Why do people think hispanic is a race and that all hispanics are mexican?

Why do people think hispanic is its own separate race from anybody else. Most hispanics are mixed european/caucasian and amerindian/native american and occasionally part african. So many people think hispanic is a separate race (white america made it separate), but in truth there are white hispanics, black hispanics, mestizo, indigenous, multi-racial, etc....and even hispanic people nowadays think so and some of them even think all mulattos and biracial people are hispanic.





Hispanic is a cultural term for someone who speaks spanish natively and/or descends from a spanish-speaking country, not an actual race.





Same thing with mexican. Why do people always say "mexican" when there are about thirty plus different latin countries? But so many people will say "oh yeah, there's white, black, mexican, etc...", not even latino or what not.





Why are people so ignorant with that, including many hispanics here in the US?

Why do people think hispanic is a race and that all hispanics are mexican?
It was Richard Nixon's administration that came up with the notion of the Hispanic. In 1973, federal bureaucrats divided the nation's population into five: Native American/Eskimo; Asian/Pacific Islander; White; Black; Hispanic. Nearly 25 years later we see and use the word "Hispanic" routinely. I say I am Hispanic. I tell you I am standing on a rundown corner of downtown Los Angeles, the largest Hispanic city in the United States, and look, look at the Hispanic faces. But what do you look for when you expect to see a Hispanic face? In fact, there is no such thing as a Hispanic race.
Reply:They don't think Hispanic is race, they know that Mestizo is a race, which is the hybrid race of the majority of LAtin American. Mestizo is a race while Latino/Hispanic isn't. Report It

Reply:Because our government insists upon subdividing people according to race. Any official documents in the U.S. will ask what your race is. This is not the case in other countries. Most people in the U.S. today are multinational. But that does not deter the powers that be from continually making an issue of race by subdividing people. Census documents list various races and include "White of Hispanic origin" or "Black of Hispanic origin."
Reply:Ignorance. You have just educated them so they are no longer *******.
Reply:Hispanic is a term that refers to a person or group of people that speak spanish,mexican,italian,etc. Not a race. It is only a referal to language or a religion. The race would be refered to as a multitude of different things,depending on your race.
Reply:I agree with you !!
Reply:You are very very right and educated.


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People consider me a "MEXICAN" when i'm not even Mexican. I'm half white and half Salvadorean.
Reply:You answered your own question. People are more good than bad. Its just that a lot of people are not educated on a lot of things and that's basically it.
Reply:I say Latino. Is that wrong? I have to tell ya' though it's like at the tippy top of impossibility to look at someone and tell the exact region they come from. It's like trying to tell a Canadian from an Eastern European, from a South African, from a Russian. Without the accent and language...I won't know where you come from. How is it ignorant for being a crappy guesser? Why don't we all wear nametags so no one gets offended?
Reply:Nipped it right in the butt.........