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ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

I dated a girl who was half Costa Rican for two and a half years.  Her mother absolutely despised Mexicans; I never understood why.  Her father was Anglo, and he had been a missionary all over Latin America; it's how they met.  He got along with everyone, and he had a lot of Mexican friends.  She would sit there with a scowl on her face when he had them over.  It was unbelievable.  I never saw someone hate an entire nationality like that before. 

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ORIGINAL: lronitulstahp

As far as feeling superior, and the hatred of Mexicans...that's messed up.  When i was growing up, we had issues because of the light-skinned/dark-skinned Puerto Rican crap.  What seemed to work best, was open honest communication.  Talk  with your family about this. See where they get these ideas from.  Don't be surprised if Abuela & Abuelo "so and so" are the culprits.  Bigotry is usually passed on from generation to generation, and deeply rooted. It's a sad inhertance.

Now, for the other issue....i can understand how exasperating it might be to be referred to as "Mexican", when you aren't.  i hate it when people assume all Latinos are Mexicans.  It would be like calling all white people "English"...

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ORIGINAL: lronitulstahp

As far as feeling superior, and the hatred of Mexicans...that's messed up.  When i was growing up, we had issues because of the light-skinned/dark-skinned Puerto Rican crap.

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ORIGINAL: LadyExcrutia

hi all...well, to shorten this up a bit, I have my nephews at home, my husband's nephews. They are very sweet, overly disciplined and responsible kids who act more like very trained and disciplined marine recruits or navy seamen, but they made a comment which was the tip of an iceberg I crashed into...

I am still new to this city, and my nephews are here awaiting for their parents which shall join them in late august. I am their "aunt" and they love me, and obey better than soldiers, I must say, being an Army brat myself. But I invited them to a small company event with the families and they didn't even deign to play with the other latino boys and when I asked, after they were very upset with another executive, they were "very insulted that they had been called Mexicans at all" as they put it and digging a little deeper, I found out just how much they despise and consider mexicans, and other nationalities, below their own level, and only accept a few others to be in theirs.

Worse, this is something I see in my husband as well, not in words or actions of discrimination, but on the way he sometimes refers condescendingly and the way he patronizes mexicans when giving a very complex explanation about his classes, and he oftenly says in Spanish, which he has taught me much about, when grading a paper or test "typical mexican" and such little love phrases I have now forbidden him to even mutter in a low voice, even if he has been always careful to not show this to anyone else, even his nephews...

¿ How do you deal with Racism like this on teens ? They are from such a strong and hardheaded culture, I doubt the normal talk and approach will suffice. ¿ Anyone has any ideas ?

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ORIGINAL: aravain

I've actually seen this in the local black community (light-skinned vs dark-skinned type of somethingism). I asked my one friend about it and she thought... and couldn't really explain it, or why she thought being dark-skinned was better, she just did (and she is light-skinned, and only 'half-black')

EDIT: Fixed the quote >.>

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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

       I think a big part of it is a perception of social class and caste.  Something I've seen, just among those of Mexican heritage, is the distinction of Spanish ancestry vs. indiginous roots. 

      It does tend to blow a hole in the 'only white people/those in power can be racist' argument.

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ORIGINAL: kittinSol

And hopefully, education will prevent people from uttering crap like "Negroid, Mongoloid or Caucasoid"  .