Im confused about the word Latin?

Question

Now im an American. My father's father  is English (revolution English) Irish, Swiss, Norwegian, Dutch, German, French, and my father's mother is Italian. Now however my mother is Greek..  I was raised by mother and im well aware of different ethnicities of white. No problem.. I recently came across this man who said he was only into latin people. I was like hey no problem, my grandmom is Latin, she's from lazoas. He is not into white people, hes only into latins. No I know what he means, but I wasn't as much offended by his preference. But I was offended by his association with Latin and nonwhite... I know, it's my governments fault I know. But honestly what's going on the word latino ( all in which I feel is different from Latin) I thought it included peoples in America who are by blood or of Latin culture amd linguistic. But it seems that after my long debate he doesn't consider French camadians latino, that I can't see why .. French are latins too.. They were a colony of Rome (who conquered my ancestors, then spread theor culture to gaul, hispanole, and Romania too.. I can't understand why French Canadians who  have Latin blood, language, and culture are not latino.. His response was French Canadians are under the british crown therefore Anglo not latino.. I replied back Puerto Rico is under Obama are they any less latino?? Back to me Latin is not just language or culture.. Cuz believe me Latin and Greek culture are very much alive here in the USA.. Not just our republic and democratic approach but people like me who share the linage as well.. Please tell me why do so many  think Latin is not white? Or are French Canadians Latin? Or better yet can you jave latim blood and speak another language and be consider Latin? And what exactly is Latin culture do not most Europeans or Americans share some form Greek or Latin culture ? im mad the goverment offers no clarity to these dilemas? But what do u think?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Your logic is flawed - you cannot call the French Latin, for then you would have to call all of Rome's former provinces "Latin" - which would include Southern England, parts of Germany, Austria, various countries in Eastern Europe, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, nearly all of the countries on the North African coast...you get my meaning. And as they all have very different cultures today and even back in the Roman Empire, Latin would just become an empty term that refers to a land once part of the Roman Empire and nothing more.

The term Latino itself has nothing to do with the culture of the ancient Romans and the Italians; it came from the fact that in the colonization of the Americas, you mostly had a division between Protestant countries (such as the Dutch and English) and the Roman Catholic (such as Spain and Portugal), and the latter were referred to as Latin kingdoms because of their continued affiliation with Roman Catholicism (which uses Latin as its biblical language and of course is head-quartered in the capital of the old Latin world, Rome). And the French, as a side note, do not have much of any genetic affiliation with the Italians - they are descended from Gaulish/Celtic tribes, and any mingling with their Romans and Italians back in the days of the Roman Empire accounted for next to nothing, if the Romans attitude about foreigners told us anything.

bryan_q · Answer

How could this happen? "My father's father is English (revolution English) Irish, Swiss, Norwegian, Dutch, German, French"? Your paternal grandfather is um... seven nationalities in one? Impossible! You are what your parents identified to be. Can't be all that? He is either English, Irish, Swiss, Norwegian, Dutch, German OR French,not all of them! Pick one. Take his picture, what does he look like or who did he sound like? 

Latin = any people who speak the Romance languages and their descendants. No person was a colony of a location. 

Spanish speakers misuse and abused the word Latin, as in Latin America. There is no such place. And Latino / Latina can be used for anyone speaking the Romance languages, NOT just SPANISH!!!

Capisce?!

Anonymous · Answer

You aren't Latin. 

You are a mutt. 

Why do you want to waste your time on someone who is that shallow?  When he says "Latin", he means Spanish-Native American mixed people from South, Central America and Mexico/Guatemala.  He isn't interested in people whose background includes Greek, or British, or Northern Euroopean.

And WHAT, again, does this have to do with languages?

Anonymous · Answer

Nobody in any part of America is Anglo anything.

Anonymous · Answer

Why do they call them apartments when they are so close together?

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Im confused about the word Latin?

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