Here's another of my personal flaws.
Of all the people I encounter and notice archating -- in person on a regular basis-- the vast majority of them are Hispanic.
Does that sound racist? Is it a fluke of geography?
The Hispanic "neighbors" on one side of my house throw trash in my yard, trespass, allow their yard trash to accumulate and blow into my yard. They and their guests will stroll right past my "no trespassing" sign without hesitation. These are the people who kept driving across my yard and parking in it, until I put out the "no trespassing" sign, and had to then tell them to stop driving into my yard. I don't like them.
My daughter's frenemy, who I've spoken of before, is Hispanic.
The majority (but not all) of the teens at the park, breaking things and dropping their Powerade bottles on the ground, as well as the family groups leaving their piñata debris scattered all over, are also Hispanic.
I could go on.
There's no part of that I want to be true-- but I don't get to dictate reality to the Universe. There's also no part of that which makes me want to justify a giant welfare/police state program-- excuse me, a government "border". I don't even like noticing a person's "race" in the first place, because it means nothing.
Yes, there are non-Hispanic archators around here. I don't like them either, but I don't encounter them as often, nor do I see them archating quite as openly. And there are plenty of other Hispanic people living around me who I either have no problem with or who I think are wonderful people. They don't archate in any way I can see. They are preferable to any of those who archate, regardless of "race" or culture. One of my daughter's best friends-- one I adore and think is a terrific positive influence on my daughter-- is mixed "race" (none of which are "white").
Is it racist of me to notice the Hispanicity of most of the archators who negatively impact my life? It feels that way to me. It is certainly collectivist, in that it can make me feel negative toward people who aren't doing anything wrong. I try not to fall into that pit. But I'm also not one to cover for archators due to their "race" just to appear more enlightened.
It's probably more about culture than "race" anyway. If that's the case I don't care much for their culture (nor do I care much for the "American culture" either, for different reasons).
If you archate, and continue to do so after it has been pointed out to you, I'm probably not going to like you. No matter who or what you are.
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Reminder: I could really use some help.
Corollation is not causation, and the tiny town you live in is not a representative cross-section of America or the world.
ReplyDeleteIf you're observing some correlation about the Latinos you see tending to behave badly, you're just observing the world around you as it is -- or focusing on Latinos behaving badly while not noticing the ones behaving the opposite way -- or not traveling widely enough to get a comprehensive picture of the sum of humanity. Those are just observations about individuals.
If, from the above, you conclude that all Latinos are likely to behave badly solely because of their ethnicity -- that would be collectivism and racist thinking.
If you were to go to one of my fiancee's family reunions, and those were the only African-Americans you'd ever met in your life, you might conclude solely on those observations that African-Americans are almost invariably hard working and successful.
If you went to the part of Baltimore where The Wire was filmed, and those were the only African-Americans you had ever seen -- you would form other impressions.
Yes, I completely agree. I do notice the ones not behaving badly, though. As I said above.
DeleteI think I must have expressed myself badly in this post. On other sites people are saying about the same thing, apparently not seeing what I actually said. Hmmm.
DeleteI can understand why it feels racist, to notice these facts about the world around you, but it's not racism unless you (like you said above) let the facts you observe color (okay, tiny pun intended) your view of people you have not yet had a chance to observe. One of the most poisonous things about the political and social climate today is how so many want to make discernment equal discrimination, and discrimination to equal racism, and racism to make a person the WORST PERSON EVAR. Now, racism is a pretty bad habit, and it's pretty clear you try to inoculate yourself against it, and so do I. Racism is a bad habit partly because it causes us to hate others for no reason, but most importantly because it is yet another filter that stands between us and the world as it is. Reality is a medicine that so many folk out there (including myself at times) need to take megadoses of.
ReplyDeleteGood article, and I think you said important things, even if far too many people glossed over the content and just read the keywords.
Thank you for understanding what I was trying to say.
Deleteit's "culture", not "race".
ReplyDeleteThe "mexican" culture is -NOT- Lysander Spooner's "reason based non-aggression" culture.
and, words have meanings: does "hispanic" refers people from "Hispaniola"?
Delete"Hispaniola, originally known as Española, is the second largest island in the West Indies, lying within the Greater Antilles. It is politically divided into the Republic of Haiti in the west and the Dominican Republic in the east."
-http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hispaniola
Mexican culture and peoples are -NOT- from Hispaniola.
wikipedia opinion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic):
"The term Hispanic (Spanish: hispano or hispánico) broadly refers to the people, nations, and cultures that have a historical link to the Spanish language or the country of Spain, depending on the context.
It commonly applies to countries once under colonial possession by the Spanish Empire following Spanish colonization of the Americas, parts of the Asia-Pacific region and Africa. Principally, what are today the countries of Hispanic America, the Spanish Philippines, Spanish Guinea and Spanish Sahara where Spanish may or may not be the predominant or official language and their cultures are heavily derived from Spain although with strong local indigenous or other foreign influences.
It could be argued that the term Hispanic should apply to all Spanish-speaking cultures or countries, as the historical roots of the word specifically pertain to the Iberian region. It is difficult to label a nation or culture with one term, such as Hispanic, as the ethnicities, customs, traditions, and art forms (music, literature, dress, culture, cuisine, and others) vary greatly by country and region. The Spanish language and Spanish culture are the main distinctions.
'Hispanus' was used to define people of ancient Roman Hispania, which roughly comprised the Iberian Peninsula, including the contemporary states of Spain, Portugal, and Andorra, and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar."
So "wikipedia truth" would have people from the sahara and the philipines being "hispanic". Treaty of Paris 1763 is all land west of the mississippi. And portugal is on the iberian peninsula; so let's include brazil then too. Because people in the sahara and in brazil speak spanish ?!
only the government could indoctrinate a generation to use such a term.
culturally, Mexicans know who they are are.
Why does it confuse the politically correct?
and per wikipedia and Treaty of Paris 1763 (all land west of the mississippi goes to Spain)- Then you Kent are "hispanic" too.
DeleteLoL. gov't terminology is as stupid as the twisted logic and twisted horrors imposed on the hostage people
I agree that it is about culture, not "race". I've said in the past that some cultures are better than others.
DeleteI also hesitated to use the word "Hispanic". I knew someone might object. It's what they choose to call themselves, and has become widely accepted. There's also "Latino/Latina". Some of them get angry when called "Mexican". I don't really understand that, since I see nothing wrong with Mexico that getting rid of the state couldn't mitigate.
And, yes, geopolitics is a messed up thing. I was born in New Mexico, so in some (shall we say, less-educated) places I have been assumed to be Mexican. I've been asked if I've become an American citizen, or when I immigrated.