racism in these mean streets.

so, last night my fiance and I went to CVS (drug store) to pick up some medicine. my fiance was chillin outside smoking cigarettes, and minding his business on his phone. This mexican couple walks by him and the husband calls my fiance a monkey in spanish and his wife told her husband, " he's not a monkey, he is a humam being." However, as we all know, my fiance is latino but he looks like a lightskin black man with curly hair. then, my fiance replied back in spanish, "This monkey knows Spanish."

the husband said that because he had assumed that he was black and didn't know spanish.


my question is for the darker skin latinos does this happen often?