Do you consider "gringo" to be a racial epithet?

[Papastratosels26]

It's a slur

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[RMuller]

Gringo means Anglo-American.It's not an insult.

[nittionia]

i've only heard it used in the US as a slur, but i've never seen someone upset over it.

[Lucas Rodrigues]

So even Koreans, Pakistanis and Nigerians are called gringos in Brazil then?

They can be called gringo, but we would preferably call them: Pakistani, Korean and so on. There are few news about them in Brazil (I see way more news about África and muslims in German channels) most news from foreign countries in Brazil are about the USA and Europe, that is why we usually do not call them gringo.
We also call Americans a lot "Americanos", whereas people from hispanic countries use much more "gringo" to refer to Americans than us Brazilians.
I have seen a Peruvian guy in Brazil calling himself gringo. I also call "latinos" gringo.

[Incal]

Could it not even be said to be the obverse of "spic"? Let us discuss.

Depends. If you come from the first world where any kind of word hinting nationality or origin is offensive, then probably.

If you are in South America, where almost no one is an emotional cry baby, then just means Yank, or in some contexts blonde tourist (depending on the country).

[Kivan]

No, in my experience, people use that word to refer to foreigners. But depending on the context it might sound rude, and I don't think it's offensive like "nigga" or "spic", in my view.

[Rouxinol]

I was watching Narcos Mexico and I think I heard them referring to the Mexican-American DEA agent as gringo even though he’s brown. But I have this idea that they usually apply it only to northern European-looking foreigners. Would they call a Spanish person gringo?

[Marco94]

I was watching Narcos Mexico and I think I heard them referring to the Mexican-American DEA agent as gringo even though he’s brown. But I have this idea that they usually apply it only to northern European-looking foreigners. Would they call a Spanish person gringo?

In Argentina the meaning of the term “gringo” differs from other Latin American countries.

Here “gringo” refers to people from the countryside, who own farmlands and work the land. The term is used to refer to these people because the countryside in the Pampas was settled by Northern Italian, German, Swiss and other central European immigrants, and they usually have lighter features (blond hair, blue eyes, very tall). My mother’s family is an example (Northern Italians and Swiss that settled in Pampean agricultural colonies).

We wouldn’t call a foreigner “gringo”. We call the Americans “Yankees”, the Spanish “Gallegos” (because most of the Spanish immigrants were from Galicia) and the Italians “Tanos” (diminutive of NapoliTANO, because they were the main Italian community in Buenos Aires).

[RMuller]

I was watching Narcos Mexico and I think I heard them referring to the Mexican-American DEA agent as gringo even though he’s brown. But I have this idea that they usually apply it only to northern European-looking foreigners. Would they call a Spanish person gringo?

Yeah it applies to Northern European looking people. Like Brad Pitt but not to Sylvester Stalone or Antonio Banderas.

Mexican-Americans in Mexico would be called pocho not gringo.

[Incal]

I was watching Narcos Mexico and I think I heard them referring to the Mexican-American DEA agent as gringo even though he’s brown. But I have this idea that they usually apply it only to northern European-looking foreigners. Would they call a Spanish person gringo?

That would be a Gallego.