filthy, unintelligent members of an underclass. We are better than that.
LOL .. !!!! those are black stereotypes
Those of us with the right mentality (including me) see ourselves, FIRST AND FOREMOST, as AMERICANS, not agents of foreign countries. Those who are criminals, those who are racists, those who fit the stereotypes, and those who are hyphenated id iots do not represent me.
So, it's true that crazy people do not think they're crazy. Cousin Death, crazy - and not in a good way.
Buddy of mine went to an audition for a TV show shot in Canada after the read they asked him if he could do an Irish accent...Yes he said "I am Irish and what you heard was my native Dublin accent". They said " That's great but it's not Irish enough" "Oh" he said "You want leprechaun" and he left... Didn't get the role.
This is so stupid. There are so many of you discussing how many whites are their own countries, when in reality, this post is about preconceived ideas. I am cuban and I don't want to be confused with a mexican, despite having anything against them. It's simple: every country in America has a very rich history, traditions and legacy. Each individual wants to be acknowledge by his/her culture. It's that simple. However, when you visit the middle of the country, the ordinary Joe tends to believe that all hispanics are mexican! Are you kidding me?
She can't be Mexican. She's not chugging back a 40 of cerveza while pumping out anchor babies.
Ignorant. Get out and walk around outside, and you might be able to see.
Actually you're mistaken, Hispanic is NOT a race so they can come in any color possible but Black IS a race so if they come in radically different shades they're not 100% Black. Hispanic is not the same thing as saying White, Black..etc.
Dude you need to get your facts straight. Sub-Saharan Africans are the most genetically diverse people on the planet. Since modern anatomically humans originated in Africa and migrated across the planet, there is no such thing as race. There's simply Africans and non-Africans with the latter being a subset of the former.
This is by far the most intelligent statement made in this thread.
Really, AJ? I usually reserve a comment like that for someone who at least knows how to formulate a coherent, well-written sentence.
You're bursting your own bubble. You're statement clearly shows that you have a profound ignorance of genetics and human diversity. That argument belongs in 1912 not 2012. Your writing shows that you have a narrow view of the world indicative of an antiquated mentality. I suggest you research the evolution of skin color.
As far as the US Census, Hispanic is not a race. I worked in the NM Census and had to explain this to people all the time. Hispanics are from Spain/ Europe. Just like Italy, Greece and probably other countries there are dark skin people from there.
The media will continue to show the steroetypes of minorities and also white people. The problem in society is that many people do not accept biracial , mutliracial people. Thier is still the one-drop rule mentality in the U.S.
You are so right!
I also wanted to mention that Brazil has a huge population of Italians and Germans. I believe Brazil has the largest populations from these two countries outside of Europe. Food for thought.
Argentina and Peru is where most of the Italians are. Brazil has lots of Germans...That's where all the Nazis went into hiding...seriously...
A majority of the U.S. is of German descent. It is the largest ethnic origin of the United States, and the largest outside of Germany.
I found this to be an interesting article. As a person from a country comprised almost entirely of the children or grandchildren of European immigrants perdominantly from Italy, Spain, but also France, and Germany (Uruguay), I believe Ms. Perez of half-right. She is white. The term Latino/Latina is often misrepresented in this country to mean people of a mixed background (Amerindian/European) without regard to race. If you research Uruguay and Argentina you find a disproportionate portion of the European population live in these two countries.
The problem is that everyone in the US wants to easily categorize "Latinos" by color. But it can't be done. There are Latinos of every race and ethnicity. It is only in the US that people have this idiotic idea that all Latinos are brown, have a distinct look, and/or have a Spanish last name. Yay to being stupid!
But I thought Latinos were white. Atleast I think most of them think so, except ofcourse the ones being deported from Arizona by the Republicans.
"Latinos" are indeed Caucasians! Look it up...
Lara where did you "look it up"?you assertionis just true!!
How is that possible? Where have you visited in Latin America to justify that statement?
Nope not true. I know alot of whites who would say otherwise!
"White Hispanic"? That doesn't make sense. She's not a "white hispanic". She's simply "Hispanic". It's a stupid label anyway. What do you call our President, a "Black White"? A "White Black"? See how stupid that sounds?
John Randall, hispanic is an ethnicity and white/ caucasian is a "race" therefore one can be white and hispanic or white and not hispanic or black and hispanic etc. In Obama's case he would be mixed race and not hispanic (something to that effect). This is at least how the US census would describe it
A race based on what, outdated, debunked scholarship?
Hispanic is NOT an ethnicity but rather a common CULTURAL affiliation.
Hispanics can be white, Asian, native American, black, etc. or a mixture.
Sounds pretty stupid John so maybe you ought to stop saying it.
also...how many angels will fit on the head of a pin?
Depends on the tune.
People need to acknowledge that there is a set of common characteristics found in the appearance of a vast majority of Hispanics/Latinos. Having said that, given that there are millions of people in this category, of course you are going to find outliers who simply don't share common characteristics with the majority of your compatriots. You will then have comments about this 'interesting' aspect. I've been to Costa Rica and you notice that, in Costa Rica, there are many people who look more white European than in other Central and South American countries. Now, in the case of this gorgeous model, she's discovered that being a "victim" has some status/merit. So she's milking this silly issue for the sake of her notoriety. I'd still date her in a heartbeat and then start trying to convince her to simply embrace her look, enjoy people's intrigue, and release herself from victimhood. It's rather unattractive.
Common characteristics? You meet Hispanic families all the time where the two parents are tan and their children vary wildly from being extremely dark-skinned so as to seem almost black to being extremely light-skinned and thus having no trouble passing as white. The overwhelming number of Hispanics are mixed race, meaning that by definition common characteristics are impossible.
How sad. Like most Americans I'm guessing you are making the mistake of assuming an immigration pattern to the US of certain groups (Mestizos and Indigenous) are representative of all of Latin America. I know, I lived there in several Latin American countries. Your comment is as ridiculous as saying that the Hillbillies of Georgia represent all of America.
There is no shared characteristics.. at all, don't be ridiculous. Latin America is by far more diverse than North America. That's like saying most Americans look the same except some outliers. Even the mixed race populations differ greatly. Zambos don't look like Mulatos who don't look like Mestizos who don't look like Triracials who don't look like Asian European mixes who don't look like the various other mixes found in Latin America.
The terms "Latinos" and "Hispanic" are quite interesting. Latino implying a lineage rooted in Latin ancestry and culture. Hispanic is a uniquely American term. (American as in use by the Government of the United States of America not the entire land mass referred to as the Americas. We are all Americans from Cape Columbia to Tierra del Fuego and all points in between.). Both are misguided I feel.
I would also not state that Latino simply implies "Mediterranean. Including Italians and Portuguese" as some have suggested. Last time I checked Portugal does not even remotely front the Mediterranean Sea. However Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Israel, Turkey, etc. etc. are Mediterranean. If one is referring to those that are decedents of Spanish colonists from the 15th century, then it would be much more accurate to refer to them as Iberian. This would encompass both Portuguese and Spanish lineages. Of course as with all colonization, the colonizers and the indigenous peoples ultimately inter-married and mixed, both genetically as well as culturally. Hence Mestizos or Creoles. But the curious thing is that the Iberian peninsula in and of itself has been the location of the the greatest number of varying empires to crisscross a land mass other than Anatolia and perhaps Sinai. To the North you find Celtic, Goth, Visigoth and even Saxon influences. To the East Norman, Gaul. Central and throughout Latin influences. To the South Moorish, Arab, Sephardi.
Maybe people should invest more time in traveling and getting to know our incredibly diverse world. And realize that it is just an ever shifting tapestry full of surprises. The labels we use are just temporary markers simply to serve as sign posts along the road we have traveled and not the one ahead of us.
And by the way no I am not of Trojan decent even though I am fascinated by my namesake... Damn that Achilles! 😉
The Latins came from Central Europe before making their way to the Italian peninsula, near Rome. Eventually, they took over the city state of Rome, then bascially all of Europe. Nearly all mainland European languages are based on Vulgar (Latin meaning – of the people) Latin. German is not one of them, but English is based on German, was heavily influenced by Latin.
You make good points, but you seem to forget that "Latino?a" can also refer to LATIN AMERICA, from where Latinos hail originally so hence, that term is not misguided, since it follows the model of referring to a group from their place of origin: "ASIANS" are connected to Asia, "AFRICANS" from Africa...and so on.
Hector was from Troy which is in modern day Turkey which makes you a Turk.
"latins" come from Latin America which is all countries South of the US in North America and South America except for French Guiana,Guyana and Suriname. so you can be a Latina and have European roots or Indigenous roots or Caribbean roots or...almost ANY roots!! except Eskimos i think!! 🙂 There is a lot of European "blood" in South America especially Argentina,Brazil and Uraguay. they came around WWII many Argentinians look European! just sayin!
Good information.
Excellent, finally someone who knows Europe, history and geography.
Western culture, born in Europe has four main streams: Latin, Anglo Saxon, Germanic and Scandinavian. In the Latin stream the nations are five: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.
The term Hispania, comes from the time of the Roman Empire, the current Iberian peninsula, was known as Hispania province. Later with the Renaissance and fusion of most of the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula Spain was born. These consisted of Celts, Iberians, Romans, Germanic tribes like Vandals, Visigoths, Goths and Arabs in the south.
Portugal and Spain start of the conquest of the New World, two hundred years before the British. In the American colonies settled blacks and whites with the Indians already resident.
Thus Latin is different from Hispanic, which is different from race ! It is a culture!
Finally in the western languages, English is the most widely spoken, then Spanish and Portuguese are the second and third, respectively. Think of French, Italian, German, Swedish or Danish are considerably less widely spoken in the World.
I would pay good money to sniff the farts from her behind!
Oh and by the way, "WWWWWAAAAAAHHH!!!! It sucks to be discriminated against because I'm smoking hot!"
"She is constantly getting question like, “Where are you from really?" and “There’s no way you speak Spanish, right?”
What this article failed to mention is the people asking her these questions are Ignorant Americans
most likely from Texas, Georgia, Arizona or any other South or South Western state......
See.... some of us can Stereotype and Generalize too...how does it feel?
American are being touted as quite ignorant on this issue. Well, so is the latino woman who recently told my Spanish wife that she was surprised she was from Spain because she is so white.
Excelent! 🙂
A good example in Europe we call that people Indians 🙂
She looks like an Alien. From outer space.
Either way, she is HOT!
Last time I checked the Spanish were white europeans originally of Celtic origin before being conquered and latinized by the also white european Romans?Latinos are of mixed race being any combination of white,black and indian...I Portugeese friend of mine hates being refered to as Latino.
People of african origin are not common in mexico, they are more common in puerto rico or brazil.
Actually the first EVER free black city in the New World was in Mexico and a large number of Mexicans have African blood. They just deny it and lie to their children about it. They even give the Michael Jackson treatment to their "heroes". Yes, the great Gen. Salazar was actually (drum roll please) black!
I love how "proud" Mexicans know nothing of their own history. HAHAHAHA
@Daniel, Just curious but what was the first black city in the New World called? I was pretty sure it was somewhere other than Mexico, just asking.
hey BWAHAHAHA Daniel...you have it SOOO wrong:Emiliano Zapata Salazar ... Zapata came from an Indian family Around the turn of the 20th century Anenecuilco was an indigenous Nahuatl speaking community; there exist eyewitness accounts stating that Emiliano Zapata spoke Nahuatl fluently.[4]
Emiliano Zapata was born to Gabriel Zapata and Cleofas Salazar of Zacatepillo. Zapata's family were Mexicans being of mixed Nahua and Spanish ancestry
so Danny... whatchu got to say now? bwahahahaha!!
@sthflachk: The town is called Yanga. Named after the leader of the slave revolt.
@ Big: Touche. I deserve that. I meant Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña. Whose blackness was the cause of racial attacks and who continues to be whitened as the years go by. In about 50 more years I suspect he will be blonde with green eyes.
@Daniel, actually that is partially untrue. Who that is free must pay tributes? Who that is free must return runaway slaves who seek refuse there?
Please see Fort Mose for a true free city of blacks, both free and enslaved.
**refuge
lol
thats because you Portugeuse friend is NOT Latino!! see my above post for the definition of Latino!
seems like she is white when it is convenient and mexican when the need arises. so what? slow news day?
You are an idiot. White (Caucasian) is a race – Mexican (btw she is from Costa Rica, an entirely different country) is a nationallity. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Please, read the article. She is from Costa Rica, no Mexico. Engage your brain before your tongue/fingers. You know how t read, do you?
well Minga you are somewhat correct... but there was a very big Spanish and French influx into the Mexican culture so there is some European blood in Mexico too...they are not all "indiginous!
Yes, she's Mexican when she needs to... specially since she's from COSTA RICA.... moron
Mexicans are caucasians so she can use it interchangeably....look it up.
Mexicans are not caucasian. Mexicans are of Aztec or Mayan Native American descent. The only white Mexicans are white people who go to live or were born in Mexico.
LOL hilarious!!!!!!
It's dumb folks like "shut_up" who are ignorant to everything around them, therefore have dumb remarks that make them look rather STUPID!!!!!! Must be a redneck!!!!!
How come nobody asks me what its like being a WASP? Oh yeah. Nobody really gives a crap. LOL
Modeling is all about being yourself, and having fun at the beach while playing in the shallows in swimsuits.
I guess we cannot use the word "wh1t3i" in this forum...
I remember several years ago when all 5 finalists in Miss Universe where from Latin American countries.
and?? that is called political correctness my friend. they didnt do anything special
it aint PC shut up...its because there some serious babage down around them parts!!
So she's in the modelling industry and can't stand how she's 'categorized'? Change your career honey – the modelling industry is all about brands looking for a certain 'type' of person for a commercial. Just because you don't look typically Latino shouldn't stop people from acting surprised – it's their job to cast people! Maybe a nice quiet job out of the critical eye at McDonalds?
What if they are looking for the out spoken, anti-label type?
Whites are diverse and speak many languages. It's because we conquered and settled all over the world.
Indeed! Let us not forget, however, that "With more power comes more responsibility".
I'm a "white" hispanic, but I would rather call myself latino or just hispanic.
Latins are "white"....All Latinos are CAUCASIANS.....look it up.
I dont know where you "looked it up" Lara but that just aint true...there are black Latinos as well...see Haiti and the Dominican Republic for affirmation of the fact there are black latinos...just sayin!
The Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English and French in this order, established global empires in Africa, America and Asia. is of note that three of the five nations are Latinas! Thus, whites in a general way not conquer the world. But, yes, some white nations! I do not remember the Germans, Scandinavians, Russians win whatever was in the new world or in Africa or Asia.
People need to get their head out of the box! perhaps they have never visit Latin America, In Mexico where i reside, each state has their White and Brown Hispanics! Central and South America too!
At the end of the day, the human race is remarkably stupid (no exceptions for any group, including mine). People in many parts of the world (particularly in the Far East) seem to worship white skin. Even among African Americans, there are those (more popular in the south) who use skin-lighteners – for what???
The model in the article above is Latina – and I don't blame her for being upset when idiots act doubtful when she declares this.
I have friends that are Asian and White, and people seem to uniformly treat their ancestry as being really cool (and I agree – it is cool). I also have a friend that's Asian and black (from Guyana) – that's cool too, but when she mentions it to some people here, some idiots act like it's just a joke. Why???
this is a joke. she is white.
this is almost as much ofa joke as when someone looks like her and claims to be jewish blood
Dear Gimptron,
Logic: you're doing it wrong. If you think that skin color dictates where in the world someone is from, go take an anthropology, or better yet, a biology course.
If you go to Spain, there are many white, blond hair blue eyed spanish. They are european. Before the invasion of the Moors, most all Spanish were white. Immigration from north africa changed all that.
You are a rascist ignoramus – I look like her and am 100% Jewish; what haven't you comprehended from this article?!
I have waited all of my 56 years for someone who looks like me to say: "Yes, I am a white Latina!". I look exactly like Ms. Pérez and, I am Puerto Rican. I have been answering questions about why I am blonde and blue eyed AND Puerto Rican all my life from people of all races, colors and creeds, including Puerto Ricans. In Puerto Rico I grew up being called "the milkman's daughter", "tomato face", "albina", "You must be German, Brazilian, Swedish." and other racist remarks. In the U.S., I am constantly met with shock and "how come you're blonde?". All nationalities, Latin, European, African, Jewish, you name it, have something to comment about my "whiteness", "blondeness", I am a celebrity in my own little world because of how I look. I am asked if I am Hispanic; my reply has always been and will continue to be: "I am Puerto Rican." Thank you, Ms. Pérez for bringing this oh-so open-minded society into the 21st century. May blonde Latinas and Puerto Ricans continue to keep teh courage to change our image always alive.
Yes Alma at 56 years old there is no doubt that you look just like this Sports Illustrated model, by the way there are these people in puerto rico with white skin but i forgot what they are called. Americans are so isolated from the rest of the world that race has become a very confusing subject for them. The msm wants people race baiting and constantly talking about racism while forgeting about the direction in which this country is headed. Watch RT or the BBC for some real news.
Really? Latins are from Europe and at one time controlled almost all of Euorpe, so of course they are white...derp
the language of Latin originated in Europe...but the term Latins refer to latin Americans... look up the map for it...North and South America..except for 3 countries in S. America and the caribbean...thats Latin America and to whom the term "latins" is for.
Whites are all over the hispanic world, some more in the southern cone of South America (Latin America), Spanish themselves are a mix of Celtic and Iberian tribes, Roman colonizers and Germanic tribes that moved there at the decline of the Roman power, one of those tribes being the Goths, other the Suevi, the Vandals, etc, these Vandals later emigrated to north Africa. Those "barbar" tribes were already very romanized. Sometimes people forget their roots, I found out recently that perhaps the great abundance of blond and blue eyed people in my father's family was perhaps due to the inmigrants from Holland to the Atlantic Azores Islands before the discovery of America, being under the crown of Portugal, and from there into Brazil, plus the normand descendants of the conquerors of the Canary Islands, but nobody in my family knew it, because they Latinized their last names and obviously intermarried with the Portuguese and Spanish. I found it out with the Geni internet genealogical tree site. We are all humans and there is no pure race. "Latino" is not a word I like, because it has racial connotation, hispanic is better for me, but who would convince CNN. :Latino was an invention of Napoleon the third to justify invading Mexico and later of the American Academy of 1900", with peyorative overtones.
The eyeball anthropology going on in this discussion is amazing. You guys are better than the experts on the subject matter.
Spent too much time out in the sun yesterday (It was NICE here)...Today I am a Pink-Caucasion-American.
In America "Latino" is a term used to identify people of Chicano and mestizo descent as well as other Latin American mestizos who share Native American heritage. The term is rarely inclusive of "caucasian" people of Spanish descent.
Your kind of right and wrong. A "Latino" is someone who traces their roots to Latin America, and in Latin America there is white looking people. "Hispanic" refers to people who can trace their roots to Spain or any country that the Spanish occupied or occupies. "Mestizo" necessarily doesn't mean black hair, dark skin and brown eyes, it means that there was a mix between Europeans and Amerindians. My father (being Mestizo) is light complected and from birth to 12 years old he had blond hair before it darkened. I myself am a "Mestizo" but with light complected skin and a small co-dominance in my hair of black and blond.
Latino refers to the common language derived from Latin. Not from a distinct area. There was a language in Spain called "Latina" , which was a mixture of Jewish (Hebrew) and Spanish. While it could be considered a misnomer to label something Latino, since most western languages are derived somewhat from Latin.
Why would you accept the term Latino anyway? Why not embrace your native american heritage? There were no ancient Latinos whether in Southern Europe or Native America.
I messed up. The Jewish / Spanish language is LADINO.
And Ladino is to Spanish or Sephardic Jews what Yiddish is to European Jews.
"the stereotype when they say they want a latina girl is they want someone with dark hair, darker skin and dark eyes"
LMAO!
What about the stereotype of a black person? dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes....This chick is breaking stereotypes just like Michael Jackson. LOL The moral of the story is those racist casting directors have to change their protocol because 1 percent of the "Latino" or "Chicano" population looks white.
...in my country 85% of the population is white, the rest is mixed with black or native. not every country is mexico.....
Haha this is so ridiculous. She's a gorgeous, highly successful model and she wants us to view her as some kind of victim because people don't always cast her for a specific label she'd like to have...?
Who said she thinks she's a victim? I didn't get that sense from anything I read in this article.
I am also a white Latino, as I am 1/4 Argentinean and 3/4 Irish. I stopped publicly identifying as Latino because I wasn't taken seriously. When I selected White & Latino in a form at the doctor's office, the Latina secretary asked me if I wanted to put Latino or White, as though I had to choose.
I agree with Jessica in that t.v. shows and films should not promote stereotypes of Latin women (or any group of people) but if people were more cultured and less ignorant; they would know that Latinos come in all colors, sizes and temperament.
t.v. shows and films should promote stereotypes of everything, because they're humorous.
I believe now the country is ready for Hispanics to demand exactly what the blacks demand and hopefully then we will have a Hispanic as a President.
When that happens this cou try will officially be a third world cesspool. The key is that you think any group has the right to demand anything. Therein lies the difference.
She'd be stunning if she darkened her hair to brown. The light color washes her face out. Yuck.
Why should she darken her NATURALLY BLONDE hair to suit some stereotype of Latina women? She has very fair shin and light blue eyes which are common among blondes. She looks fine as she is – obviously good enough for SI.
She's stunningly beautiful just the way she is.
For the same reasons that people lump all Caucasians together and call them "white".Caucasians probably have a more diverse variety of skin colors than any other race.Not all Caucasians appear to be albinos as some people wish to think.I have seen Caucasians with skin color darker than some Latinos and even darker than a few blacks that I have noticed.
That pseudo-scientific garbage has been fed down your throat for so long that you don't realize how profoundly ignorant you are of genetics and human variation. A dark-skinned Caucasian is an oxymoron. Your comment exposes the absurdity of classifying humans in racial categories.
Stick to your point, Dennis. "Caucasian" refers to people from the Caucasus region, which is in Anatolia/Turkey, and surrounding the Caucasus Mountains and the areas bordering the Asian regions around the Black Sea. People from the area can, and do, have a mix of racial characteristics, and a wide variety of skin tones. There are not many true "caucasians" in the light skinned population, but it was a fad name for a while, just like "Anglo" now. We are not all descended of the Anglo=Saxons either. These catch-alls do NO favors when what we really mean is fair-skinned or light-complected.
Cry me a river that the Latin American/ Hispanic media portrays white looking Hispanics, maybe it's just that I like seeing people that look more like me.
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Google black inlatin America / PBS
There is a lot of racism against Afro Latinos and even Indians in the Latin American countries . Afro Latinos and Indians are fighting blatant discrimination now. Blacks and Indinans have fought against teir colonizers/ slave masters for years .
can't help but feeling this is a way for CNN to sell its "white hispanic" race baiting label it used to frame the Trayvon case as a racially motivate white on black crime. That is the first time most americans had heard this term and it smells like bs marketing. I have never seen a latina (other than from spain) who was so clearly european. I am sure they exist, but they are rare. George, on the other hand, is clearly amazon indian in heritage and therefore not at all white hispanic.
They are not so rare. I am a second generation American with roots in Mexico and many of my relatives have blond, brown and red hair with a light skin complexion. I have black curly hair with dark brown eyes but I'm light complected.
You need to travel. There are way more blond people in South America than in Spain, way more. Go only to the South of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina and you will have enough, but if you see then as tourists in NY, if you do not hear them talking, you will never know they were fron South America. And they are not all of Germans descent, thats a small minority.
Good point. See my comment above.
We are all human beings and one race is no more better than the other. When we are children, we treat each other as friends and we don't care what color we are. When we become adults, we act ignorant and think that blue eyes and blond hair make us better than other races. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. America and the world should stop this ignorant thinking and treat everybody the same because we are all the same. We will all die one day. Does that clear things up?
Bravo! Ms. Smiley, Bravo.
Hear, hear! Well said.
My ancestors, at least the white ones, enslaved all races that brought money. The highest prices were obtained for the Slovinian women and young boys. Lot's of silver for them.
Well, then your ancestors were a non discriminatoring CRIMINALS, as perhaps were some of mine, and of everybody, but that does not make it right. It is disgusting the way you express yourself with respect to such sin. It is not a "funny" thing.
Latinos(as) are a mix of 3 races: white, black and native American, in ANY combination: All the way from pure white (nordic) to pure black to pure indian, and all shades in between. In the South Cone, they tend to be in the white corner, in they Dominican Republic they tend to black, and in Peru to indian. Being Hispanic is an ETHNICITY, not a race.
I am leaving the Oriental race out, just to simplify matters.
The notion of classifying humans by skin color is an absurdity. A fact confirmed by genetic science. Study of the human genome has revealed that of the 25,000 estimated human genes, only about 50 are involved in determining skin color. This means that no matter what color our skin, humans are, genetically speaking, almost identical. Therefore, any effort to classify people in unique categories according to skin color is a complete and utter fallacy. I would encourage you to read the American Anthropological Association's statement on race.
then why don't you get the same rights as the blacks.
I am also latina and all but 3 of my immediate family are blue eyed and fair of skin. The 3 are brown eyed and fair of skin. I never understood why poeple are always surprised when they find out I am of Latin desent. I do believe TV has a tendency to protray Lationos in one way only. I am proud of my heritage but why do we always have to say Lationo, Hispanic, White, Black, Asian, etc, why can the media just repot the facts without pointing out the persons Race or Heritage. Unless it is specific to the importance of the article or reporting of the news I do not believe it needs to be mentioned.
As long as we continue to subscribe to this mythical construct of race we will forever remain in a quagmire of "shoulder shrug" confusion. Humans are too diverse to be pigeonholed into arbitrary racial categories. There are a million shades of skin color and no geographical boundary that separates those with straight hair from those with curls. The features that make people in one part of the world look different from those in another blend and mix in ways that defy easy categorization. The complex patterns of human variation reflect a history of human movement and mixing that has gone on since our origins in Africa.
Good points.
We Spanish speakers from any place in the Americas we are very descriminatory, and racists. It is a non spoken truth, the frist questions about new people from the family are 'What kind of family are they from" We do not mix easily. I married a very nice American jewish man that we met in college, waited 4 years for my father to accept to meet him and another 2 to marry, my grandmother accepted to meet him after 20 years of marriage.
She loved my children. But she wanted that I marry somebody from a close family.
"We do not mix easily."
What a load of pure, unadulterated CRAP! Not only are Hispanic is THE MOST mixed, they are the ONLY ethnicity defined by race mixing! (I dare you to name another one)
-Ramon
She has a point. I was stationed in Texas on the Mexican border and found that there were Mexicans darker than I was and yet there were some Mexicans that were prejudiced against African Americans! It blew me away but it just made me realize that prejudice is a human thought process that is shared by all humanity in some form or other and the sooner we as humans can get over that way of thinking the better we all will be.
lol. my cousin is from Puerto Rico and is pale white, dark blonde hair, green eyes and freckles. Who knew?
Well its not just Americans (and not all either, lets be fair here) but the world as a whole because they focus on the image presented. Its easy to do if you're a lazy thinker. One has to want to know, research and expand their minds but such is the case with the mass consciousness.
Yes, and No. I am cuban and I've been asked about the language spoken in Cuba. And I was like... what? You don't know that America was once conquered and colonized by Spain? It is the unwillingness of regular american to learn what's beyond their frontiers what keep them ignorant about so many things.
Good point Julio. My wife is from Spain, but Spanish, (better known as Castilian in Spain) is her second language. Catalan is her first language. In fact, there are several official languages in Spain, but most Americans have no idea.
I know, but despite I agree with you, I can live with that, since Spain is a very complex mosaic of cultures. On the other hand, how in the world, you can live in this continent without knowing and acknowledging what is around you. I once was talking to a gentlemen, and I asked him if he was British and he correct me: I'am not British, I am England. So this is my question: Is there any difference? I guess there is. After that, every time I would like to know, I asked first. Where do you come from? Like I said, I always want to know, always want to interact with people and get to understand and embrace different cultures. The regular american doesn't seem to have any interest in knowing what's beyond Rio Grande; let along speaking other language just for sake of it. I speak Spanish, English and french just because I can.
Once again, humans feel most confortable filing things into a neat and tidy file so as not to upset the order of everthing they were told and what they see on TV (JLo being such a chiche) versus the reality that we are all individuals in our own ways. Heck I know some Indians that are darker than African Americans for example. Im tired of it. Evolve already.
zzzzzzz
So Perez is Hispanic? Cool. An old family friend of mine has blonde hair, blue eyes, and his last name is Martinez. His mom is Dutch and his dad is Mexican. The kids that beat him up when we were kids were the Mexican kids. lol. He laughs about it now but it wasn't easy growing up.
Zimmerman's mother is Peruvian and his father is White...the media has actually said this on more than one occasion.
ALL I BEEN HEARING IS HISPANIC GUY...A PERUVIAN HISPANIC IS WHAT THE NEWS MEDIA SHOULD BE SAYING , SO OTHER HISPANIC GROUPS DON'T TAKE CREDIT FOR HIS KILLING....... SO ZIMMERMAN IS A PERUVIAN HISPANIC ? THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO HEAR FROM THE MEDIA........NOT A HISPANIC GUY IN FLORIDA KILL A BLACK KID......A PERUVIAN HISPANIC GUY...
The problem with many Hispanics/Latinos is that they don't seem to care to embrace their white race! There is no Hispanic race, it is purely and strictly an ethnicity. There is a tremendous number of Mexicans, for example, throughout Mexico who look like Cameron Diaz and Jessica Perez. Natural blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, even freckles. Many natural redheads too! So what's the problem? When one sees a tanner Latino it simply indicates they have more Native American in them. But white Hispanics have always existed and not just in Spain but in Mexico and other Latin American countries like Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and other South of the border countries. Latinos need to start embracing their white heritage and *demand* that the stereotype of Hispanics/Latinos with tanner skin and dark hair be faded away for the new Latino with blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin since so many exist. Until that happens they will have no one else to blame but themselves for the continuing stereotypical roles they are seen as. Hollywood also needs a Big Heads-Up to stop casting Hispanics/Latinos only in Hispanic/Latino roles and with the Latino last names. Look at the other Latins in the world, the Italians, French, Romanians, Portuguese, etc. they have broken the mold to fit into the more Anglo-looking types without much problem! It's high time that Mexico should follow their example!
Quote: "There is no Hispanic race"
Correct. There is only the Canadian Race, the rest are only sub-races. One race to rule them all...
I am criolla, descentant of a family that were sent to America, by the Spanish Crown to High Perú [ now Bolivia]during the Colonial time in 1500, I do not have any mix, my family have married only with other descendants all criollo. Why have embraced our culture, values and traditions, I think more since the Dictator Morales took over and started to descriminate, insult whites, specially criollos, but also other immigrants.
My mother was a natural blond with light skin, because we are Basque and Castillian, my grandchildren have red hair, I am proud of being white, a criolla that her family fought for our Independance,with a family history that we honor. Yes we have to be proud. Also I am a proud American by choice .
Mercedes your entire post is absolutely absurd! to come out and say that white bolivians are being discriminated against is just ludicrous! It doesn't matter where they live but whites will always have the upper hand, I grew up in Nicaragua and have seen this first hand, so please save your "we're the victim" card for a fox news post.
again, absolutamente ridiculo!
Many Mexicans have African ancestry as well. There were many more Africans enslaved in Latin America than in the USA. Their descendant s are the Afro- Latinos. Europeans were encouraged to immigrate to these out tries to" whiten up " the population. The had/ have much higher status than indigenous / afroLatinos.
Ha! Interesting, but let's not run the risk of raising too many hackles. Intead of looking backward in time, let's looks forward to the time when people are taught to value themselves not for any outwardly appearance, but simply because they DECIDE to value themselves, from the inside out, so to speak. I would prefer a society that supports that concept, instead of naval gazing. Thanks to Darryl Anka ala Bashar who summed it up in a playfully yet shocking way ...the greatest gift humans were given is that life is essentially.....meaningless....and that we CHOOSE our meaning for ourselves...so....simply CHOOSE a wonderful meaning for yourself and life in general, with your every day thoughts, decisions and actions. Paraphrase mine. All of the rest of the wonderful choosing is yours, whether red, white, green, etc. Although a step is to NOT look to the outer world for confirmation, I would still prefer one that moves beyond "what people look like.
You are preaching to the choir sister. The Media and Politicians promote confusion and ignorance when it comes to people from Latin America.
Costa Rica has a higher proportion of people with a purely European heritage than a lot of Latin American countries.
But then Cameron Diaz is Cuban by ancestry, and Alexis Bledal's parents come from Mexico and Argentina; they don't exactly fit the template either.
Are you that ignorant or what. Argentina has 40Million and around 85% is white. Argentina is whiter than the USA and outside of Europe is the most European nations. Same goes for Uruguay and Paraguay. Most folks in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru. Guatemala are mostly indians or mestizos with a minority of white.
Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Panama also have plenty of whites.
There is a big diference between the descendants of the Spaniards during the Colonial time, Argentna has this traditional families mostrly in the North, and have very close familial ties with Bolivian tradiotinail families.
The mayority of the others in Argentina, are from immigrants that came in the IXX century and were from peasants families. Uruguay has the same type of people with a big influence of black descendents , all very light but still keep dances and culture. Argentinians are the least liked people in Latin America, when they had the war with England , nobody was on their side.
Peter, please take the time to read the posts you reply to. Cranston never said Costa Rica has THE MOST whites out of all Latin American country, but rather than A LOT OF OTHER Latin American countries, which is true. Most of us know that Argentina and, particularly, Uruguay have the most whites. That's not to say that Costa Rica doesn't have more whites compared to a lot of other countries, starting with neighboring Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, etc. Also, not all whites in these countries are descendants of Spaniards. Many Europeans from countries such as Germany, Italy, and France moved to Latin America in search of opportunities. Many of these Europeans intermarried among themselves forming the "new whites" in Latin America. People, please deal with the fact that there are blond, blue-eyed people outside the USA and continental Europe. These whites are usually in the upper classes and don't need to become guest-workers as their darker skinned countrymen, but it doesn't negate their existence.
To Alice: I see it disturbing your concept of the "new whites" in Argentina or Uruguay, Almost every one has a mix of lastnames (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, British, Russian, Swiss, etc etc, ) there are no "new whites" down there, not in my book, not "new anybody",
Hey, anyone can be anything. Everyone has two parents and some times the kids blend or take wholly from one side. Cameron Diaz is a good example of just the Mom's side showing up. People really do need to be more broadminded. My coworkers are shocked to find out with my brown hair and blue eyes that I'm Irish. Really? "But your last name is Mexican!?" No, my last name is Spanish, not Mexican and you know I'm married.
Cameron Diaz dad was a white Cuban and has blue eyes too with roots from Spain.
She doesn't look Germanic/ Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic that's for sure. She looks like the "whites" in South America that have a little German in them, but the rest being mixed Hispanic/ native Indian. She is a somewhat attractive woman. Nothing too special. The Nordic standard of Beauty will always be the Benchmark that all other races seek to emulate and identify with–in terms of their own attractiveness. Fact.
Hi Craig. Just wanted to let you know that if you want something to be regarded as a fact you will need to cite reliable sources. Just because you finish a sentence with "Fact." doesn't actually make it a fact, and neither does it strengthen your argument. You seemed a little confused which is why I'm clarifying for you.
Sigh. Open a dictionary. According to Webster's a fact is something that has objective reality (not a statment), which something in the future cannot have. This is really basic logic Craig. Extremely basic. When did the west lower the bar so very low? So depressing.
Hi again. I also wanted to let you know that you cannot claim something as a fact if it hasn't occurred yet (which is what you were doing when you stated "The Nordic standard of Beauty will always be the Benchmark..."). Facts are something that, by definition, has already occurred. You cannot even state as a fact that the speed of light will always be 299792458 m/s since it is possible even universal constants change (rendering the previous a misnomer of course).
Again, you seemed a little befuddled so I thought I'd help you out.
Craig, Initially I thought your argument was quite dumb, misguided and racist, but then I read the "fact" at the end of your commentary and you totally convinced me... thanks for your insight...
A Nordic person looks like a light ethnic person. For example John Denver looked Asian but he was white.
Ahhh, quite clever Mr. Bauer. Very original. But the truth can be VERY painful at times–can't it?
Craig T. Nelson,
I'm a woman and neither black or white.....I never wanted to look like Kathy Ireland....never heard anyone I know say that either....I WOULD love to look like Salma Hayek though! But more importantly to your comment "Why do the blacks constantly seek out the White woman, when they have plenty to choose from from their own race?" Hello! Maybe the whites seek out the Black men because ahhh....ummmm......just saying.....
Wrong , for most of the world beauty is dark hair with green or blue eyes. The contrast is beauty.
I always thought that beauty is in the eye of the beerholder
Such a domb comment, you killed it with the fact at the end. There are millons of white eropean descendants in Latin America (NOT MIXED). I've been in Argentina, for instance, where a whole town was of people from GERMANY (their parents, grandparents, etc) They are all white, just like us, same way white people came to the states, they went to other countries, you have white people in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, etc,etc,etc. Get out of your trailer a little more often and you'll discover that you are not the only one.
Either way she is hot
Correct crazypete. Her roots are just as European as people descended from southern France...Costa Rica was originally settled by pure Spanish with no Amerindian or African mix. Check out Alexis Bledel for another example.
I agree with crazypete, except what do you mean by "Northern Spanish aristocracy". I think you mean simply that she is descended from caucasian Spaniards, which is why you have "white" spanish speaking people who are from Central and South America. It's the same thing with white farmers in Zimbabwe. They emigrated to Africa from Europe. It doesn't make them any less "African" or her any less "Latin American".
So she's descended (with little dilution) from the old Northern Spanish aristocracy that colonized South and central America. I'm half English and half German (so double evil). Interesting to me, but I'm not sure why anyone else would care...