Suggested Responses to Frequently Asked Questions about Hispanics, Latinos and Latinas

Abstract

Buenos dias. I'm so pleased to be here with you today; this is always one of my favorite meetings of the year. I'm also very pleased to be in Puerto Rico. This is my first visit to "La Isla" and I'd like to thank Celina and Angel for having such a nice isla. I'm going to attempt three things this morning that I've never tried before in public. First is to be brief. Those of you who have heard me speak before will understand that and may hope for that. The second thing is to be funny. And the third thing, which I realized in the course of prior panelists' presentations, is that I'm not going to talk about language. My talk is entitled "Interpretations and Suggested Responses to Frequently Asked Questions About Hispanics, Latinos and Latinas." Question 1: the what are you question. I'm often asked, "what is a Hispanic or Latino anyway?" This question may be asked with varying degrees of annoyance. The greater the degree of annoyance, the closer this question approaches something like "What are you doing here?" Suggested response: The basic question is easily answered. The Hispanic, Latino, or Latina is typically someone of Latin American ancestry or birth. The questions of legitimacy latent in the question I shall address later. Question 2: the where are you from question. I often meet people who consider themselves the real Americans. As soon as I mention my name, I'm asked, "Where are you from?" I answer, sincerely, "Washington D.C." I receive a quizzical look and I'm asked again, with growing annoyance and frustration, "No, I mean where are you really from?" I answer, sincerely, "Washington D.C., the nation's capital." My questioner may shift focus now, asking with exasperation, "Well, where are your parents from?" This is what my questioner really wanted, not my birth place, not my simple geography, but some foreign land, the exotic distant countries of my ancestry, to be able to locate me someplace outside the borders of the United States, where I'm presumed not to belong. I call this "symbolic deportation," since my identity has been swept beyond the borders. Suggested response: To handle this sensitive social situation, I recommend asking the questioner "Where are you from? No, I mean