why do americans call any one who speaks spanish, A SPANISH PERSON?

Question

I am from Colombia and it's so irritating to hear Americans calling me spanish

Spanish is a person from a european country named spain..... just like you Americans are not english people!!! I am not spanish

neither I am mexican, my culture and origins are totally different

isnt it worrysome that so many Americans can be so uninformed of anything beyond their TV sets?

by the way..... US born latin people are just as ignorant, it's so funny to go to NYC and see people of puerto rican or dominican descent who arent even of spaniard origin calling themselves spanish.....

ignorance

Answer 1

I'm white and some people call me Anglo. Which I am not, but I do speak English. Same thing, I guess.
Unfortunately for you, nobody is required to obey your definitions. If a Puerto Rican in New York wants to call himself Spanish, that is his privilege.
If you need total strangers to realize your country of origin, you should wear a label.

Answer 2

Unless a person is taught the distinct differences between ALL the Latin dialects it sounds like Spanish. Most Americans are offered Spanish as a language to take in school and are NOT taught the various dialects and aren't even made aware many times that there are differences between the way a Colombian, a Puerto Rican, etc. speak. When you learn to speak "Spanish" then go to other Latin countries it's only then that you realize that the language is a bit different.

It's not always ignorance, it's more a lack of education. Be an educator and spread the word.

Answer 3

Two things- what others call you, and what you call yourself.

My former mother-in-law's sister (my ex's aunt) was very fair but always self-identified herself as "Mexican." My former mother-in-law was very Indian-looking, and always self-identified herself as "Spanish."

I think the operative thing here was identifying herself as "European," what she perceived as something better than the alternative, "Mexican." This is based on an internal social class distinction among Mexicans- the more Indian you are, the lower in class you are. Here in the USA, she had the opportunity to self-identify herself as a member of a "better" class. So she did. Many Puerto Ricans and Dominicans have black ancestors, and this might be a way to accomplish the same thing- to self-identify as a kind of "European" person rather than as a former slave. Being black has lots of negative connotations, like being Indian in Mexico does.

The contrast between English-speaking people who are not English and Spanish-speaking people who are not Spanish is valid. But look at the subsequent reactions- do you see anyone taking umbrage with "Hey, I'm not English, My folks came from Italy!" Nope, not too often. It becomes a rhetorical vehicle to self-identify- "I'm part this and part that." and that leads to further interaction. So my suggestion is to do the same- "No, I'm not Spanish, I'm Colombian. Our culture is like this, while Spain is like that."

Am I worried that too many Americans don't see much beyond their TV sets? Not really. I can only control my own behavior. Criticizing others gains me nothing.

Answer 4

You pretty much answered your own question - ignorance, but also a willingness to call people whatever they want to be called. To date, non-Mexican immigrants from Latin American have mostly been Puerto Rican and those people, though racially mixed, often identify themselves as 'Spanish'.

Answer 5

It isn't just Americans that do that and sometimes people don't know so it is easy to confuse the language with the nationailty as well. Not many people say that all people of hispanic descent or speak spanish are actually spanish.

Answer 6

I agree that some are misinformed. I am from Southern California and most people here refer to those of latin desent as "Mexican" I on the other hand, if I am unsure, use the term "latin" or "hispanic" these tend to not be offensive and oftentimes I will still be corrected as to where the person is from. This happens to asians as well. We all get called "chinese" when in fact one may be Filipino, or Japanese.

Answer 7

Are you sure they're not calling you "Hispanic" or "Spanish-speaking"? But even if many people, including other Hispanics, are calling Hispanic people Spanish, it's very likely a shortcut for "of Spanish descent." I sometimes call myself Scottish because I"m mostly of Scottish descent and was born with a Scottish last name, but it's been nearly 300 years since any ancestor of mine lived in Scotland, and I'm sure no one to whom I say that I'm Scottish thinks I mean I was born there.

In addition, occasionally anyone speaking English gets called English. Some speakers of Pennsylvania Dutch call the rest of their fellow-Americans "English" (remember the movie Witness?), and in Europe a few people of other nationalities have assumed that my husband and I were English because that's what they heard us speaking. We rather enjoyed it.

So just politely and pleasantly tell people who call you Spanish where you're really from. You may add to their knowledge and understanding, and you may even make some new friends.

Answer 8

Where I live (Massachusetts) there are alot of people of "Hispanic" descent. We know they're not from Spain but alot of times we don't know what south american country they're from so we call them hispanics meaning they're ancestors are from Spain. But if I know someone is Puerto Rican or I call them Puerto Rican. Now even if they're born here, they're proud of where their parents came from and love the fact that they're Puerto Rican, Dominican, Columbian, whatever.

Answer 9

You really have a problem and an obsession of sorts with Americans.

Get help. The more you believe the things that you believe, the more I understand how little you know about residents from America, yet you take time out from your busy schedule (of course) in order to make grave generalizations about us.

It is you that has the problem, and needs fixing. Go get help.

Answer 10

Agreed!!!

I think it's sad when I say someone is Spanish and the response I get is, "Oh really, what kind? Puerto Rican? Mexican?"

Grrr. But nicely put. All we can do is educate!