Do you consider Kyle and Kendra Latinos/Hispanic?

[ducklord]

In a world where the cultural identity of characters is often a driving force for a lot of their stories (which is fair... characters of various stripes often have a *lot* going on that's wrapped up in their cultural identities), it's kind of interesting that Kyle Rayner is a Latino-American whose cultural identity has been (Tom King's hamfistedness aside) more of a bit of trivia than a jumping-off point for storytelling. He's just a 20something dude who happens, it turns out, to be half-Mexican. He's not steeped in Mexican or Mexican-American culture and hasn't really shown much of an interest in getting in touch with his Mexican roots. Which weirdly, to me, is kind of cool - sometimes representation is loud and in your face, and sometimes it's just a quiet grace note. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, 'n' all that.

[krazijoe]

Doesn't matter how I view them, it's how they view themselves. The Caveat is that they need to have some Hispanic in them. It's not like I can say I am Hispanic when I have no Hispanic blood in me.

[Lightning Rider]

Doesn't matter how I view them, it's how they view themselves. The Caveat is that they need to have some Hispanic in them. It's not like I can say I am Hispanic when I have no Hispanic blood in me.

I'd say you could if you were raised in such a household.

[SebastianS]

I think it depends on what exactly is considered Hispanic/Latino. More frequent than not, Americans think it equals Mexican tropes which is just really reductionist (and cringe).

If Hispanic/Latino is the race, then I would say Kyle is one, on account of his father being Mexican.

If Hispanic/Latino is the culture, then I would say Kyle is not one, given that he had zero contact with it.

[Veni]

I consider Kyle Rayner to be Irish-American or Irish. Kendra should remain Hispanic but I have no interest in her. DC doesn't know what to do with her. Same with Kyle. I don't know why did they bring Kendra back.

[Ascended]

Voted "Only Kendra."

Kyle, technically, *is* half Mexican. It's a retcon but it's in the canon, so that's what he is. But I would never consider him as any real representation. He's Mexican the way I'm Scottish; aware of it, and not much more. Kyle's just an American, that's his culture and history, and most of us are mutts to one degree or another.

I'm not 100% sure how Kendra's past and heritage have been treated since the New52. I can't really recall her history or ethnicity being mentioned since the reboot but I have a vague recollection of it being said she was latinx. And I can't recall the details at the moment (haven't read pre-52 Hawkman since it came out) but isn't that consistent with pre-52 as well?

[lefthanded]

Kyle is hispanic in the same way Ancestry.com tells your heritage - like sure, it says you're 1/16 Cherokee, but does that mean anything towards your identity / representation / worldview?

[Thor-Ul]

Cuando se habla de algo mexicano/latino en un foro en inglés, me gusta decir algo en español. No sé si la gente me entienda, pero me dan like. Aprovecho para decir me ofende que por la forma en que Kyle sujeta la bandera de mi país, los colores y el águila están al revés

Don't worry. AMLO surely is going to make a diplomatic protest about that. Anyway, it would not be the first time DC misreads the mexican flag. But anyway, it seems more like an artistic choice than a mistake. Maybe the flag is being seen from the other side. Sorry, usually books and images show flags from one side, but not from the other, even if logically they should be seen as in a mirror image.

I can't talk about Hawkgirl, but I don't consider Kyle a mexican or latino. I haven't read his series yet, but from JLA, GL Rebirth, GLC, New Guardians, Omega Men and HJ&GLC, Omega Men is the only series where I saw him being portayed as a latino, and that always feel ooc for me.

Same. That seemed so odd. I can believe than Kyle was catholic (irish are mostly cathoilics, so that part could be logic), but he had discovered his mexican roots many years later. I mean, he could be curious, but he will not be suddendly an expert spanish speaker. If he would had been praying in gaelic would had more sense, character wise.

Kyle is totally an american guy for me.

There still are something like "american" anymore? Y lo digo en el sentido gringo. Oh the irony.

[Thor-Ul]

I think it depends on what exactly is considered Hispanic/Latino. More frequent than not, Americans think it equals Mexican tropes which is just really reductionist (and cringe).

If Hispanic/Latino is the race, then I would say Kyle is one, on account of his father being Mexican.

If Hispanic/Latino is the culture, then I would say Kyle is not one, given that he had zero contact with it.

There is no race.

[Thor-Ul]

If we take into account culture, we could argue than Kendra is more egyptian .

[Veni]

I think it depends on what exactly is considered Hispanic/Latino. More frequent than not, Americans think it equals Mexican tropes which is just really reductionist (and cringe).

If Hispanic/Latino is the race, then I would say Kyle is one, on account of his father being Mexican.

If Hispanic/Latino is the culture, then I would say Kyle is not one, given that he had zero contact with it.

There is no such thing as a Hispanic/Latino race. The USA only invented that because they count the population based on race in the census. All other countries use ethnicity in the censuses. Central and South America are very diverse because many people from different cultures, races and ethnicities live there. The USA should replace Hispanic/Latino with Central and South American.

[ZuLuLu]

There is no such thing as a Hispanic/Latino race. The USA only invented that because they count the population based on race in the census. All other countries use ethnicity in the censuses. Central and South America are very diverse because many people from different cultures, races and ethnicities live there. The USA should replace Hispanic/Latino with Central and South American.

Actually, the US counts Hispanics/Latino in a separate category from race where you are also asked about your origin.


The race categories are:
American Indian/ Alaskan Native
Asian
Black/African American
White (including Europe, Middle East and North Africa)
Other

[Robotman]

If we take into account culture, we could argue than Kendra is more egyptian .

If Kendra remembers her past lives, she’s probably a bit of every ethnicity/culture. The body that her soul is currently occupying is Latina.