How long are you Hispanic?

"600 Words" by Esther J. Cepeda

Did you see the Hispanic woman on the cover of June’s InStyle magazine? I didn’t either, though technically she’s there.

America’s sweetheart Cameron Diaz, graces that cover and she is, as she describes herself in the story, "a Cuban." She’s light-skinned, blond and doesn’t speak Spanish. According to Wikipedia, she once said:

"I go, ‘God, you know, it all sounds so familiar. I know what you're saying, I really do. I just cannot respond to you back in Spanish. I can barely speak English properly.’ I didn't grow up in a Cuban or Latin community. I grew up in Southern California on the beach, basically. And I'm third generation. I'm of Cuban descent, but I'm American."

But she did say she’s Cuban.

How about America’s hottest Latino quarterback?

What, you didn’t know about Tony Romo, QB of "America’s Team" aka the Dallas Cowboys? Yep, the good folks at Wikipedia verify he’s "a third-generation Mexican American on his father's side." Growing up the son of a Polish-German mom and US-born dad,TR didn’t speak much Spanish and like Cameron, he probably never got pulled over for "driving while Hispanic."

Here’s what I’m getting at: How long before "Hispanic" no longer applies? Does it wear off? Is it a label you can wear or discard depending on the immediate circumstances, or are you stuck with it if you’re dark-skinned and you have the "nopal en la frente" which means the cactus leaf on your forehead (a popular way to say someone "looks" Mexican)?

I was at a conference two years ago when a wise man said, in reference to a question about which term is more politically correct – Latino or Hispanic – "You know you’re an American if you call yourself either because those terms don’t exist anywhere but in America. Anywhere else in the world you’re just from your country."

Well, after seeing Cameron on the cover lookin’ gorgeous and innocent of any traffic violations which might result in her being asked for her "papers," I had to know: How long is one Hispanic? I blew in a call – to the wise man himself.

"Every group has had to face that transition, it’s not a unique phenomenon," said Dr. Jorge A. Girotti, himself a real-live Hispanic, who isn’t usually pegged Hispanic at first sight. Aside from being a cool Argentinian around town he’s also a top dog at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Medicine. He hopes Latin-American descendents can find a better way to describe ourselves, since the terms have been hijacked into negative-ville by those who think "we" all illegally drag ourselves over the Mexican border (my imagery, not his). He notes it gets especially hairy when kiddies are involved. "I married a Venezuelan woman and I know my kids feel allegiance to both my ancestry and my wife’s, but those lines are going to keep blurring."

Indeed! Who knows what my cousin’s half-Filipino, quarter-Mexican, quarter-Ecuadorian kids will consider themselves. My other cousin grew up here but was born to a Mexican and Ecuadorian in Mexico, how will the baby girl he had with an African-American woman identify herself?

Cameron and Tony are about as far from Hispanic/Latino as I can imagine but they’re happy to identify themselves as such, even though they’re pretty far removed generationally and linguistically from their Latin American roots.

I went the other direction and had a couple of kids I knew to be English-only speaking and maternally Latino/paternally white fill out a form that asked to check off race/ethnicity. I don’t know if they fully understood the question but their answers were illuminating: Stimpson, age 9, said without missing a beat: "I’m white." When asked why not Hispanic or Latino, he elaborated: "I don’t know, 'cause I look more white." Asked if he would he want to be considered Hispanic because of his mom, he innocently said, "No, I don’t think so. I’m white, I want to be white."

His little brother Dignan, 7, first responded with "Peach, I think I look more peach." After explanation, and even throwing in hypothetical bilinguality in, he stood firm with, "I think I’d still like to be white."

Sort of shocked, but not really, was their father, John, who said, "On a technicality they’re Hispanic but I’m white, so I think of them as white." Mom plead the fifth.

Who can say when one stops being Hispanic when in this multi-cultural world it’s not even always clear when it begins.

"I direct the medical school admissions office and we see this every day," said Dr. Girotti, "it’s a struggle when we read applications. It’s not just the surname but the person’s identification with the label. Just checking the box ‘Latino’ per se doesn’t mean you have any pride or identification with [the label] or speak the language. It’s not only about a person’s identification but how society identifies them."

Bottom line: English/Spanish/Spanglish-speaking, white, Latino, Hispanic, Blacktina, Hispanasian, Wexican – whatever you want to call it – it’s all really only a state of mind.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Comments

[Esther J. Cepeda]

Steve, no, I pretty much agree 100% with every single word that you wrote...diversity, differences, salad, the whole bit. I absolutely don't want it to all be the same, that's why I like Baskin Robbins' ice cream choices, though I must admit I usually get two scoops: a vanilla along with something more exotic :)

EJC

[Steve Porras]

Dear Ms. Cepeda: I think you have it right, but I also think you may be missing something important. I'm not sure of that, so please indulge me in a couple of stories before I ask my question.

I knew a white guy back during college days that lived in the barrio and was so into the local Chicano student movement cause that he was part of the inner circle of leadership. Tom Peterson (fictitious name) spoke Spanish, loved Mexican food, decorated his home with Farm Worker flags, serapes, dated a Chicana, the works. Stan, good Scandinavian that he was, was a Latino, in my opinion. Now take me. White-looking guy with a different accent but could easily pass if wanted to but chooses to subtly let people know about his ethnicity and self-identity.

What's the point of these two stories? Well, like I said at the beginning, I think you have it right...mostly. "Being" Latino is not about how much Spanish you speak, how well you speak it, what kind of music you listen to, who you hang out with, or even the blood lines. All those things are influences, of course, and could be manifestations of one's affinity with the culture. But it's the affinity -- the cultural equivalent of "unity of spirit" -- that creates Latinos, Poles, Czechs, etc. Where you and I may disagree is the premise that the differences are somehow not relevant, perhaps even negatives. Am I misreading you?

Why can't the differences among us -- that vaunted cultural diversity -- be celebrated and looked upon as positive influences instead of divisive aspects of life in the U.S.A.? I remember the salad bowl metaphor from college days. Lots of different ingredients, each contributing its uniqueness, sharing a common space and a little dressing, making for a better dish. Why the heck would you want it all to be the same? Pretty simplistic I know, but there's a grain of truth in there somewhere, I think. Please let me know your thoughts.

Steve

[Jack Spatafora]

Whenever I read you I keep forgetting you're still so young to be so wise....just goes to show that calendars and age spots aren'tthe whole story!