Sharing little-known Latino American history that you won't hear anywhere else
Understanding that "Latin" people were historically considered white is the key to understanding how they fit into American history. They were part of America's white-black paradigm.
This is what Mexican political groups wanted when they fought for this new designation. The thought of a "hispanic" minority group would not exist today if it were not for the 1964 civil rights act and Affirmative Action. 
The use of the term "white-passing" to describe white people from Latin countries is problematic. It pretends that they were POC who pretended to be white. In the 40s, Latin Americans were normally considered white. They didn't have to "pass" for anything.
This is evidenced by the fact that the older generations of black people, who grew up during segregation, regarded people of Spanish/Latin origin as white. I found several historical examples of this.
Many people, even educators, are under the mistaken impression that America's history of separate drinking fountains has something to do with people who speak Spanish. 
The same city of Marfa did have a separate elementary school for Mexican children, the highly publicized "Blackwell" school. But this was ESL education that was part of the white public school system and only affected some children. 
Esteban Hotesse was a Dominican of obvious African ancestry and so was considered black/negro and fought in WW2 as a Tuskegee airman. 
