Why do people think Spanish people aren't white?

Question

Why do people think Spanish people aren't white? Same thing with slavic people. I just saw a comment that said "I'm not white because I don't look like western Europens and I'm slavic" What race do they think they are? hahah or what race does other peope think they are?

Klara-Hitler · Accepted Answer

This is a complete misunderstood subject for the most part.

"White" isn't mainly a race I don't use it myself because it confuses people. We have Caucasian racial group and features, that are "mostly" maybe in 98% of times has white skin as one feature in races inside it.

Then we have Caucasian "white" races because all of them share the white skin tone and a skull shape with slightly similar general features. But they have fairly different features compared to each other. I would show some of them with pictures but I don't have time to upload all of them now.

Now people of Spain have many "races" mixed together. Iberian or Mediterranean race, Nordic race in Northern parts, Dinaric race etc, these are all white sub groups. and then many of them are mixed with some Semitics or Northern Africans that are not white.

The Spanish people in general have Caucasian features, but many of them are in the darker side while also so many of them are fairly white.

So generally they are white. But for example if you are Spanish yourself you clearly have non-white features mixed.

About the Slavic group, Slavs were originally an Indo-European speaking group and still are and shouldn't have been very different than Western Europeans in their original race because though Indo-European is primarily a language classification but it is mostly spoken by many white Caucasian races and most linguists know it as their original language.
But now the "Slavic speaking" people are a vast group of people with many races inside them. Just like Iranians and Indo-Iranian people who were a group of Indo-Europeans speaking people but now these languages is spoken by a variety of races existing in all of those areas. and this is because Indo-European languages have shown to be very easily spread.

So Slavic people again are mostly white and should be originally indo-European white. But not all people who speak Slavic languages are from a white race.

And the people who say...

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

First keep in mind that race is not an inherent reality. These are classifications that we made up.

Technically, at least in the united states, a few centuries ago, Spanish and slavic people would not have been considered white, no. In the US there were "lesser groups" that faced a lot of discrimination and weren't considered white or "as white" (as good) as other europeans. Italians, for example, definitely were seen as some other type of person than the British American descendants and far from the nordic whites. Its only in recent times that a collective whiteness has been agreed upon. However, in Europe , they have a long history of nationalism and old lines. In the united states its a bunch of immigrants and slaves brought here to exist. In Europe , there are clearer lines of difference among "white" (insofar as "white" is defined as "all European" these days, which is tricky considering histories of southern europeans) and you can see clearer differences in how they look. Spanish people have a distinct look compared to many Irish, for example.

I'm not white, but I lived in Spain and they do look different, and they were occupied by non-whites in the past, so that may affect peoples opinions as well. Regardless of "whiteness," its obvious they don't look the same.

But the "western european" distinction echoes the line of whiteness in our country in centuries past, here in America. Also, for Americans, "Spanish" may be confused with "Latino." And Latin America is incredibly mixed and diverse. Whole different reality than Spain. Though it should be noted that there are white Latinos as well. Latinos can be black, white, mixed, native, etc.

Also, keep in mind that there are ethnic minorities living in those countries. So you can't just exclusively say "Spanish people are white." Although they do have far less diversity in places like Spain so its easier to make those statements.

lanternhill · Accepted Answer

I had a long conversation with someone the other day about this - he was Italian/Slavic and trying to get me to explain why he didn't look 100% white. In my mind there is "white" and then "Eastern European/Southern European white." Spanish falls under the latter, sort of, because of the Mediterranean/Arab blood. White means ancestors primarily from the UK, Western European, Central European (non-Slavic), and similar.
I'm speaking as an American though - not sure what Europeans think. In America I wouldn't generally say "he looks English" but I would generally say "he looks Russian/Greek/Italian" - so many early American settlers were British/German/similar that to me they've become the way I define whiteness, and other European-ancestry people are as white as they are close to that ancestry.

bananatossing · Accepted Answer

I have American, Hispanic and Italian blood but I can camouflage anywhere it seems as I've been called latino to "mediterranean" (what the heck race is that anyways) and from white to arab when I grow a beard...

https://i.imgur.com/Fx3p9D1.jpg

I think you hit the nail on the head with this question because of all the races in the world, Hispanics have to be the most mixed hands down. This is what Wikipedia says on latinos:

"According to census reports, of the above races the largest number of Hispanic or Latinos are of the White race, the second largest number come from the Native American/American Indian race who are the indigenous people of the Americas. The inhabitants of Easter Island are Pacific Islanders and since the island belongs to Chile they are theoretically Hispanic or Latinos. Because Hispanic roots are considered aligned with a European ancestry (Spain), Hispanic/Latino ancestry is defined solely as an ethnic designation (similar to being Norse or Germanic). Therefore, a person of Hispanic descent is typically defined using both race and ethnicity as an identifier—i. e., Black-Hispanic, White-Hispanic, Asian-Hispanic, Amerindian-Hispanic or "other race" Hispanic."

Technically you can be identified as white, but more specifically white-Hispanic according to the article.

SaltandVinegar · Accepted Answer

Spanish people from Spain are white.

G-Daz · Answer

People have gathered this weird conception of "white" that we don't apply to any other category of people.

For example we don't expect Asians whom are known as "yellow" to literally be yellow
- we don't expect black people to literally be charcoal black
- we don't expect people living in mexico whom are referred to as "red" to literally be so

Yet when it comes to "white" the idea is that one needs to literally be white... which anyone rarely ever is. I've seen some people not even be able to comprehend that white people have black hair and brown eyes and vary in skin tones from dark olive to pale white.

Spaniard people are white, ironically places like brazil are 45% white (not to be distorted by Rio De Janairo, although a great and recognisable city... is far from a good gage of the entirity of brazil).

Hispanic originates from Spain, Spanish people are by default considered Hispanic because it was these original tribes of spain that gave rise to modern spain... but this is an ethnicity and not a race. Anyone of any race can quite simply become hispanic by being born into it.

Puerto ricans are generally considered Latino, yet so are Argentinians. Puerto Ricans are Latino/hispanic but so are Argentinians yet they look entirely different with argentinians generally being white.

Generally speaking, there are either white, black or Asians or mixed

WhiteSteve · Answer

I think people expect someone who looks more like me to be the white people posterchild. pale, blond, blue eyes. Some people see darker features and get thrown off. I feel
Like I remember something in a history course about the Hapsburgs of Austria-Hungary having some relation to Spain, maybe they married in or something, so it was part of the empire. So I think maybe that gives some Eastern Europeans a different look? Just guessing. But yeah, Spain, Portugal, Southern Italy, Greece... all have a lot of people with dark hair, dark eyes, tan or olive skin tones. People seem to have a desire to categorize and go overboard with it.

Krushhbrownies · Answer

Well they are definitely Caucasian people and yeah white.. If you see Spanish people, some of them are blonde people. It's just their skin complexion are olive tan because they are in the Mediterranean.. I noticed comments like these mostly came from the USA.
www.europeword.com/.../spanish_people4.jpg
images2.fanpop.com/.../...team-2777256-400-293.jpg
See? White.

AleDeEurope · Answer

I'm from Spain, so I'm Spanish, and Americans (both North and South America) believe we're not white (many people, not all) because we speak Spanish, just like Latin American countries, so we should be Latin/Hispanic too. No, that's not true, we're Europeans, just like French, Italians, English ... all of those people are considered whites, so why we Spanish aren't?

It's a misconception, but we Spaniards are white Europeans.

Anonymous · Answer

Spanish people are part of the white race. Some argue that since Arab Muslims use to rule Spain, Spain must not be a white nation. The problem with that is that king Ferdinand and queen Isabella forced the Muslims to leave. Some also associate the Spanish people with the Mestizos and Mulattos of Latin America who are partly white but also part some other race. However there are many white parts of Latin America such as Argentina, Southern Brazil, Northern Mexico, Uyuaguay, and parts of Columbia, and Venezuela, these places are oftin a combanation of Spanish italian and german due to 1800s immagration. As for the slaves they are desended from the scandanavians and are very white.

cavmanier · Answer

Probably because they have been mixed together by many when south Americans were stated called Hispanic or Latin. I agree. I think they are white just like Italians or any of those north Mediterranean countries. Calling someone a color is really just a broad way to categorize though. It's not like it's based on science unless we're taking about 200 year old pseudo science.

mr90skid · Answer

Here's what I know/think so correct me if I wrong:
Spanish = people from Spain so they're European, so they're white
Hispanics = not from Europe but have roots/genes from there. Aren't fully European and claim the central/southern American nation they're from.
Slavic, aren't they from Baltic nations like Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, etc? Either way they're still white?

traxlem · Answer

mixed with Spanish and my ass is brown these whole skin colour issues are so played out "white" isn't even white were all just a different shade of beige.

PiuBelloAmante · Answer

yeah I don't know whats up with that, people think Italians aren't white either... People are freaking nuts haha!

TadCurious · Answer

A lot of people are very ignorant in the way they use these terms. A lot of people think "Hispanic" is a race. It's not. A lot of people refer to Hispanic people as being "Spanish," when they're not. (People from Spain are "Spanish.") People from Spain are also Caucasian, as are people from Eastern European countries.

madhatters4 · Answer

people in America think Spanish and more often than not associate it with Central America, Mexico, South America and Caribbean cultures (like Puerto Rican or Dom Rep).

Many don't really differentiate between Hispanic, Latina, and Spanish... basically it's just a lack of exposure or effort to understand

Anonymous · Answer

Spanish people from Spain are white european, mediterranean. they consider themselves white, yes they are tanned sometiems. but their race is european mediterranea, white.

The fault is of people from south america who sometimes call themselves "spanish" and americans (usa) think people from mexico, columbia or puerto rico are Spanish. when they re actully just a mixed pot as all of the ex Spanish colonies.

Anonymous · Answer

I don't know why people here think Eastern Europeans have darker features, when that's mostly true for people from countries like Spain and Greece and they are not in Eastern, but Southern  Europe . I've seen plenty of girls from Eastern  Europe  who are very pale. My girlfriend is Slavic and she's white as a snow. Anyway, Spanish people, Eastern Europeans, Slavic people, they're all white.

musicbrain5 · Answer

Spanish people are white as they are descended from Indo-Europeans, as are Slavic people.

Belleza2 · Answer

Slavic people are Europeans or white and so are spaniards! Hispanic/Latinos I have no idea - you would have to define them for me because as far as I know every Latin person says I'm a mix but not white

springocelot · Answer

It's because they are confused between regions. I think a lot of people have this idea of white as being people with anglo-saxon/germanic descent or features.

Both Spanish and slavic people are white since they are descended from indo-european.

Zorax · Answer

Only ignorant people think Spanish are "not white", of course they are... by the way, I'm Slavic too :)

Izzex3 · Answer

Don't know about that. But there are plenty of times when hispanics look black. It's hard to tell at times. If someone's skin is tan, brown or whatever. Then I don't consider them white?

menina · Answer

To me Spanish people are white. I have no doubts about it. Saying that they're not white makes no sense to me. I don't know where people get this idea from.

spuitkaas · Answer

I always call them South-Europian. It's not easy though. You're more tanned than my race and sometimes you really try to point out specific your race.

ComDom · Answer

Spanish people mixed with Arabic people from North Africa as I understand when the Muslims occupied the Spanish peninsula.

LovelySerene · Answer

I blame the education system, my school district was horrid... I was just taught that they are Spanish, and not white... Then I learned about it in College and felt so stupid...

sammy_31 · Answer

I hope you mean Spanish people as people who are born and raised in Spain not Hispanics or Latinos.

jacquesvol · Answer

Tanned skin. But Spanish people from Spain are white even if they might have a Moorish (Moroccan) forefather, more than 1000 years ago. Moroccans too are white, White Africans.

Anyhow, it has NO importance at all!

Anonymous · Answer

Most people hear the word Spanish, and they associate that with Hispanics. that is just the most common form of Spanish they are familiar with. Much like how people think Americans are white, even though American is not a race.

BertMacklinFBI · Answer

i get confused when i think Spanish since there's so much shit involved.

demonology · Answer

both Spanish and slavic are white.  white = european descent.  im slavic and im white.

dev765 · Answer

A lot of Europeans reject the white label and don't see each other as the same race. Not only do Europeans do this Chinese, Japanese and Koreans do this as well.

chadsten · Answer

What do you mean by "white"? Race? Color of skin?

Strider90 · Answer

Spain was conquered by the Arabs during the medieval times and its people got mixed up to much. Of course there are white Spaniards but a large part of the population is mud blooded like the Arabs.

Anonymous · Answer

How most of the Americans can stated that Spain its not Caucasians.
I was in America for Vacations and I thought How mix are the Americans.
I am from North Spain and we have more blonds and Green eyes plus Blue than in the USA
what stupid you are your comments.
Do you have time to write things like this
Please read more before you write.

Rowdydog · Answer

Dame! After reading all these different opinions by so many experts I'm so confused. lol

Anonymous · Answer

Spanish are a different culture but people from Spain are white, its just that they are very different. South America is a mix of Spanish and native Indian such as Incans etc. Many of them are not white.

Prof_Don · Answer

They're all Nordic descent people, so I do consider them white

Despondency · Answer

I always thought Spanish people were Spanish. Maybe they are not Spanish.

RationalMale · Answer

Being white is now to be the evil-oppressor-no-rights-class.  Why do you think we're seeing white people pretending to be black in the NAACP, or Black Lives Matter, etc?

bubbletrouble · Answer

They don't look stereotypically 'caucasian'. Same with Eastern Europeans, portugese, etc. Not too many of them have blonde hair/blue eyed people walking around.

hypno-trip · Answer

Some people are dumb, Are Turks white? They look white to me I think they're the deviding line...

baarkmann · Answer

hispanics are a mix of white and mezitzo. Spanish are white iberian peoples who have some arab dna

Mad_Batman · Answer

because they are not as brightly colored as other nations, they have a slight tint to them sort of like the arabs do..

StickStickity13 · Answer

Slavs are white, but we are a distinct ethnic group.

Anonymous · Answer

Because they aren't? Just like potatoes aren't tomatoes.

hotstuffSRD · Answer

They are all mad 😠 which makes comparison between races by the way you look great 😶?

pernauf · Answer

always confuse.. the Spaniards are white, read more

Ihav2fart · Answer

Soo are Russians White or Asian?

front2back · Answer

They're white but tan.

Anonymous · Answer

Maybe when people hear Spanish they think of Mexico and not Spain

snuggle_bunny88 · Answer

Umm, because they aren't.

Anonymous · Answer

Damn, if that pic is you, you're sexy. I would love to fuck a girl like you and give you a good time.

1fingerpunch · Answer

they are just saying that.

dakraziest · Answer

because they are not white

YazanAA · Answer

They just do :P

Anonymous · Answer

Because they are a mix of Arabs and Gypsies.

Why do people think Spanish people aren't white?

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