Are Italians white or Latino?? READ MY REASONS WHY THEY COULD BE LATINO BEFORE ANSWERING?

Question

FACTSSSS

-Italians are from Latin descent.
-The word "latin" refer to people and Countries of Latin culture and language (Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania)
-Only in the United States and probably Canada does the word "latino" mean Latin American,
the exact meaning of the word is simply latin, if you look for the word latino in a spanish dictionary the word latino.

STUFF I THINK...
-People say Italians are white because they are from Europe, BUT Spain and Portugal is there too.
-Latino languages and Italian are very similar.
-Italians are have dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. Which white people CAN be dark too, but almost all of Italians are dark.
-The Mexico flag and The Italian flag are nearly identical, but i suppose that's just ironic.


ALSO People think Italians are white because when italians started coming over to America they wanted to be considered white.



And people i know who are going to say "Stop trying to build walls in america between races", that's not what i'm trying to do. I just would like to know if I'm considered Caucasian or Latino.

Answer 1

White and Latino are not mutually exclusive categories, as the original "Latins" are of European origin (Italians, French, Spaniards, Porutugese, and Romanians). Latin culture was later transplanted from Spain and Portugal to modern-day Latin America a few centuries ago, where colonists from those countries mixed with Native Americans and Africans to produce most of today's Latin Americans. Thus, Southern Europeans are the original Latins, like it or not. This is especially the case for Italians, where the actual Latin language originated with the Ancient Romans.



Secondly, most Italians are not dark, unless you consider brown hair being "dark." Most have brown hair and light skin, not olive (olive skin is what you normally see in Latin America or the Middle East). Light eyes are a large minority (~30% of Italians), and quite a few are even blond, especially in the north. Sicilians and some others in the far south often have black hair, dark eyes, and slightly darker complexions, but even these darker types don't look like your average Latin American mestizo/mulatto. Rather, they would look like Greeks or Lebanese. Sicilians are totally Caucasian, not racially mixed like most Latin Americans or even like many of the nearby Tunisians in North Africa (many of whom are of mixed Arab/sub-Saharan African origin).



So to answer the question, Italians are racially White and culturally Latin, the original Latins for that matter.



P.S. Tanning may change a person's appearance, especially if they get an excessive amount of sun. A very pale person can even tan well if they're careful and use adequate sunscreen.

Answer 2

A little information honey: Sicily is a part of (south) Italy.

"Italians are have dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. Which white people CAN be dark too, but almost all of Italians are dark"... Just a question: have you ever been in Italy dude? No, I guess. Yes, I knew americans are a little ignorant about anything about Europe, but you are really, really embarassing. Italians are latinos, yes, because their language come from the ancient Latin. French, romanians, spanish, are latinos too. We (we europeans) don't give to the term phisical features.

"The Mexico flag and The Italian flag are nearly identical, but i suppose that's just ironic". Oh, this is the maximum you can say to maintain that Italians are not white? Congratulations.



@ Quagmire: Sicilians are not darker than other southerns. I don't know why in America is diffused that conviction, because of the racist propaganda I guess? I'm from Sicily and in my classroom people have all pale skin. Some have light eyes (green and hazel) and the majority have light hair (light brown, blonde, red). Before talking about how we are supposed to be people should travel a little more.

Answer 3

Italians are European (white). Latin is a language that actually comes from ancient Rome and spread to Europe. We did a whole unit on this in class but I can't remember all the details. Spanish and Portuguese people are Europeans btw... when the Spanish and the Portuguese colonized countries in Central and South America, the indigenous languages changed to Spanish or Portuguese; they originated from Europe.



Edit: I just found out more info today lol. The region is called Latin America because Spanish and Portuguese (like many other European languages) derives from the Latin language and they are primarily spoken in Central and South America. :)

Answer 4

I'm an italian from Milan in the north of italy(giuro che sto dicendo la verità). I do consider me as white. I've got green eyes ,brown hair and a very fair coulored skin. As you see not all the italians are from latin descent( i do consider me from celtic descent like a lot of other italians). The Italian language has his origin from Latin, like spanish,portuguese and french; but this does not make an unitary ethnic group(I don't think there's a latino ethnic group at all). To finish, the italian flag has absolutely nothin' to do with the mexican one...



Hope my English wasn't that bad and greetings from Italy

Answer 5

People from Spain and Portugal are also considered white. I know a ton of Italians and they are not dark. Some have olive complexions, most do not. Sicily is where the darker olive complected Italian are from. Dark hair, dark eyes. Northern Italy is quite different. I know Italians who have blonde hair and blue eyes.



people do not think anything. they see with their eyes. White is Caucasian. They are Caucasian.



Why does this matter any how. What is wrong with the people on this site and their obsessiveness with skin color and categorizing everybody..?

Answer 6

YOur logic is based on misinformation.





Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese people of European geneology are of the "white" race, and what constitutes race is very open-ended these days. White people are not called "Caucasian" anymore (Caucasian only refers to people from the Caucasus--a place somewhere in Eurasia). "Latino" is a word that is used to define peoples who live in parts of the world that were originally colonized by Spain. Many--but not all-- of these people are mixed race (white, black, Asian, and/or indigenous). "Most" Italians aren't dark., either. Most of my relatives have blond or red hair.

Answer 7

why do people think all italians look like jersey shore?? italians have brown hair, and white skin(on average), the same with all europeans. tanning and living on the meditaranian can add a latino look.

Answer 8

White Americans are from European descent but there not European?!! Italians could be from latin descent (not sure if thats true) but there not latino. There White Europeans. Or just plain old Italian.

Answer 9

When the following wave of immigrants arrive. We have an extended historical past of hating the newest immigrants. A whilst again, I noticed a paper that tracked ethnic jokes, and so they correlated strongly to the height immigration from every of the agencies.

Answer 10

White and Latino are not mutually contradicting.