# Hispanic??? What color is that? Is it a race? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 4, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358 "2003-04-04T02:03:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358/21 "2003-04-06T16:21:19Z")
Last year I heard a lecture by an American social scientist who said that until fairly recently (1950’s) many states in the USA still had laws forbidding interracial marriage. That of course gave rise to the question: who belongs to what race. As he explained it, there was considerable discussion (were Asians a different race? Were people from Latin America ‘black’ or ‘white’? Could Latin Americans marry Asians?), and different states had different categorizations. The start of these laws according to him was the pre-Civil war era. Many slaveowners had illegitimate children with their slaves, and if these could be recognized (for example by marriage) the white families would have to stand substantial losses in property as a result of the children having a right to part of the inheritance. I’m afraid since this was a public lecture that I don’t have a cite handy. It does however give an explanation as to why the concept of a ‘hispanic’ race still lingers on. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358/22 "2003-04-06T16:29:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EasyPhil \* > What race is a Hispanic person that has skin tone that is the same as your own? Hispanic is a very old term. Should use “Latino” now. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358/23 "2003-04-06T16:45:07Z")
Besides, not all Latin American countries are Spanish influenced. Brazilians speak Portuguese. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358/24 "2003-04-06T18:26:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > \*\*Hispanic is a very old term. Should use “Latino” now. \*\* It may be old, but it’s used a great deal in official policy statements and documents when describing race or group classification. I’m hip to the use of latino/latina. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358/25 "2003-04-06T20:23:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ceyjen \* > \*\*A white person who espouses negative stereotypes and harbors resentment against black people can accurately be called a racist because he (or she) is a caucasian who thinks negatively about a person who is of an altogether different **race**. But if a white person is anti-Hispanic, that would be caucasian against caucasian. So would it be called “culturalism” perhaps? \*\* Who belongs to what race is a matter of perception. Most racist whites folks would probably not consider a dark-skinned Mexican or Dominican to be a member of their own race. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hispanic-what-color-is-that-is-it-a-race/166358.md?page=1)