It's a serious question.
Over on Jaime Abeytia's end of the internet, he has a piece talking about a potential District 1 City Representative candidate, Manny Hinojosa.
Jaime had this little gem about Manny's prospects:
That being said, being Latino against two white guys helps. Well, not as much in District 1 as it does in other parts of the city. And with Gallardo in the race, that may be further negated. (emphasis added)
Two white guys?
Rick Bonart and Peter Svarzbein?
That's odd...never mind for now that Latinos can be white, black, Asian, etc.
Why would you not consider Svarzbein "Latino"?
Svarzbein's father is from Argentina. Argentina, in case you were wondering, is a Spanish-speaking country that is part of an area some call "Latin America".
Svarzbien's mother is half-Spaniard.
So what gives?
I do not know if Svarzbein speaks Spanish or not, but if language is what makes a person Latino then County Commissioner David Stout is Latino and Commissioner Vince Perez is not.
Is it the way Svarzbein speaks English? Like a "white boy"? Which is how Vince Perez sounds like if you are into labeling folks like that.
Have you heard Manny Hinojosa speak? He doesn't exactly sound like Chente Quintanilla.
Is it Svarzbein's name? Which is bullshit because you can have a last name like "Glenn" as in "Guillermo Glenn" but be considered "Latino." Or here's one for you: Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld. You are probably thinking "Kreutzberger Blumenfeld???" Yea, your abuela knows him as Don Francisco from Sabado Gigante.
Is it Svarzbein's skin tone? Again, it's not like Manny Hinojosa looks like an Aztec warrior.
Is it because Svarzbein is Jewish? Please see Don Francisco.
As you see, when start to break it down it makes no sense at all....unless you're a racist, fat, and dumb hood-rat.
The worst part of it is that it is not just Jaime that is pushing these ethnocentric bullshit (see Cultural Center, but more on that later).