LL-L "Language use" 2005.05.14 (06) [E]

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From: David Barrow <davidab at telefonica.net.pe>
Subject: LL-L "Language use" 2005.05.14 (03) [E/German/Spanish]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Language use
>
> I have heard people in the US refer to "Hispanics," and to some degree
> also
> to "Asians" (another catch-all label) and African Americans, as
> "privileged"
> or "pampered" minorities, in part because of advancement programs
> (most of
> them now scrapped in many states) and in part because of their
> visibility in
> the media.
>
> Someone tried to tell me that Univision, a Spanish language TV channel
> accessible all over the country, was just another sign of this.  She
> seemed
> to assume that it was part and parcel of the government's pampering.  In
> reality it is a privately, predominantly Hispanic owned company that
> capitalizes on the vast number of Spanish speakers in the United States.
> Spanish-speaking consumers are a force to be reckoned with, an
> enormous and
> fast growing consumer pool.  Not capitalizing on it in a capitalist
> system
> would be gross folly.  The same person said that media of this kind only
> serves to retard Hispanics' integration, by which I assumed she meant
> loss
> of Spanish in favor of English.  This goes to exemply attitudes and
> biased
> interpretation.  People have a right to choose.  The channel gives folks
> what they want, and this is how they sell commercial time and make
> loads of
> money.  If you go to some places in California you will see street
> advertizing, including large billboards, in Spanish only.  Those private
> enterprise folks ain't stupid.  They know that English language
> advertising
> would be far, far less lucrative in such areas.  And so things take their
> "natural" course.  In larger cities of California, there are a number of
> Spanish-speaking TV and radio channels in a given place.  The demand is
> there, plus it's great for folks like me who enjoy certain Spanish
> language
> programs and use them to improve their language skills.  (Please bear in
> mind that Spanish is by far the most studied second language in the US
> and
> that in the Southwest the term "bilingual" refers by default to
> "English and
> Spanish.")
>
> Perhaps I am deluded, but I assume that minorities that feel that their
> language and culture are appreciated are more likely to be happy and thus
> good citizens, and as such they will figure out by themselves that
> they must
> become proficient in the country's lingua franca.
>
> Jean:
>
>> Your comments are entirely accurate. I never understood why the PC crowd
>> insists  on labeling "Hispanics" those Spanish speaking people from
>> Central
>> America and the Caribbean, who as you say are more often than not
>> mestizos
>> or cholos, and ignore the Chileans, Argentines, Venezuelans, etc..
>> who are
>> "criollos" that is of white Spanish origin. Again why do they ignore the
>> Portuguese and Brazilians ?, it is all a sad example of the arbitrary
>> and
>> obsolete
>> way of looking at people.
>
> Although I don't really approve of PC bashing, I agree with you.  The
> type
> of thinking we are talking about was very, very strange to me when I
> first
> came to this country, and it took studying US history more closely to
> understand the baggage behind it.  People still tend to think in terms of
> racial categories and to simplify the categorization.  They do the latter
> obviously because their heads would explode if they paid attention to all
> the variations.  (The simple solution of not thinking in racial terms to
> begin with has not occurred to most because categorization is too deeply
> ingrained.)  If you show just the teensiest bit of African physical
> attributes you are "Black," or "African American" in prettied-up
> terms, and
> your European, Native American or Asian admixtures are unimportant, are
> overridden, no matter how dominant.  In some cases I can't even see "the
> African blood" when born Americans point it out to me.  Unfortunately,
> the
> majority of Americans of African origin participate in this for their own
> reasons, and thus it is perpetuated.  People have tried to pretty up the
> terminology (e.g., "race" > "ethnicity" > "culture", "multiracial" >
> "multicultural" > "diverse").  However, the way of thinking has not
> changed
> significantly (except among some currently rather young people, thank
> goodness).  Also, this may explain why so few "Americans" -- and there
> are
> many of them -- admit having indigenous ancestors.
>
> I personally believe that this stems from a combination of racist
> relics and
> guilt complexes regarding slavery of Africans and genocide of indigenous
> people.  These were committed or continued by "Americans" *after* they
> severed ties with Britain.  Thus, these acts cannot be blamed on colonial
> power alone.  In Latin America, on the other hand, slavery and
> genocide were
> committed largely by Spanish and Portuguese power, and the Spanish and
> Portuguese have been kicked out.  It was therefore easier for Latin
> Americans to make a clean sweep and, to a degree at least, to
> sympathize and
> have good relations with indigenous people and descendants of African
> slaves.  ("All of us had suffered under colonial power, and this is a new
> day for all of us.")  My wife (who is of part Native American and African
> descent) and I tend to be far better received among Latin Americans than
> among "Gringos" (and this includes Canada, where we have had a few
> unpleasant experiences).  We feel rather "light" in Mexico.  I have been
> looking at the "Black Mexicans" of the Costa Chica (states of Guerrero
> and
> Oaxaca) and of Veracruz (e.g., http://www.afromexico.com/).  Although I
> don't think their history has been a bed of roses, racist acts against
> them
> do not stand out (even though they retain some African cultural and
> religious remnants), their presence has strongly influenced the general
> cultures of their areas, and the people in question seem to be
> enthusiastic
> Mexicans -- a type of Mexicans the world knows little about.
>
> Regards,
> Reinhard/Ron

Ron and all

As I live in Peru I'd like to dispel any myth there may be about the
absence of racism in this part of the world. There is plenty of it, even
if discrimination is supposedly forbidden by law. Job adverts often ask
for a photograph to be included with the application for obvious
reasons, blacks and native Americans are often turned away at nightclubs
and discos with the excuse that they are having a 'private function'
that night, only to see their white friends allowed in without any
problem. The terms cholo (often) and serrano (almost always) are
derogatory tems

Re the Spanish being kicked out, though there were native rebellions
during the colonial period the rebellion that led to independence was
led mostly by people of Spanish descent. Many of the leaders served in
the Spanish armed forces before they got the independence bug. After
independence they dominated the political and economic life of this
country and have continued to do so ever since.

David Barrow

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