Hispanics is a derogatory term - my teacher told me so

[Stravo]

Oh, this one got my goat yesterday. We're filling out an affidavit of service and I'm asking the process server to describe the person that she handed the papers to and in a round about way she is describing a hispanic male - right down to the name Vasquez. So I write in Hispanic male as part of the description and she objects.

I ask her why.

She says that the term 'Hispanic' is derogatory. Her teacher in school told her so. For example the slur "Spic" descends from Hispanic.

I informed her that for one, it is common procedure to use terms like "African American" "White male/female" and "Asian" to describe the person on whom the papers are served.

Secondly, I am a hispanic male and there is NOTHING wrong with the term. Quite literrally it means of Spanish descent but NOT from Spain. That describes the rest of the Spanish speaking world save for Spain.

Third your teacher was dead wrong. "Spic" comes from the phrase "Me no Spic English" NOT the word Hispanic.

She was very upset and I was flabbergasted by this. Is anyone aware of similar teachings going on in schools where common terms like this are branded derogatory? Especially when examples given are dead wrong.

[Darth Wong]

The term "African-American" is widely used because people thought "black" was derogatory. The ironic thing is that "African-American" is actually a more unreasonable term than "black". "Black" merely describes dark skin colour, which is the identifying feature of black people. "African-American", on the other hand, implies that these people are only partially American, and that they have recently come from Africa when in fact their ancestors may have been here since before the Declaration of Independence.

[Davis 51]

No, not really. It seems like this is a case of a teacher being overtly-PC and a student reading too much into things.

[Pick]

This is a little differently, I do remember one of my teachers saying that I couldn't use the word "bigot", and had to say "differently-minded person". I compromised and said, "jerk."

She did not approve. Jerk.

[Pick]

Argh, syntax!

^ "This is a little different, but..."

[Darth Servo]

And in 10 or 20 years, "African American", "Chicano", "Asian American" and what ever other current PC term is out there today will be considered derogatory. The "let's create a new term for different races every year" brigade doesn't seem to understand that slapping a different name on a race won't do jack to racism or discrimination. To the donkey fucking racists, hispanics will ALWAYS be "beaners" regardless of what society says we should call them.

[Dalton]

I thought the term "hispanic" was derived from Hispaniola?

[Ryushikaze]

The term "African-American" is widely used because people thought "black" was derogatory. The ironic thing is that "African-American" is actually a more unreasonable term than "black". "Black" merely describes dark skin colour, which is the identifying feature of black people. "African-American", on the other hand, implies that these people are only partially American, and that they have recently come from Africa when in fact their ancestors may have been here since before the Declaration of Independence.

In addition, it also creates an image that all african people are dark skinned, when there are plenty of light skinned people whose families have lived there at least as long as the black person's family has lived in America.

[Quadlok]

Not exactly the same, but I've been told a couple times by teachers of mine that the prefered term is Latino, as Hispanic does not include the inhabitants of countries like Brazil or Haiti.

[Admiral Valdemar]

The nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" was infamously in the news a few months ago when a primary school decided it was racist. The alternative word in the stanza for "black" was "rainbow". The tabloids had a field day with "What the hell is a rainbow sheep?" headlines. Blackboards suffered a similar phase, yet it's funny how I don't recall getting pissed off when we used whiteboards at my school.

I used to use the term African-American and so on, until I realised that it didn't seem accurate enough, so just used the term black. Some use "person of colour", which is more stupid than racist, as if Asians and Caucasians are lacking colour.

[Junghalli]

My Eight Grade English teacher said that "disabled" was derogatory.

The funny thing is "retarded" wasn't. Which is really stupid when you dissect the real meaning of the words. Which sounds worse to you; "he lacks an ability" (which is only literally true in case of somebody who, say, can't walk) or "his development is slowed down".

[Lost Soal]

The nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" was infamously in the news a few months ago when a primary school decided it was racist. The alternative word in the stanza for "black" was "rainbow". The tabloids had a field day with "What the hell is a rainbow sheep?" headlines. Blackboards suffered a similar phase, yet it's funny how I don't recall getting pissed off when we used whiteboards at my school.

I used to use the term African-American and so on, until I realised that it didn't seem accurate enough, so just used the term black. Some use "person of colour", which is more stupid than racist, as if Asians and Caucasians are lacking colour.

I remember that one. Not sure how widely it was reported but I also recall one school board which decided that History was sexist, because it begins with His.

[Adrian Laguna]

I thought the term "hispanic" was derived from Hispaniola?

"Hispaniola" is an Anglicanization of the name of the island Haiti and the Dominican Republic are on: La Española. The transliteration is "the female person/thing from, or belonging to, Spain". Best translation, with context taken into account, is "Spain's island".

I doubt that the term refers to, or comes from, the name of the island itself. It might have originally been yet another Anglicanization of "español" on top of "Spanish" and "Spaniard". I suppose eventually developed to refer to people descended from Spanish colonists but not Spaniards themselves.

Relating to the OP: as both a hispanic male and a future citizen of Spain (once they get done processing all the paperwork) I say that there is nothing the least bit insulting about the term. Anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant or wanting to be insulted.

[Hawkwings]

"African-american", "Asian-american", etc, are too long and difficult to say and type! Black, Asian, etc work just fine, and as far as I know, nobody gets offended by them. Latino and Hispanic aren't derogatory around here either.

[Spyder]

Apparently I'm a European. ...I've never been anywhere near Europe.

[Darth Servo]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Are blacks living in Europe "African American"? Are blacks whose family tree has never been out of Africa a different race from blacks living in the U.S?

[UCBooties]

I have read some odd things about the way in which disabled people wish to be spoken off. Most appalling to me was a claim by certain deaf people that they are not handi-capped in any way but that they are a seperate society with their own language and traditions that must be respected by outsiders. This plays into the larger mentality of people with disabilities not wishing to be called disabled and instead embracing their physical or mental defficiency as somthing to be proud of. I am certainly not saying that someone should be ashamed of a disability, but that they should at least be honest about their capabilities.

Also, not one person who supports the position of the deaf person articulated above has been able to tell me why these community action groups of deaf people who don't want to be called diabled still loby for and accept disability money.

[Havok]

Well, I'm half Mexican and half Italian. Race was never big with my ma, so I never identified myself as anything other than American and to a lesser extent white, simply because I just don't look Mexican or for that matter, Italian. Except when I am applying for shit Kidding.
To say Hispanic is deragatory speaks volumes of the thought process of your teacher. To coin myself "What the fuck?!", which is what I said when I read the title of the topic.

As for my fine dark skinned brothers, I don't know why they tollerate the "African-American" BS.
To be like a 5th or 6th generation American, regardless of how your ancestors got here, and to have someone call you less than an a straight up American would piss me the fuck off.
Shit, Blacks are the only true Americans as far as I am concerned, except for the Indians. They have had to create an entire culture from nothing, whereas the majority of our ancestors were able to retain and intergrate their cultures from their former countries.

[Darth Servo]

I have read some odd things about the way in which disabled people wish to be spoken off. Most appalling to me was a claim by certain deaf people that they are not handi-capped in any way but that they are a seperate society with their own language and traditions that must be respected by outsiders. This plays into the larger mentality of people with disabilities not wishing to be called disabled and instead embracing their physical or mental defficiency as somthing to be proud of. I am certainly not saying that someone should be ashamed of a disability, but that they should at least be honest about their capabilities.

Also, not one person who supports the position of the deaf person articulated above has been able to tell me why these community action groups of deaf people who don't want to be called diabled still loby for and accept disability money.

Whats more ridiculous is that they actually try to fight against new technologies on the road to restoring their hearing (cochlear implants for example) and actually call such technology GENOCIDE.

[Alerik the Fortunate]

I've never been aware of anyone being offended at being called Hispanic. Speaking as a half Costa Rican half German descended native of California, what bearing could it possibly have? Some people are perhaps afraid of being perceived as being elitist because their ancestors used to rule the lesser races with an iron fist, so now that we live in the sensitive modern age, we wouldn't want to offend those less fortunate in their heritage by referring to it in a straightforward way. Which, to a certain extent is understandable, since one must suspect that limited experience does not allow one to fully identify with another's cultural experience, but to try too hard is clearly just condescending to others. Labels are so arbitrary anyway, if they are being used at all, I'm in favor of people of mixed descent (or whatever) making up their own ethnic self description. It would be at least as valid as standard conventions, and the more absurd sounding the better. Perhaps I shall henceforth describe myself as Gerspanic.

[Havok]

Perhaps I shall henceforth describe myself as Gerspanic.

That would make me a Sp-wop, or perhaps a Sp-ego. I-spanic? Mexi-go? Italican? Mextalian? OOOOO I think I just offended myself.

[Spin Echo]

Perhaps I shall henceforth describe myself as Gerspanic.

That would make me a Sp-wop, or perhaps a Sp-ego. I-spanic? Mexi-go? Italican? Mextalian? OOOOO I think I just offended myself.

A Wopback maybe?

[B5B7]

I have read some odd things about the way in which disabled people wish to be spoken off. Most appalling to me was a claim by certain deaf people that they are not handi-capped in any way but that they are a seperate society with their own language and traditions that must be respected by outsiders. This plays into the larger mentality of people with disabilities not wishing to be called disabled and instead embracing their physical or mental defficiency as somthing to be proud of. I am certainly not saying that someone should be ashamed of a disability, but that they should at least be honest about their capabilities.

Also, not one person who supports the position of the deaf person articulated above has been able to tell me why these community action groups of deaf people who don't want to be called diabled still loby for and accept disability money.

Whats more ridiculous is that they actually try to fight against new technologies on the road to restoring their hearing (cochlear implants for example) and actually call such technology GENOCIDE.

It gets even worse - they want their children who could be born as normal, or be treated, to be deaf.
And of course 'history' is hi story.

[Solauren]

Reminds me of the jokes in college a gay friend of mine and I used to say

"You're not gay, you're heterosexually declined."

Political Correctness is just bullshit if you're not using a term in a way designed to be nasty.

Just like there's nothing with wearing say, the color blue. If some gang bangers get offended, that's there problem.

[Tsyroc]

Apparently I'm a European. ...I've never been anywhere near Europe.

Have you ever been called an "Anglo" because you are white?

I always found that one weird.