It’s past time to crush racial and ethnic labels

By Esther Cepeda, Dallas Morning News

All one has to do to rile a group of Hispanics is mention the names of blond, blue-eyed Cameron Diaz or Canadian-born Ted Cruz (both descendants of Cubans) — or even the topic of whether you have to speak Spanish fluently to really be Hispanic (San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro has become the perfect example of this particular gem) — and there will be an overly tense discussion of what constitutes a true Hispanic.

The “Hispanic in Name Only” has a few corollary archetypes. There’s the “Professional Hispanic” — think of any actor, actress or so-called Latino leader you might know who unapologetically represents what some might consider a stereotypical or traditional Latino.

Then there are what I call “Non-Ethnic Hispanics.” They really are Hispanic, but their work and success isn’t about, dependent on or defined by their ethnicity.

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