How come American people call everyone that is Spanish/Latin Mexican?

Question

I know someone from South American and sometimes they ask her if she's Mexican why?

Answer 1

well, basicly because is a cultural and an educational problem, US school don't teach too much about the world, beacuse this have changed after the 30's, US become most patriotic or nacionalist country, looking more inside than outside. The people from rest of America learn more about the world, in US most people even know what language these countries speak, and for that become for rest of LatinAmerica people kind a discrimination as well, but some US people know how is it. There are some other issues in this when you say American just to US people, for all the Latin American and other countries around the world America is a continent, and no a country, for spanish people sounds bad, and dont accept to call american to the US american. First because the name America is more contected with the spanish culture than the anglo sajon culture and second because they are American too. There is another thing you should know, some people dont like be called Latin, as other dont like to be called as Hispanic, all these terms have been "invented" for someone, the "actual meaning" is not for people who speak spanish or are from spanish language countries, these ones were inlcuded first of all in enlgih to separate races/ethnics/etcs in US and was adopted for other language as well, like the same spanish. For example in 1600's someone from France came to this continent and called to the people Latin american, because they all speak language that come from Latin: french, spanish, portugues, italian, even english. If you search around internet you will see that there are a lot of discussion about. Basicly US call to all spanish speaking people, Mexican because the US people don't know, I am not saying that US people are ignorants, I am saying that someone did not teach good history about it they just teached a point of view, and in a future somebody will have to do something about it, because this is making feel bad a lot the people around the world not only in US. CIAO

Answer 2

Short answer, we are lazy and since we are seeing a problem with a specific border, we associate everybody similar to that one group. It is not good to do, but it happens.

Now, as an Italian (a true Latin from Rome) I should take offense that you group the people of Spanish and American Native Indians mix as Latin. However, I am not like that, so I don't care if you are Cuban, Mexican, Honduras or Puerto Rican... You are all part of the world and have the same abilities and failings we all do.

Answer 3

Most Americans identify with Spanish speaking citizens as Mexicans. They (citizens from Mexico) represent a lot bigger portion of the population than South Americans.

Answer 4

It's only because Mexicans, both legal & illegal, comprise the single largest group of immigrants in the U.S. This means that the majority of Spanish-speaking people that many Anglos would come in contact with, would likely be Mexican.
Here where I live, in Washington, DC, the majority of so-called
"Latinos" are folks from El Salvador but when I was growing up, in the 1950's & '60s, most everyone would have assumed that if someone spoke Spanish, they must be either from Spain, Cuba (thanks to "Ricky Ricardo" on TV) or Mexico.
We just didn't know about, or have contact with, Hispanics from elsewhere.

Answer 5

that is precise, and that doesn't simply occurs right here, it occurs in a few locations comparable to Europe. Some men and women in Europe classify Romanians as gypsies, which they've not anything in natural an don't even seem alike. I am Puerto Rican, and I had been referred to as Mexican a couple of occasions as good. I don't feel men and women say that do be offensive, it is in most cases on the grounds that there are plenty of Mexicans that reside within the United States and men and women expect they're Mexican immediately.

Answer 6

.. because mexico si the closest latin american nation to america, and we get the most immigrants from there.

And howcome you are using spanish and latino was an interchangeable word? Latins are the descendents of the Latin/Italic tribe of Indo-Europe. I consider myself "latin" since i have french ancestry. Being Latin doesn't mean you speak a latin language, you need to be latin by blood.
Spanish are from spain, most latin americans are not spanish/of spanish descent.

Answer 7

They don't know any better, because they were not taught the difference. Sometimes you have to give people a break and educate them.

Answer 8

umm, they are called hispanic. if you are from south of the US, then you are hispanic.