Don´t be afraid, Gringo

The above is the title of a book by an indigious woman from Honduras, where she explains the plight of Honduras and how the influence of the United States has dramatically influenced the course of History in Honduras and in the Latin American Sphere in general. Its a interesting read, but i´m using it to breach the term gringo for today´s blog-o-information. The term ¨gringo¨or ¨gringa¨for you ladies out there, is used here to reference North Americans within the area of Latin America, or in general, anyone who has European ancestry. The term was developed during the Mexican War, where people of Mexico encouraged the U.S. Army, with their green combat fatiges to go, or quite simply, ¨Green, Go!¨hence, Gringo. US influence has spread far beyond Mexico, and hence, so has the term gringo. Gringo is used now in a more antiseptic sense, and generally is translated to¨¨north american¨or ¨foreigner¨. I have been on a quest of empowerment with ¨Gringo¨, often using it in reference to myself or to make jokes, simular tactics that have been used to negate the influence of other negitive terms by other groups of people. However, we have Honduran friends that will not use it, as they feel that it is still disrespectful.
I guess in many ways, its a defense mechanism for the people of latin america who encounter so much N.American cultural influence on a daily basis, and not always for the better: food, clothes, music, movies, tv, etc; to create sepperation between their past and traditions and the modern face of Latin America today.
P.S. My Amazon.com wish list is almost ready, for anyone that maybe wants to send us some books, just drop an email or message on here and i can sent it to you. Thanks!
Simon