Latinos have been stuck in limbo for decades, and still are

[AlphaCentauri]

LAURA GOMEZ has a funny, and yet terribly perceptive, term to describe the sort of racial holding pattern in which America's largest minority finds itself.

"Latinos have been in this limbo between white and nonwhite — or what I call 'off-white' — for more than 165 years," Gomez told me.

Off-white works for me.

Gomez, a professor of law and American studies at the University of New Mexico, might be onto something here. Latinos are neither black nor white, and yet there are black Latinos and white Latinos. There is no Latino race, yet what many Latinos were subjected to in the 20th century — including being barred from hotels, restaurants, and public swimming pools — and continue to be subjected to today in subtler forms would have to be called racism. Still, in America's great racial debate, Latinos have been consigned to the sidelines.

There is a lot that Gomez, who holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Stanford, could teach Attorney General Eric Holder. The AG isn't a sociologist, but he played one during Black History Month. Spelling out how far we still have to go to achieve racial nirvana, Holder called the United States "a nation of cowards" who are reluctant to talk about race.

President Barack Obama recently critiqued the nation's top law enforcement officer for his choice of words.

"I think it's fair to say that if I had been advising my attorney general, we would have

used different language," Obama told a reporter. "I think the point that he was making is that we're oftentimes uncomfortable with talking about race until there's some sort of racial flare-up or conflict."

As an Obama supporter, Gomez didn't have any problem with the main thrust of Holder's comments. What bothered her was that his narrative was so incomplete as to be irrelevant.

"Holder's speech is very much in black-and-white terms," she said. "Almost everywhere he mentions specifics, he's talking about blacks and whites."

Like when Holder said: "The study of black history is important to everyone — black or white," or when he rattled off a list of African-American civil rights figures as "people to whom all of us, black and white, owe such a debt of gratitude."

It wasn't exactly the inclusive and multiracial tone that Obama struck in his poetic speech on race in Philadelphia during the presidential campaign.

Gomez understands the context of Holder's remarks.

"Granted, this (was) Black History Month," she said, "and there's an important reason to talk in those terms ... but I think it does raise a question: Where are Latinos in this?"

For Gomez, it's a familiar story. "We're presumed invisible from the racial past of the United States," she said.

Today, stuck somewhere between whites and nonwhites, Latinos are often ignored — in entertainment, politics, media, business, etc. Television networks will do a series on race or ethnicity in America, and still sketch out the storyboard in black and white. When Latinos are noticed, they're usually a footnote, an afterthought, or an accessory — as when a well-meaning politician is talking about race relations, equal opportunity or civil rights, and mentions "blacks and whites ... and browns."

Another concern for Gomez is that, even when other Americans do see Latinos, a lot of people aren't always sure what they're seeing. Consider the immigration debate.

"There's this almost hyper-visibility of Latinos," she said. "But it's a narrow and often wrong kind of hyper-visibility because it is the 'illegal alien.' Every Latino is presumed to be an immigrant and secondly to be an undocumented Mexican."

Ah yes. There is nothing like people whose ancestors have been here for six generations being told to "go back to Mexico" by those whose ancestors are relative newcomers.

Granted, it's not easy to turn a blind eye to an ethnic group that, according to Census estimates, could represent one in four Americans by the year 2030. But some people — like our attorney general — manage to pull it off. And in doing so, they describe America as it used to be, not what it is, let alone what it is becoming.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_11889396

[aquart]

1. Well, if you're speaking Spanish, we assume you're an immigrant.

If you speak English with an American accent, we assume you're a citizen. That goes for any group: German, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, Swedish, Italian, Nigerian, Kenyan, South African, Australian, Portuguese, etc.

What I'm getting here is that the Latino community is seeking some special recognition for being a LARGE minority...like permission to speak a separate language which everyone in America must learn in order to communicate with them.

The Latino community is mixed race. It isn't brown. It's brown, white, black... This ain't about "brown." It's about Spanish.

[AlphaCentauri]

2. I have alway wonder why immigrants in the middle 1800 never learned spanish

or other native languages, specially in those states like New Mexico

[msongs]

3. Latino is NOT an ethnic group or race - it includes black, dark brown, & snow white people nt

[Warpy]

4. Regional prejudices are weird

and as somebody who moved around as a kid and as an adult, I've always been amused by them. The problem comes in when I'm assumed to share the local prejudices--it's like being onstage in a play when no one has shared the script for that particular scene with you. Everybody's watching and you don't have a clue in the world what you're supposed to do.

Oh, I've got my prejudices based on the fact that some ethnic groups are tougher than others for somebody with an Irish sense of humor to relate to, but Hispanics aren't in any of those groups.

It's just weird to see other people treat them like brown skin = foreigner. To me they're friends, neighbors and coworkers. I just have trouble when strangers expect me to follow that script I've never been shown.