BF2S Forums Why are people of Spanish Decent considered minorities?

A minority just means there are less of you than the majority. Anyone can be in a minority depending on where they live.

And what does the term Minority even mean.. Is it a race that has less of a population? I have to say I think it's a derigatory(spl) term, it's saying that someone is less then someone else.

I'd have to agree the term minority is essentially referring to some sort of numerical figure / relativity.

I'll never understand what the term Hispanic really means....since I've had to fill out forms where i could chose from both Hispanic  and Puerto Rican -- so apparently Hispanics exclude Puerto Ricans?

Bah its all none sense anyway.

Turquoise wrote:

Sometimes, minority is used to reflect economic marginalization.  In other words, Hispanics could be seen as minorities because of their relative poverty in America compared to "white" families.  This is why Hispanics are considered minorities by the government even when they are the numerical majority of an area.

no, its because the government only considers the nation as whole when referring to minorities and majorities.

blisteringsilence wrote:

Those of spanish descent are not considered minorities. Those of Hispanic descent are.

I think that depends on where you are. To farm bred corn fed white boys there is no distinction.

blisteringsilence wrote:

It has to do with language and culture. Well, more that they won't adopt our language or culture.

That being said, there is a heirarchy within the subculture. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Columbians, while being lumped together under the title "hispanic" have their own dialects, their own customs, and really don't get along well with the other groups. Think Italians and Irish in the Bronx in 1890. Sure, they're catholic, and speak english... but if an Irish girl were to marry an Italian, it would be a huge scandal. Same goes for the subsets within the hispanic community.

Well said.

cpt.fass1 wrote:

Most of them are from European Decent??

Wrong, The Conquistadors interjected there blood into the mix but the majority of American peoples lineage is from folks who migrated across the Bering Straight at least 12000 years ago.

cpt.fass1 wrote:

And what does the term Minority even mean.. Is it a race that has less of a population? I have to say I think it's a derigatory(spl) term, it's saying that someone is less then someone else.

It's mostly about 3's.

Last edited by ATG (2007-03-29 19:34:54)

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:

its funny how the US Army documents me under white/caucasian when im a dark hispanic dude.  the gov't doesnt consider hispanic as being its own race.

That's because Hispanic isn't a race. It's a catch-all for a number of races: Columbian, Argentinian, Mexican, Dominica, Puerto Rican.... races that have little to do with one another than a general geographic region from which they came.

Black is considered a race because the cultural differences in those that came from Africa were forceable eraced upon their landing on our shores. There is no difference in tradition between a black man who's family hails from Nigeria and one who's family hails from Kenya.... assuming his ancestors came over long enough ago that he has been assimilated into the culture. If he just arrived in the US, he has more in common with a newly-arrived family from Columbia than he does from a black family that has roots as slaves.... and is more likely to be acceped by the columbian family too.

Looking at it that way, I would argue that American Indians have more in common, culturally, with the hispanic population than the "white" population.

When someone in the US thinks of a Hispanic, the face that comes to mind has more to do with the native population than the Spanish. Wheras the US and Canada were populated with immigrants, and our native populations repressed, in Central and South America the native populations exploded. Those of pure spanish heritage are limited in that area, whereas most Hispanics have a very limited amount of Spainsh dna, if you will.