Should Hispanics/Latinos who obviously look indigenous and come from conquered and are relinquished of their native lingos and adopted a totally Westernized identity be given any respect? It's hard to respect certain people honestly..

Why is it hard to respect them?

Latin American countries like Argentina and Chile are pretty White.

I honestly don't see why. That's what happens alot of the time when people are conquered by different cultures. Honestly I have alot more respect for them than people who try to turn their back on their culture of their own free will which I think happens more frequently. Especially in the West.

Well if u look at it that way the I berians and french themsleves were colonized by rome and speak a latin language.

wasn't taiwan a conquered nation once upon time

Wow. I actually 100% agree with you.

Part of me has a difficult time respecting Mexicans who think they are white. I think its totally sweet when Mexicans learn Aztec history, and if anything, I think chicanos should learn Aztec and English, not Spanish and English.

Thats like saying Italians should learn Latin because thats what the romans spoke. The reality is that the colonial powers totally destroyed South American nations with fire and disease. They just have to to with what they have left which is a mix of european and indigenous culture.

Taiwan is still within an Asian context. They dont speak a imposed language from Europe.

Your on to something here. But most of these people have no clue or awareness as to the history of their background or how they came to be.

Yeah, learning where u came from helps with self esteem, identity, etc... its like one of the most important things ever.

also I bet their aztec language has logical thinking embedded in it that helps them think culturally, academically, etc...

im actually trying to help some african american communities in the bay area start a program where they can learn some african languages as a second language. seriously tho, great thread.

Not trying to point fingers but I don't see how they're any worse than some of the Asians who have been referred to as "white-washed", look down on their own culture to fit in (in some instances ridicule it), dye their hair blonde/brown and spend thousands on eye-surgery, or all the ones overseas who strive to learn English and adopt alot of Western customs when in many cases it has no practicality whatsoever. Or some of the blacks who are either born here or immigrate here and completely sellout to white people.

And I'm sure alot of minorities know how hard it can be to feel accepted and what lengths people will go through to be accepted. Most of the Mexicans/latinos I know and met, even here up North, have a pretty big interest/connection with their heritage.

So I'd say it isn't very appropriate or fair to imply Mexicans/Latinos as somehow standing out when it comes to not appreciating their own culture. There are plenty of groups and individuals worldwide who do this.

Its similiar, I agree with you. I think in some cases Asians selling out is worse, because they are doing it consciously, whereas Mexicans just don't know from the beginning.

I know Asians that move out and stay away from their own ghettos. I do that and I do have Latinos friends who do. We both compromise on behalf that we wanna live better and look at the world beyond black & white. Alot of times interracial romance contributes to this truce.

*removed*

Racist and inflammatory. Let's not turn this into an ethnic bashing topic please.

Chile and Argentina "killed" off the indigeneous people and populated with Italians, Spanish and other euros, similar to what the North Americans did. The remainder of South America, the Portuguese and Spanish "mixed" with them. Therefore the reason why Argentinians and Chileans look euro is because they are not the euros in Canada and the USA.

All of Europe were in one way colonised by Italy, hence they are speak a deviation of the latin alphabet.

Aren't hispanics mixed with white anyways?

Yeah what you said is understandable. But there are cases of Asians who grew up in the midwest, and wished they were white, and every time they look in the mirror, they hate the color of their own skin. Now THATS friggin sad... imho.

hispanics can really be any race. black, white, and even asian. But alot idenfity soley with being white. Even ones with mostly African ancestory.

If people can find a way to live in way they are happy, peaceful and in a way that does not harm others they should be respected.

i think it depends a lot the circumstances surrounding the particular indigenous ppl.
in america north and south the indians have always been displaced or governed by
'superior' white europeans. they have a relatively simple lifestyle before any
european 'immigrants' came along.
eg: live in small communities, tribal, self-sufficiency,etc.
we cant really expect them to continue living this way until now?
the best example i can think of is the australian aboriginals.
yeah its easy for us to say: that they should shun any form of western (or eastern)
culture and stay in the outback and live like a true aboriginal ?
while the world pass by right in front of their nose.
i honestly cant disrespect them just cos they have adopted westernized identity
cos they r not to b blamed 100% for the situation they are in today.
nor will i disrespect an aboriginal who still live in the outback
and eat insects for breakfast.
btw i also see nothing wrong in ppl who lost their original (but maybe forgotten)
identity cos they have assimilated with their surroundings.
for me this shows greater sense of community and humanity.
although those who remember their own identity but refuse to
acknowledge or are embarassed of it
should be fed to the pigs.

There's always some kinda -ization waves going on in all parts of the world : americanization, africanizing, arabization, colonization, europeanization, francophonic, hispanicization, japanization, russianization, sinicization, the list juz goes on and on.. including globalization. IMHO, this will go on and on and on...wave after wave...without end.

Which wave should we absorb, and which wave do we resist?

Change is inevitable. If we are able to accept continuous changes and stop clinging to a notion or concept of race or identity, we would be wiser.

agreeeed.



and weren't most people counquered at one time or another? do people from latin america learn native languages? i remember my mexican friend saying he knew a little nahuatl.

most of these native ppl today just dont have the luxury and time to learn their native language. it would most likely be the case that the language is not widely spoken anymore. i know, they should at least try preserving their language and save it from extinction, but theres just too many important thing to do, eg: studying, working, getting a life, a career, competing with other ppl, feeding their family, basically surviving.
consider this: an american born chinese or indian youth who only can speak english. suddenly they decide to learn mandarin or whatever. why the fuk not?? over 1 billion ppl speak the language. it sure can come in handy one day. but learning nahuatl??
i dont know. just my view.

In Bolivia, the new President Evo Morales is an Amaryan Indian and can speak his native language, in fact, he had to learn Spanish later in life... LOL!!!

TO be honest, I take back what I said about the "disrespect" part. Its more like I feel sorry for them. But whats going on in Latin America right now, is powerful stuff.

part of being proud and having respect for yourself is recognizing and embracing your past, mistakes, faults, hardship and all. you can't reject or surpress part of your past/ memories and claim to be trully proud.

and granted, we've all adopted the spanish language, but most of the countries have taken the language and made it their own. and dispite the route coming, the end result can be a beuatiful mess/ mutt culture... and i guess thats the difference....

asians seem to be raised to think that being pure blood all the way down the line is the best way to be or that having a mixed culture is a bad thing; that we should all only marry within our own races and not embrace the wonders that other lives can bring into our own.

and not all of the mixing was a result of rape and pillage... e.g. my great grandfather moved to the island from spain and married my native grandmother in a consensual union and in reciprocated love.

moreover, your respect should be delivered to the individual, not your idea of the group. especially if youre not fully versed on their history any more, if not less, than they are.