Hilaria Baldwin pretended to be Spanish wtf?!

[Ballstothis148]

This is the least important and most weird story of 2020.... this woman comes up on my Instagram a lot as a suggested page. Tbh I don’t find her interesting but know she’s Spanish and is into health, having babies with Alec Baldwin and that’s pretty much it. She speaks with a Spanish accent, on her IG page she calls her children “Baldwinitos” I do remember an article saying when she speaks Spanish to her kids people confuse her for a nanny so I thought an interesting take on a European mum in the States.

Except it’s all a lie. She’s not remotely Spanish. Her wealthy Boston parents (no Spanish ancestry) now have a holiday home there.

What is wrong with people?! I include me for being too interested :) why pretend to be Spanish? In one interview she even pretended she didn’t know the word for cucumber as her English isn’t that good

Oh and she’s not even called Hilaria, she’s called Hilary. This year I swear... what an odd story!! I did know a girl who went very French after a romance there one year... maybe it’s a thing!

Spanish people are considered Hispanic . It literally means ‘of Spanish descent’. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic

Surely all Americans can't think Spanish people are non-White? Some of them must surely know where Spain is. What about French people? Do Americans consider them white and then there's a sudden dividing line where people become non white??

I've heard of Finnish people being considered non European in the past, but never occurred to me that anyone would consider Spanish people to be non white.

And its a bit iffy to talk about basing race on skin and hair colour, or even being born in a country, when plenty of POC not born here are British.

So that was what I was thinking about with Hilaria, and I still think it's all a bit unclear as to whether she lived there for any extended time or why she speaks such fluent, perfectly accented Spanish.

I wonder if any of the other celebs who make blatant lies about their backgrounds are going to be run through the mill so much. There are plenty of them.

So what's a Portuguese person lol? My Close friend is dual National (both parents Spanish but U.K. born) and bilingual Spanish - I just told her in the US she isn't white and sent her the article in the Daily Fail. She's gutted she didn't think of the fan and veil at her wedding, she has however promised to start speaking English in a Spanish accent when very angry and forgetting words of vegetables

This just proves the US race issues are off the fucking scale and their issues just don't translate over here. It really has been an education

Does this mean Madonna is not considered white or Al Pacino? It's total bonkers

@gottakeeponmovin

So what's a Portuguese person lol? My Close friend is dual National (both parents Spanish but U.K. born) and bilingual Spanish - I just told her in the US she isn't white and sent her the article in the Daily Fail. She's gutted she didn't think of the fan and veil at her wedding, she has however promised to start speaking English in a Spanish accent when very angry and forgetting words of vegetables

In the US, Portuguese is Spanish, so the Portuguese and Brazilians are also Hispanic

@gottakeeponmovin

Do they think Italians are not white?

Yes, historically Italians were considered non-white in America and treated with disdain (as were the Irish).

I read a very interesting article about how in the early 20th century, Catholic adoption agencies in New York would have lots of Italian babies and children, but nobody in New York wanted to adopt these children because they were seen as non-white and 'inferior'. The adoption agency found Catholic Hispanic families in New Mexico and Arizona for these children and shipped the kids out there. However, when they arrived in town the white residents were appalled that 'white' children were being given to Hispanic families, and actually forced the authorities to take the Italian children out of their new families and put them in white homes. So it was possible for the same person to be considered non-white in New York, but completely white in a different part of the country. The racism has layers.

"US issues don't translate over here"

You've nailed it, seems to go over lots of people's heads though.

And the people with money power and influence were Protestant

That's because it was a Protestant country at that time. In France the people with power were Catholic because it was/is a Catholic country. In what became Germany it was largely Catholic too and still is in those parts. England was neither one or the other, being CofE. Infact comparatively England was largely tolerant of both Protestantism, Nonconformism and Catholicism

Come off it - this is a silly question - the constitution specifically says a black man is worth 1/6 of a white man so matters didn’t start on an equal basis.

Deeply unpleasant but this was written centuries ago

Do you think Native Anericans had equal rights, black people, women.

The vast majority of the populous had no rights, including most Protestant white men

Have you never seen pictures of the signs saying ‘no Irish, no blacks no dogs’

The only picture I've seen of this is a stage mock up, made for a play in the 1980s.

Yes in this country but would have been similar in the US.

I honestly haven't seen much reliable evidence of it here. Not sure about the US. Not saying it didn't happen, just not much evidence of it

Do you think all people are equal in the US or globally now - really.

No, especially in some parts of the middle east and parts of Africa

And my assumption is you are white.

Why?

But surely the deal is that the Spanish rocked up in lots of other countries, like Mexico, changed their religion and ‘taught’ them the Spanish language and way of life. The native people are still the native people, yes with some mixing of bloodlines etc but still different to original flavour Spanish people.

It’s rather like saying that English people are Indian because many Indians speak English and had previously been under English rule with English people in their ancestry.

And my assumption is you are white.

Why, and more to the point, why would it matter?

@Flaxmeadow

And my assumption is you are white.

Why, and more to the point, why would it matter?

She’s right though isn’t she?

She’s right though isn’t she

Actually kind of no, in a roundabout way

"That's because it was a Protestant country at that time. In France the people with power were Catholic because it was/is a Catholic country. In what became Germany it was largely Catholic too and still is in those parts. England was neither one or the other, being CofE. Infact comparatively England was largely tolerant of both Protestantism, Nonconformism and Catholicism"

Since when is the Church of England not protestant? It might be extremely high protestantism at times, but protestant it is.

@Flaxmeadow

And my assumption is you are white.

Why, and more to the point, why would it matter?

Because it makes you assume that the privilege you have is the norm.

You can’t say stuff was written centuries ago so doesn’t matter. ‘Deeply unpleasant’. That’s is (though sorry it’s 3/5th not a 1/6). It took almost 100 years for it to be changed but black people were still not allowed to vote.

This year it was made a lot harder for black districts to vote. It matters.

And I’m white too

I came across an American website a few years ago, with a long article about 'white/non-white' Oscar nominees.

Spanish actors (Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem) were listed in the non-white category (as were Meg and Jennifer Tilly - American/Chinese).

Sylvester Stallone (Italian descent) was listed in the white category.

Also worth a read is The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter (not that I've actually finished reading it yet...). It's overly long and too verbose but very interesting. She says there have been four "enlargements of American Whiteness" - initially only Anglo-Saxon/Germanic people were 'white' but it expanded to include Celts and other European nationalities. (And the chapter on white slavery is also an eye-opener.)

And my assumption is you are white.

I'd be bloody suprised if any of us knew what we were now!

Well I’m not Spanish so that’s one thing

Since when is the Church of England not protestant? It might be extremely high protestantism at times, but protestant it is.

It's a debate that's been going on for centuries but the CofE is a reformed Catholic church and still keeps many Catholic, what's the word, Catholic mass thingys . Its a bit out on it's own. But England has also been very Nonconformist in parts too, especially in the former industrial districts, also full on Catholic in those areas as well

I'd say Scotland could be described more as Protestant. Wales is Chapel (Nonconformist). Its complicated

Because it makes you assume that the privilege you have is the norm.

So not only do you assume I'm white, but you assume I'm privileged as well.

You can’t say stuff was written centuries ago so doesn’t matter.

I didn't

‘Deeply unpleasant’. That’s is (though sorry it’s 3/5th not a 1/6). It took almost 100 years for it to be changed but black people were still not allowed to vote.

I know.

This year it was made a lot harder for black districts to vote. It matters.

Yes

And I’m white too

I'm not bothered what colour yours or anyone elses skin is. I take people as I find them and not judge them on characteristics that cannot be changed

That's right, historically Italians considered non-white. The original settlers were WASP - further immigration came later from southern Europe etc and not considered "white".

Really? I had no idea about this.

I have never thought of the Europeans as other than white (obviously unless they do actually belong to a different race/are mixed race).

I will say, I find race discussions and relations in America very difficult to comprehend, from news reports etc. To me a person is a person and is equal and deserves to be treated equally. That's where I struggle to understand different approaches if I'm honest. I understand minorities all over the world haven't been treated equally and this is continuously changing. I have been a minority myself in certain countries too. I have had various experiences and so did my family members, positive and negative. But overall, I've concluded that I am lacking understanding of just how different and deeper (I think?) these issues are in America.

Re HB, it is difficult to put into words, but I think why her lies are truly unacceptable to me is because she positioned herself as a public voice and representation of certain community. I just fundamentally do not accept that someone not being a member of that community can be publicly representing it, in lieu of its genuine representatives and I wouldn't want such representation.

I’m currently watching some daft Aussie drama on Prime, set in the 1940s. One of the characters is Italian and there is some awful racial abuse against him, to the extent I’m amazed the show can still be aired without being bleeped out.

Re: the categories at Oscars having Spanish born actress Penelope Cruz in non-white - exactly - Oscars - very high profile - people in US know HB claiming to be born in Spain means non-white.

I linked above to an article from a black guy talking about how southern Europeans adopted racism against black people to start the integration process and distance themselves from that type of "black". It's all very nasty, lots of history is but is very important to know it as people make same mistakes a generation later and it helps to know the outcome before you start down same route again.

Hence her bizarre video saying "Europe has lots of white people" sounds nuts to us here in UK, but is confusing for the US audience to hear her say that too - she fudges everything she says to obscure truth. I'd call that dishonesty.

People should watch this for a great satirical take on racial identity. Ahead of it's time.