Ever personally encountered anti-Hispanic racism?

In My Humble Opinion
21

When I lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, anti-Hispanic discrimination was rare. The region, with a 50% Anglo/50% Hispanic population mix, took pride in having a “gentle blending of cultures,” and an environment where Anglos embraced many Hispanic traditions, or didn’t hesitate to go to a barrio for shopping or to visit a restaurant.

Although it wasn’t racism, many Anglos were perplexed at some Hispanic customs. There was a lot of discussion similar to the “why do black people do X” threads on the SDMB; for instance, extreme veneration or worshipping the Virgen de Guadalupe, huge pilgrimages to local Virgen sightings in everything from shower curtains to tortilla shells, engaging in Penetite-style self-torture when making a pilgrimage up Tortugas Mountain during the Feast of the Virgen; lowrider/chollo culture; quincinerias; constantly being asked whether you were gay/lesbian because you were under 25 and unmarried; New Mexico Spanish (using “tambien” as a filler word); large extended family outings to Target or Wal-Mart, and the like. Despite the gentle blending of cultures, there were somethings that Anglos still weren’t privy to.

See, I’m doing it myself. elmwood ← racist :frowning:

22

It might be worthwhile to establish a clarification:

Hispanic is not a race or a skin color, it merely denotes a person’s heritage stems from a Spanish-speaking nation. That goes as dark as what we consider “black” to as light as what we consider “white.”

Minor nitpick, but one that I think is enlightening. Carry on.

23

Three months ago I treated the family to a fun-filled weekend in Denver. After a long day at Six Flags Water/Amusement Park, my 7-year-old daughter was getting tired and cranky. She started ranting about there being too many brown people at Six Flags and in Denver as a whole. While her maternal Grandma, who is a very brown Filipina, was there in the car with us.

Realizing that trying to reason with a cranky child would be futile, I let it go and she was soon napping. The next day I sat down with her for a talk. I agreed that there certainly were too many people at Six Flags, but I think I convinced her that singling out brown people for criticism is silly.

The incident gave me food for thought.

Racism tends to be the province of people who are intellectually and emotionally undeveloped.

24

Hoooooo boy, yes, I’ve encountered it.

I work for a local magazine in a small city that consists of (a) old white people who’ve lived here all their lives, and (b) new hispanic residents. Our readership is mostly from group (a).

We sent out a survey, intending it to be focused on the state of our city’s government. For example, when we said, “List three of the city’s strengths,” people wrote, “Strong leadership,” “Good schools,” “Excellent police force,” etc.

But when we said “List three of the city’s weaknesses,” some of the surveys came back saying, “Hispanics,” all three times.

Wow.

In the “add your own comments” section, at least one person used the word “disgusting” in reference to the existence of Spanish-language phone books in our city. They even hate the phone books!

That was the most blatant instance, but there have been others. It’s really disappointing.

25

I live in a culturally diverse neighborhood. Because I have battled a tendency toward mild agoraphobia for fourteen years, I don’t spend an enormous amount of time out and about.

But once while I was having some copies of photographs made at a local office supplies store, another Anglo seemed to feel perfectly comfortable bringing up a negative stereotype of the Hispanics who live in our neighborhood. I don’t remember what all she said and what I said, but I did make an effort to relieve her of some of the comfort that she was feeling in sharing her bigotry with me. Finally, she just sort of wilted and said, “Well, I mean I know they still have souls…”:rolleyes:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am trying to learn a little Spanish so that I can be polite in more than one language.

26

My father-in-law owns an old mansion that was converted years ago into four small apartments. Over the last 20 years or so, nearly all the tenants of these apartments have been Hispanic - specifically, Mexican immigrants. The first tenant was the American Dream come true: he saved every penny he earned, opened up a small restaurant in the area, then a second and a third, then bought a huge house “in the country” (read: just outside city limits). Since then, about 90% of the tenants in that building have either been relatives or employees of that first tenant, and as each one has moved out, another branch is ready to rent. My FIL is a decent landlord; the apartments are small but nicely maintained, everything is kept up-to-date, and the rents are very affordable… the average apartment here in town goes for upwards of $1000 a month, and the highest rent in this building is $650. Without exception, every tenant he has had there has been trouble-free and responsible. (Yes, I am getting to the point, I promise.)

My FIL blames every problem in the city on Hispanics… but not HIS Hispanics. He will never hesitate to tell people how nice his tenants are, although he repeatedly interjects things like, “They keep their children very clean and well-dressed” with a detectable note of surprise in his tone when he says it. My husband and his brother have long given up on Dad, except to occasionally suggest gently that it might be time for a subject change. Bro’s wife and I, however, tended to let ourselves get upset by his comments, but we’re just about at the giving-up stage ourselves. The man is nearly 80, and we’ve pretty much exhausted our arguments with him.

27

I’m marrying one, and was “excommunicated” from the family for it for a couple of years.

So yeah, you could say I’ve personally encountered it. :smiley:

Beyond my parents’ ingrained belief in their own racial superiority, it’s funny how much more I believe in racism since I got with Mr. Levins. And by that, I mean that as a sheltered middle-class white girl, I always believed that some people were racist, sure, but not anybody I knew! Not people I encountered! Surely it wasn’t as bad as they said!

Yeah, it is. And I’ve found that out in the last five years.

It’s the little things, really. It’s going into a Steinmart in a “ritzy area” with Mr. Levins and not being greeted by any of the salesclerks…til I wander by myself into another section. When all of a sudden, two women come up to me and offer to help me within about 60 seconds. Neither of which ever offered to help Mr. Levins. Nor did anyone else.

It’s hearing about how he rode his bike through Alamo Heights–a notoriously uptight bastion of white nouveau-riche here in San Antonio–and was shadowed for over a block by an Alamo Heights squad car. They didn’t stop him; they just gave him “the eye” for over a block, keeping pace with his bike, looking him over. Oh, did I mention it happened on three separate occasions?

It’s working behind my bar, in a tourist area, and listening to these two business-traveler guys bitch about the prices of our beer, and then having them ask me, “So, c’mon. Where do the Mexicans drink?” Yeah, that’s right, “the Mexicans” will know where the cheap beer is. None of 'em have any money. :rolleyes:

It’s hearing people ask Mr. Levins how it is that he knows such good English. (He’s a fifth-generation Texan.)

It’s people asking him “how things are in Mexico.” Like anyone with darker skin in South Texas must have come across the border yesterday.

It’s a woman walking up to him at a gas station and snapping, “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” and then, when he says yes, actually asking him for money to gas up her car because she’s lost her wallet and doesn’t have any cash. (Bitch was driving a freakin’ Mercedes.)

These are just highlights.

People can be really small-minded and ignorant. And I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to realize it first-hand. More people should.