I'm hispanic... why does my teacher think i'm white?

Question

I'm hispanic... why does my teacher think i'm white?
here's my pic:
http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z291/johnnie1o1/?action=view¤t=112607021331.jpg

would it help if i learned spanish?
i mean what the heck?! my dads side is from spain how much more spanish can a person get. lol. but my moms side is austrian and polish.

Answer 1

its okay i mean technically you are not a full Spaniard if your mom is austrian and polish. But its okay cuz if you go to spain you will see a lot of people with light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Most people think think that Spaniards should be dark like us Mexicans. Also the people in spain speak castilian spanish, and most people from mexico or people with elders from mexico speak slang spanish. Kinda like most people in America and the U.K. speak English but like when you go to england they have their accent lol. Make sense? But I definitely think you should learn spanish because it will open a lot of doors for you. So if you do decide to learn spanish i would avoid the castilian because most people in america that do speak spanish don't speak that (castilian) kind of spanish. It would kinda be like an Englishman speaking to a true southern cowboy from texas lol.

Answer 2

Many persons think there are 3 BASIC "races". Caucasian, *****, Asian. Those are extremely broad labels. If you are one of the above, you are not the other (supposedly). Hispanic commonly falls under caucasian/ white. The govt. likes these little boxes, where it can supposedly keep track of who is what (not always to discriminate, just to 'count').
A Hispanic person might have roots in Mexico or Equador, but still goes back to Spain, long ago. A Native American might get very upset that they don't believe they fall into any of the "basic" boxes.
Labels are arbitrary things, and really are not worth getting upset about. It is way too easy to have a person who has 4 grandparents.. A Black who married a Cherokee, and a German who married a Korean. A grandchild would not fit the standard boxes either.
The boxes are out there, but they don't mean much in real life. Teachers get harassed if they don't comply with the paperwork. It's a statistical mentality. I am Polish, and I speak Spanish. Badly, but it makes my Hispanic friends giggle when I try. They share tamales with me and we are all happy.

Answer 3

SPANISH ARE WHITE. However, many of the Spanish that came to Americas intermingled with the native peoples that were already here. I don't know if that is why Hispanics are classified separate from white. You can be Spanish and have blonde or red hair and blue eyes.

Racial classification has become political.School want to get federal money and their having "Hispanics" helps them so they classify them separately from other whites. It is stupid.
Actually I had an American INdian great great grandmother, but I have a skin cancer type complexion, blue eyes and was born with red hair.

Now, there are ignorant rednecks who thinks any Southern European is not white.

Answer 4

People from Spain are European, and you being Polish and Austrian... Latinos from South America are not considered white because their ancestors were Indian (Mayan, Incas, Aztecs among other tribes that may have mixed with Portuguese and Spanish settlers) If you want to learn something interesting about your heritage, research your last name on a site called Sephardim.com...This is a site that helps people of Spanish descent find out if their last name is of Jewish or Moorish origin! Many people living in Spain today have ancestors who were forced in 1492 by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to convert. The Jews and Moors lived in Spain for centuries and many were prominent members of society. Check it out!!!

Answer 5

I really think that it is strange that people confuse skin color, country of origin, language spoken; land of ancestors...
If your Dad's side is Spanish, YOU ARE WHITE; if your Mom's side is Austrian and Polish, YOU ARE WHITE.
I have NOT been to Poland, as military persons were not allowed to go to a Communist nation, but I traveled around the Iberean Pennisula and traveled across Austria; ALL of those people were more white (paler skin color) than I am.
Racism does NOT refer to language spoken or country of origin or religion; it refers to skin color.

Answer 6

well Spanish people (people from Spain) are white and so are austrian and polish. so thats probably why she thinks you are white. because you are. white is just a color, saying you are hispanic is a ethnicity. for example, i am Italian. there are a lot of Italian people who are dark skinned.

Answer 7

you are not really hispanic because hispanic is not related to austrian and polish. you look white by the way.

Answer 8

I really fell it would be a good choice to learn spanish! why not I would love to learn so if you complete one thing you may learn french and then who knows maybe go one to be the next president of the good o usa.. good luck

Answer 9

You're not Hispanic. Hispanic denotes Indian (from Mexico, Central America or South America) and Spanish heritage. If you are Spanish you are European and your mother's heritage is European so you're considered "white".

Answer 10

You look Spanish to me. But you can also be mistaken for being Hebrew or Polish.

You and Cameron Diaz have that same problem. But also note, we don't know who are ancestors really are. For all I know, I could be Honduran and not even know it. My nose looks Honduran.