Latino and Race: Together and SeparatelyPosted in Articles, Census/Demographics, Latino Studies, Media Archive, Social Science, United States on 2014-10-02 02:03Z by Steven |
Latino and Race: Together and Separately
Latino Rebels
2014-10-01
Vilma Ortiz, Professor of Sociology
University of California, Los Angeles
Just when I think that the notion of “white Hispanic” has faded away, several more commentaries continue to appear. All raise important points yet miss others that are equally important. (I want to thank Christina Saenz-Alcánatra for effectively and succinctly explaining the arguments of various commentaries.)
To discuss “white Hispanics,” means to discuss two issues: one is being Latino in the U.S. context and the other is variation in skin color. I argue that these need to be discussed separately and together in order to understand the impact on individuals. Being Latino in the U.S. is frequently a racialized experience, which matters for most members even if they are light-skinned. But that does not negate the additional effect of being dark-skinned in a society that privileges whiteness…
Read the entire article here.