"Latin" Identity

An issue that has always interested me about Latin America is the issue of identity. This probably stems from my personal experience. I never thought much about race/ethnicity until one day when I was about 13 and one of my friends turned to me and said you're not white. Over the years I have come to view myself, at least in a small part, as Hispanic. What is more interesting to me though is that my brother who has the exact same heritage I do (my Dad was born in Panama) doesen't consider himself to be Hispanic at all. This issue of ethnicity is highly confusing in the United States. Can I be Hispanic while my brother is not? Is it an issue of lineage or identity? If it is only identity can a person become another ethnicity? If you are incredibly interested in Latin America and begin identifying with that culture can you become Latin?

Along with any ethnic identity questions racism is bound to come up as an issue. My Aunt is a native New Orleanian - she has lived here her entire life. During our conversations it has come up many times about the issues of racism here in the city. She discussed that as children racist comments were rarely directed at African Americans. The issue was so heated that racial slurs were nonexistent in schools. However, this did not extend to Latin Americans. Since my Aunt spoke Spanish she told me that she was often ridiculed and taunted in school. After my Aunt's divorce a few years ago she also told me that it was important for her to change her name back to her maiden name of Benitez. Interestingly enough I'm not sure my Aunt considers herself Hispanic, although lineage wise she is half Mexican half Panamanian. During discussions with her last week about the hurricane she talked to me about the "hispanics" that she encountered. She even used slurs about Mexicans when I told her about this and other Latin American classes I was in this semester. What I think we often forget in the United States is that racism is prevalant in the majority of societies around the world. Latin America is no exception. Many Latin Americans continue to be prejudiced against blacks and even in many cases other cultures in the Spanish-speaking world.