7/14/11
taxonomy |takˈsänəmē|
noun chiefly Biology
the branch of science concerned with classification, esp. of organisms; systematics.
Why is it I'm annoyed every time I hear or read the word Hispanic? It gets my hackles up a bit. Maybe because it's often misused as code for other, or "non-white" a category for the census bureau, and affirmative action committee. Is this topic too broad for a blog entry? Yes.
In high school biology we learned about classification –taxonomy– of plants and animals? The mnemonic: King philip came over for green stamps, helped us remember: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. It took seven variables to peg a turtle, or tuft of moss. Why when discussing various human cultures and ethnicity does everything suddenly becomes binary; black/ white, anglo/hipanic.
What's Anglo-Ibero? Or for that matter, what's an Hispanic, a Latino, and what exactly, an Anglo? Everybody's sick to death of this crap, frustrated, confused by almost daily shifts in taxonomy, nomenclature– labels. Which term is the politically correct flavor of the week? Is this what's meant by Identity Politics?
I was delighted, when on this past 4th of July I read a headline for a New York Times article: "Hispanics Identifying Themselves as Indians." The tease: "Many Latino immigrants and Hispanic Americans are identifying themselves with their American Indian heritage on census forms and in their celebrations." I thought the article was a timely, patriotic tribute to the first Americans– true Americans.
But it doesn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Mexico that Americans are identifying with their American Indian heritage. It's estimated over 80% of the population in Mexico is an ethnic mix, or mixta– indigenous American Indian (i.e. Maya, Azteca, Tolteca, Olmeca, Chichimeca, Otomi, etcetera), and Hispanic (i.e. speak Spanish and have some genetic material from Spain, as well as other European countries, the UK and Africa).
While the terms Anglo and Hispanic may be useful in identifying language, they're limited in terms of describing culture and ethnicity, oversimplifications at best, at worst, racist.
Ibero [Latin] America extends from the southern states along the US border (i.e. Florida, Texas, Arizona, California– all Spanish place names) to the tip of Tierra del Fuego, and includes much of the Caribbean. But to label all human inhabitants in that vast region Hispanic, or Latino is to deny the extraordinary ethnic and cultural diversity which is, well, as diverse as it is in the USA. Where exactly is Anglo America? Is president Obama an Anglo?
By the way, I consider myself Anglo-Ibero.
-Philip Heckel Alvaré
2 comments:
I long for the day when an individual's genetic input will excite no more or less interest than identifying the town where s/he was born. But clearly we're not there yet. Today that genetic input is supposed to determine absolutely what your interests are. A white person who adores African art and jazz is suspect. An African-American who wants to sing opera is criticized as abandoning her/his heritage. But the truth is, enthusiasm isn't inherited. It develops according to circumstance. Let's not revive the specter of racism by insisting that your genes establish what you are allowed to like.
Thanks for your comment querido, Alfredo.
Estoy completamente de acuerdo. Labels, sterotypes, cliches about ethnicity, racial profiling, and let's not forget pigeon-holing sexuality, are all forms of racism, biggotry and ghettoization. I think the tendency to do this–to label and categorize– arises from the labeler's fundamental insecurity about their own identity, and what comprises that identity. And individuals who don't fit into slots are somehow invisible to people whose rigid and narrow perceptual constructs make them blind to anything outside their myopic world view. You'd be surprised by how many "educated" US- expats I've met in Mexico who have never heard of Octavio Paz, and are reluctant to accept a Mexico beyond sombreros, serapes, burros, and mariachis. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, es la verdad! Sadly, the art and literary marketplaces also seems to reflect these categories, memes, and stereotypes as target markets reducing individuals and their work to products whose worth is measured in direct proportion to market share. Ah, pragmatism, ah, materialism...
-PHA
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