Earle Horton wrote:
> "T Jr Hardman" wrote in message
> news:46139364.2040600@thomashardman.com...
> ...
>
>>But many of the "immigrant advocate group" propagandists prefer to
>>confuse the discussion, by calling as "latinos" any person who is from
>>Latin America. Personally I think it is bizarre to call a full-blooded
>>Maya "latino" and I have heard from Spaniards, French, and Italians
>>that they consider it an insult, because they are the true Latins.
>>
>
> Spaniards have no right to be insulted. They caused the situation in the
> first place by colonizing the area. French and Italians are usually
> referred to as "Romance" by culture, sometimes "Latin" but not "Latino".
> "Latino" is used to refer to Spanish speaking people in Latin America. But
> now, only loose association is required. Here in Albuquerque they like
> "Hispanic" because "they were here before there was a Mexico".
I was born in Farmington NM, and my family lived there and in Shiprock
for a decade before I was born. They made friends with both the Dineh
people and people descended from the colonial Spaniards, many of which
latter group spoke a form of Castilleno relatively unchanged from the
colonial days, or so they would tell us. They generally despised
Mexicans in general and "braceros" or illegals in particular. The
Spaniards were responsible for much of the signature culture of New
Mexico, especially of course in the area of Santa Fe.
>
> In Spanish, there is really no confusion between "latino" and "latín". The
> first refers to "la raza" and the second refers to a dead language. With
> respect to Italy, few Italians can claim to be "Latin" unless their
> ancestors were associated with the region of Latium in Italia, those that
> weren't Ostrogoths that is.
Heh. Touche. And as for Spain itself, certainly a large number of the
original Ibero-Gaul population remains? My observation has been that
perhaps most of the few actual Spaniards I have ever met rather resemble
the modern Irish in many ways, with a slightly darker complexion in many
cases. But I've also met people of the "pure Spanish blood" who look
quite Germanic, with the signature look of blue eyes and black hair,
which are common among those who were in the path of the various waves
of invasions originating in Jutland in Danmark. We note with some
linguistic interest that the Spanish-German connection is of very long
standing. See also "Holy Roman Empire" not to mention the _lex
visigothorium_ which lasted until the Moors invaded.
> In fact, these related words have been so confused with time that it is
> considered pedantic to make hard and fast distinctions between them.
> There are Spaniards, French, and Italians who will tell the gringo anything
> he wants to hear. They make a game of it. If you doubt this, in vino
> veritas.
I do note that back when the Invasion was a new phenomenon (1996 or so),
I was having a discussion with the highly-international newsgroup
news:alt.gothic and I said something about "what is it with these
Latinos that they don't think they have to obey the law like everyone
else" and all of the Canadian francophones became very stiff and
unfriendly, where before they had been very entertaining and cheerfully
chatty. I inquired as to why this could be, and they said they didn't
feel very friendly to someone who had insulted all of the Latins. Then
we got into a discussion of "what does Latino mean" and at least all of
the Quebeckers said that they believed the word "latino" certainly
included them, the Italians, the Spanish, etc., anyone coming from a
region formerly dominated by Rome and the Latin language. Trust me, this
was not something I wished to hear, and I had some doubts about it. But
I recall Canadian PM Chretien making some remark after some failed
international summit, to the effect of "it's not possible in their minds
to have respect for us, because we are Latins". He said this in English,
and he was very bilingual, so I expect that what he did say was what he
had intended to say.
BTW I also recall the Quebeckers saying something to the effect of "and
anyway, how could you possibly confuse francophones of European ancestry
with Spanish-speaking native victims of the legacy of colonialism". This
of course sparked significant diatribes among various participants from
Canada's "First Nations".
HTH,
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Saludos,
>
> Earle
>
>
--
http://thomashardman.com/ Centrist, Moderate, Republican in Maryland
A true Conservative isn't about to let
the enemies of America ruin his streams for Trout.
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