Is "gringo" racist?

Question

My fiancee is native Spanish and lives in Monterrey Mexico. I have friends from Spain and other Spanish native countries. Every friend I have says that "gringo" is a racist slur used toward Americans, however, my fiancee is confused by this. She says that in Mexico(or at least the part she is from), "gringo" is used as common terminology for American(even though americano/a is technically the correct word). She says she has never used herself, nor heard anyone else use, gringo as a racist slur, and never even knew it was racist until I mention it. So, my question is: Is "gringo" not racist in Mexico?

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Answer 1

No! You stupid gringo..........just kidding

• I love a good laugh to start the day. Thanks :) - Sabor Jul 7, 2011

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Answer 2

The RAE defines it this way. If it were an insult in a region such as Mexico or a part of Mexico, it would be noted.

gringo, ga. (Etim. disc.).

1. adj. coloq. Extranjero, especialmente de habla inglesa, y en general hablante de una lengua que no sea la española. U. t. c. s.

2. adj. coloq. Dicho de una lengua: extranjera. U. t. c. s. m.

3. adj. Am. Mer., Cuba, El Salv., Hond. y Nic. estadounidense. Apl. a pers., u. t. c. s.

4. adj. Ur. inglés (‖ natural de Inglaterra). U. t. c. s.

5. adj. Ur. ruso (‖ natural de Rusia). U. t. c. s.

6. m. y f. Bol., Hond., Nic. y Perú. Persona rubia y de tez blanca.

7. m. coloq. Lenguaje ininteligible.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

• It seems that these definitions describe someone whom is usually an english speaker, does not speak spanish, is white, and usually from the U.S.A. Sounds very racist to me. - ArchLich Jul 7, 2011
• My friends from the other Spanish countries say that many people will use this term in conjunction with insults about how Americans are unilingual(only speak 1 language). They make fun of us for being stupid because we only speak English. - ArchLich Jul 7, 2011
• Is it racist to describe humans demographically? - Sabor Jul 7, 2011
• You can see "teacher" used as an insult on this very forum. - Sabor Jul 7, 2011

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Answer 3

Hello Arch go here and you'll see this question has been beaten to death already on this site. Just type Gringo into the search box and you'll have a whole day of reading.

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Answer 4

Actually, racist doesn't apply here, because in Latin America there are different races and mixes of races, and there is a considerable percentage of the population that is Caucasian, like another percentage of the Americans. In USA there are also numerous races and mixes of races, so what do you mean by racist? Don't mix mother tongue or nationality with race.

• American nationality. The same as if I were to call a Mexican a "wetback". However, in response to "race", my fiancee is indeed caucasian. - ArchLich Jul 7, 2011

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Answer 5

When in doubt, don't use it. This is assuming you want to avoid conflict. Even when the word technically isn't racist, the people you say it to may still get offended by it when they have been taught to consider it a racist slur.

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Answer 6

this question has been beaten to death

Thanks GAry, please make a search, Arch, welcome to the forum

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Answer 7

You can see "teacher" used as an

insult on this very forum.

This has not happened and will not happen. I really don't know why you don't read the posts porperly, Sabor.

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