The Study of Racialism

...article continues HERE.

I believe this sentiment is being driven by MECHA and similar organizations who have been expressing it for a while in conjunction with their reconquest goals. I have heard the same rhetoric from a few Mexicans and the reconquest theme was clearly detectable in their comments. I would be wary of this trend and its political implications. At the very least malicious groups are capitalizing on an otherwise innocuous movement.

However, in of itself I think the idea that Hispanics can be Native Americans as opposed to non-Natives is a good step forward. Many of them are primarily Native to begin with and taking pride in their strongest roots is healthy.

Personally, while I applaud the move towards taking pride in one's indigenous roots, I see the trend illustrated in the article as more regressive than progressive.

For years, Latin Americans of mixed ancestry generally presented a challenge to U.S. racial ideology that was largely rooted in hypodescent (in which people of mixed ancestry tended to be placed in the category of the ancestry with the lowest status). Now, it seems that many Hispanics in the U.S. are starting to apply hypodescent to themselves in what I feel to be a misguided attempt to lay legitimate claim to "belonging" to the U.S. (and the Americas, in general). Most of these self-identified "Indian" Hispanics are ancestrally mestizos who always partook in mestizo culture before suddenly having a (false?) epiphany that they're really just "Indian" and denying their European (and African) heritage.

Of course, it doesn't help that most of the Natives in the U.S. are ancestrally what Latin America would consider to be "mestizos."

The Mexica Movement is one such ethnocentric organization that advocates indigenocentric hypodescent-based identity as well as a "repatriation" policy for all people of non-Native descent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexica_Movement

_________________
"Then you are a fool. Be thankful that when God gave you a face, he gave you a fool's face."

Precisely, I couldn't put it any better myself.

Thank you, ImBack.

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"Then you are a fool. Be thankful that when God gave you a face, he gave you a fool's face."

Here's a video by one of those neo-indigenocentrics named Carlos who negates hispanic and/or latino identifies in favor of indigenous and/or afro-based hypodescent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-aJTWgdufc

He does raise some interesting points as to why these terms are problematic, but he negates (or denies) the fact that most of the people he is talking about are of mixed "racial" ancestry and come from closely-related hybrid cultures that generally have Spanish heritage as a common root.

Here's a video where we can see some of his handiwork. He questions several Latinos as to which "race" they self-identify as ("white," "black," "Native American," and/or "Asian") and basically pronounces them as being in "denial" because they don't self-identify as Native American, even though most are clearly of mixed "racial" ancestry and identify with their Spanish roots to some degree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e6ChgL1 ... r_embedded

Notice that his method of questioning is misleading, as he does not ask them if they have indigenous ancestry (of which he might have gotten some different responses). He also does not ask any of them if they have multiple ancestries, even though its obvious just by looking at them that they're mixed.

Here's another video where he labels Mexican-American comedian George Lopez as a Native Mexican (Native American), taking no regard for how George Lopez may, or may not, self-identify. It is also worth nothing that, having taken a DNA test, Mr. Lopez's genetic results came back with 55% European genetic markers/admixture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0tthpO5vzQ

_________________
"Then you are a fool. Be thankful that when God gave you a face, he gave you a fool's face."

Since the US census, and other forms, have allowed (or demanded as the case may be) persons who identify as "Hispanic" to also designate a race such as "black" or "white" alongside their identification as "Hispanic," it is now possible to observe and compare out-marriage rates involving such supposed sub-groups of Hispanics nationally.

I have noticed a related trend demonstrated in the out-marriage rates as indicated HERE. "Black" Hispanics more often marry "black" non-Hispanics then either "white" Hispanics or "white" non-Hispanics, and "white" Hispanics more often marry "white" non-Hispanics then either "black" Hispanics or "black" non-Hispanics. This suggests that Hispanic immigrants are assimilating somewhat to the US dichotomous B-W system of racial classification, and not the other way around.

On the other hand, "black" Hispanics more often marry across B-W lines then do "black" non-Hispanics. This suggests a greater degree of openness amongst "black" Hispanics to cross B-W lines then amongst "black" non-Hispanics. So there is at least some resistance.

I wonder about the "American Indian" category. There is no distinction made, in the data I linked, between Hispanic and non-Hispanic "American Indians."

Hispanics self-identifying as American Indian is a relatively new thing, as far as a I know. The majority who came to the U.S. (or were leftover from the time when former Mexican territories of the Southwest became U.S. territory) seem to have been of mixed ancestry, as were the majority of those who continued to immigrate for most of the 20th Century.

And whereas I'm sure there are some Hispanics who always self-identified simply, or mainly, as indigenous, much of this seems to be the result of Neo Pan-Indigenous identity movements that have generally sprung up within Hispanic communities in the United States.

I live in L.A., which is very much the "capital" for the Mexica Movement, and it is very common these days to encounter Mexican-Americans (and, to a lesser extent, other hispanic Americans) who label themselves as indigenous-only, even though most have mixed phenotypes, (probably) significantly mixed ancestries, and generally came from families who partook in the greater mixed/mestizo cultures of their respective countries of origin.

_________________
"Then you are a fool. Be thankful that when God gave you a face, he gave you a fool's face."