Comment by syzar
4 years ago
His name is Raphael and not Ted. I am talking about perceptions and not facts. Yes he is white but he may not come across that way if he went by Raphael and had a bit of an accent.
4 years ago
His name is Raphael and not Ted. I am talking about perceptions and not facts. Yes he is white but he may not come across that way if he went by Raphael and had a bit of an accent.
Well that is interesting, as Raphael has Hebrew origin but it's actually an English name with that spelling. In Spanish it's Rafael and in Italian Raffaello, so not sure why if he went by Raphael he would be perceived to be non-white.
Also, you say that with a non-american accent he would be perceived as non-white... so what if he went with Raphael which is actually also a German name, and he had a German accent? or a French accent? Or an italian accent? Would he also be non-white?
Spain is intertwined with Latin America and the distinction between being Spanish vs. being from Latin America is blurred in the general culture of the U.S. we don’t confuse German with Latinos. Cruz from Germany with a German accent would be considered white. From Spain with Spanish accent he may or may not be considered white. I’m the 1970s, with a Spanish accent, he’d be considered “Spanish”. Today he likely would not due to his skin color. These perceptions change over time and don’t always have to do with ethnic/geographic reality.
Whiteness and blackness have more to do with social status and class. Hence, in the South, you get people saying of certain types of blacks, “that’s a good one”. In Russia “blacks” would be Chechens and Dagestanis.
I think you're significantly overestimating the American electorate and their ability to deal with nuance here.