7 ms·
I'd hardly call uniformed commentary on the internet "political correctness drowning the exchange of ideas", however, it's ironic that those accusing the author
by vectorpush 10y ago
I'd hardly call uniformed commentary on the internet "political correctness drowning the exchange of ideas", however, it's ironic that those accusing the author of racism are inadvertently casting support for the racist idea that arbitrarily defined racial labels like "Mexican" have an inherent meaning that supersedes the actual genetics; the article is literally a case study of how our crudely defined racial groupings are insufficient descriptions of underlying genetics.
- sremani 10y agoMexican is a nationality. I thought Hispanic was more race/ethnicity. What do you call a citizen of Mexico?
- cwbrandsma 10y agoA Mexican. For instance: Louis CK is a Mexican. Except around people that think the word "Mexican" is derogatory word...in which case you pretend that people from Mexico don't exist because that hurts their feelings.
- EduardoBautista 10y agoYup. It's funny because I find being called Hispanic/Latino in order to avoid calling me "Mexican" annoying. But I would be corrected by some San Francisco diversity leader that being called "Mexican", and now even "Hispanic", should be offensive to me.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- pyre 10y agoI don't find Mexican to be derogatory in and of itself (obviously someone could use it in a derogatory fashion), but I would avoid assuming that any random Hispanic person is Mexican though. Does that mean I'm being "politically correct?" Should I start calling every Asian person I see Chinese to prove how non-PC and what a "free thinker" I am?
- EduardoBautista 10y agoJust calling me Mexican because of how I look is different. But when you know I'm from Mexico and you avoid calling me Mexican because of PC reasons, that's where the problem lies.
- armandososa 10y agoWhat? Is this for real? Is "Mexican" considered offensive? In what context? Like, there's a Japanese gentleman slacking off and someone says "Oh you're such a Mexican". Or more like people from Colombia and Spain are referred to as Mexicans? As a Mexican living in Mexico, I found this very interesting.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> Is "Mexican" considered offensive? In certain contexts, yes, particularly, its not uncommon for non-Hispanics to use the term to refer to any person whose features seem to suggest Latin American descent, a practice which can be offensive, for different reasons (some of which I'll note for each category) to all of Mexicans (whose identity it genericizes), Americans of Mexican descent (whose Americanness it erases, making them part of the alien "other" within their own country), and Hispanics who are neither Mexican nor of Mexican descent (whose entire identity it erases.) (No doubt, some people -- particularly outside of those groups -- who are part of the crowd that treats offensiveness of terms as something independent of context have noted that there are some contexts in which "Mexican" is offensive to some people, and concluded improperly that "Mexican" is, therefore, categorically offensive and inappropriate.)
- Jtsummers 10y agoI wrote almost the same post as yours then refreshed, so have an upvote. I do want to address one thing: it's very common for whites to use the term... I feel this should be qualified with xenophobic or racist whites, not whites in general. Many of us are quite capable of recognizing that a Latino or Hispanic person isn't necessarily Mexican and use the correct terms when appropriate to use them at all, or inquire if we actually are interested in their nation of origin.
- dragonwriter 10y agoI've rephrased the bit you took issue with a bit differently than you suggest; I agree that it was misstated, but its not, AFAICT, universally motivated by actual xenophobia or racism, and is quite often just plain ignorance by people who wouldn't do it if they recognized that there was a difference.
- vectorpush 10y agoI agree, though I find people commonly reference various nationalities as if they represented a "race" of peoples. I'd also point out that "Hispanic" is an even less genetically precise term than "Mexican".
- mrtree 10y agoMexican is not precise at all. What the hell are you talking about?
- vectorpush 10y agoI agree, I'm only pointing out that in terms of genetics, the term hispanic is even less precise because it is commonly used to describe any person that originates from a region where Spanish is predominantly spoken (i.e. covering a much broader range of peoples without regard for genetics).