Seriously, I’ve been called an ILLEGAL for being from a Spanish-speaking country and coming to the U.S. with paperwork. Also, my friend’s weird dad saw my name on a social media account when my friend was texting me and he said I was a “typical Mexican”. I am a white European Spanish woman, why do people assume I’m automatically Mexican?
Ignorance and prejudice.
Significant portions of the demographic you identified don’t realize New Mexico is in the US, and couldn’t find Canada on a map, and you’re expecting them to realize there’s more countries than just Mexico to the south?
In OP’s case it’s to the east.
When all you are is racist, everyone looks like a Mexican.
Conservatives are generally a combination of stupid, ignorant, and cruel.
I’m going to go against the grain and point out that these types of people generally live in areas where there are very few foreigners. The closest country with Spanish as their native language is Mexico. Given the lack of diverse exposure to people of different backgrounds, you can see whymany might default to Spanish speakers = Mexicans. That said, they are also likely to be undereducated as well…
It’s a mental shortcut, and people in general just love using those.
BTW, is it usually correct though? If at least 50% of the Spanish speakers actually are Mexican, it could justify the existence of this shortcut.
Mental shortcut to me is the easiest thing to look at.
It’s super easy to just default to something. It requires no thought, introspection, etc. Just a simple, quick answer that may or may not be right but you wouldn’t care.
So much of modern life is people defaulting to a lazy, easy option.
Not just modern life, but ancient too. The human mind is just full of these shortcuts, and on average, they have served the species well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Americans (which is citing https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2022.B03001?q=B03001)
In 2022, Mexican Americans made up 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic Americans.
In the US, yeah, you are more likely to speak to a Mexican than any other hispanic Spanish speaker.
This is a funny question in the context of the sub, because it’s not that the question is stupid, but the answer is.
They’re incredibly stupid. They may not know of Spain, or any Spanish speaking culture. They’re also incredibly reactionary, and egocentric, which means they may not have rubbed the two brain cells together to realise there are other possibilities than what has been parrotted to them for the past few decades.
Actually if I were you I’d be very careful with being in America right now. Like in general, but also the rascist rhetoric is getting pretty strong over there.
Yeah, OP, Baggie has a point. Coming to the United States now, especially now of all times, is similar to buying tickets to board a sinking ship. It’s not just a waste of your resources that isn’t worth it; this shithole country might get you killed and even European folks who natively speak languages other than Spanish are in danger here and getting detained just for being here. People are dying in ICE custody, being raped by border patrol “agents”. If you have the means, please consider escaping with your life WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
Holy shit the doomerism is off the charts here.
I was literally in an arena filled with thousands Mexicans and Mexican Americans last night, watching a Mexican band absolutely bring the house down. There was a big Mexican flag on stage while they sang about their amor, their pickup trucks, and how much they love being vaqueros. Everyone was having a good time, the show went off without a hitch, and everyone went home happy except anyone who died in a drunk driving accident.
Obviously what ICE is doing is bullshit, and they and their leaders should be sent to an El Salvadorian prison. But jesus tittyfucking christ - if you actually believe the shit you just said, then you either aren’t actually in America - in which case, shut the fuck up - or you havent left your house in 6 months and are surviving by doomscrolling and stockpiling your own urine - in which case, also shut the fuck up.
What part of the US do you live in?
Stupid
It’s intentional. The less they know about someone the less they have to care. Or consider them.
Yup, selfish pricks who never learned about anything outside their household. Ignorant sacks of shit.
It’s not as simple as “they’re stupid” (which they are.) It’s a symptom of their in-group vs out-group thinking pattern. They don’t think the differences between other countries matter, because they’re all “others” as far as they’re concerned. So they paint foreigners with the same brush and leave it at that.
As to why “Mexican” in used in particular, I think other commenters make a good point about Mexico being the most prominent Spanish-speaking country to people in the US. They don’t see as many people from Spain, so that’s off their radar. If my upbringing in a racist area is anything to go by, “Mexican” became the default long ago.
It is just that simple.
The US has been drowning in assholes & idiots for the longest time. Now it’s official, from the top on down.
They literally don’t know enough geography to come up with the names of other countries, nor if the people from those countries would speak Spanish or not.
Ignorance.
I’m italian. When I use the 🇮🇹 flag some Americans think I’m from Mexico 🇲🇽
Not sure I believe you’re Italian when you didn’t use a hand gesture emoji anywhere in your comment.
funny. I’m Spanish from Spain in America, and I’m racialized as Arab.
Sorry lady, no white privilege for US.
The same happened to me in Eastern Europe and England.
