For my blog post I would like to reflect on Hernandez's piece "Too Black to be Latino." I always knew there was a difference between the perception of a mestiza latino and a Afro-Latino, but Sra. Hernandez really summed up a great explanation into why the latinos think this way. She states that the Afro-Latinos are visually viewed as Anlgo-Blacks so they are not "authentic" Latinos (153). This is very hard for me to accept because how can your own people just discredit your nationality because of your skin color? This problem is happening in many countries with black people like the United States, claiming African-Americans as being "un-American," but back to the Latinos. This mindset of seeing the Afro-Latinos as "foreign" and being less than a mestiza stems from colonialism. Since the European nations projected their ideologies of black being inferior and white being superior, anyone that achieves whiteness or is closer to whiteness than blackness is seen to be as better. So in the case of a mestiza, they are a hybrid mix of European, indigonous, and black, so they are not fully black so thier achievement of whiteness is greater. This mindset does not just affect the Afro-Latinos in spanish speaking countries, it happens in many other countries like the Unites States and Brazil.
In my hometown, we have a big population of Latinos, but we have a smaller population of Afro-Latinos, so when one comes along, the Latino community treats them differently. Back when I was in middle school, a new girl came to my school and she was of Jamaican and Colombian decent, her mother was Jamaican and her father was Afro-Colombian. Although she embraced both of her nationalities, she openly represented being Jamaican more than being Colombian because people accepted her blackness as a Jamiacan more than a Colombian. I remember one day in spanish class she told the class she was Colombian and everybody didn't beleive her. Everyone just discredited her nationality because of the color of her skin, and the crazy thing about it was that it wasn't just the Latinos shunning her nationality, it was the black, white, and Asian students who also discredited where her family comes from. When she tried to make friends with the latinos in my school, all of the shunned her and claimed that she was lying and she was just trying to be like them. This story goes back to Hernandez's story because she was seen as "foreign" to the Latinos and even though she is Colombian, she is still seen as less than or "trying to be mestiza" because the color of her skin.
Nia, I enjoyed watching the video you posted in this weeks blog. It discussed some strong points about what we discussed last week dealing with the different perception of biracial individuals. Reflecting back on Hernandez's piece and how Sra had to deal with the community discrediting her ethnicity it made me think of how things are in todays society at The University as well. Since I have been a student at The University I have noticed other students discrediting other students because of their biracial ethnicity. To me this breaks down that person self-esteem and self-confidence. I also believe it makes anyone who is biracial a shame of who they are and could possible never be happy with themselves over something they cannot control. Just like Sra situation in the Latino community, here everyone wants to have that white privilege and acceptance from whites. I see this with all races not just biracial individuals. After watching this video and reading last weeks articles it saddens me that in the United States we want to believe that we live in an equal world were color doesn't matter but in reality it does. The reason I believe it matters is because everyone is trained to believe that it does due to previous generations influences. The previous generations train of thought made people feel that judgment is ok and that you are less of a person if you do not portray whiteness.
ReplyDeleteI loved these two topics we discussed in the class the To black to be latino and also Mothering in a mixed family. My favorite part about this video is when he asked all those what they would describe their skin color as and they all replied black however they were all different shades of black. The moment he made them all hold their hands up to one another comparing and contrast was powerful because that just goes to show that the definition of a skin color can look very different. I agree with Brittany that it is extremely saddening to live in a predominantly white country where everyone wants to believe that everyone is equal and skin color does not matter but it does. It is even saddening that people of the same ethnicity discredit others race. For example there a variety of different hispanics however everyone has a certain image of what a hispanic person looks like, even hispanics themselves. So when an afro-latino is seen they are not seen as hispanic they are seen as black. I can sort of relate to this except in opposite terms because i always get that I am too white in my skin color to be hispanic and the set image people have of a certain race is angering.
ReplyDeleteCool video Nia! Examining the supposed “racial paradise” of Brazil gives a really cool perspective on transnational racial categories. The idea that Brazil is free of racial prejudice seems like a very impressive claim to make when race seems so entrenched as a factor for personally identifying. The idea of Brazil being racially blended seems similar to common sentiments towards the United States being a “melting pot” of various races, cultures, etc. when we know very well that race plays a major role in individuals’ lives within the US. Something I found particularly interesting in the film was the discussion of Brazil’s post-slavery history. The film says that many intellectuals of the time believed for Brazil to become a harmonious nation that it had to undergo a process of whitening (27:30). The connection at the time between whitening and becoming “civilized” seems to really illustrate the ideas of “blanqueamiento,” that social whitening brought with it a spiritual purification, morality, better education etc. This helps maintain the idea that regardless of the racial mixing in Brazil, whiteness is still more highly valued especially over blackness. This idea also reminded me of the article “Too Black to be Latino” when the Puerto Rican Barbie doll received criticism, Latino/as still wanted it to be observably different from an African American Barbie (154). In regards to the video, Brazil’s exposure to the West means these ideas of racial superiority carry over, especially through the media and permeate their racially blended society. These connections create an exposure prejudice and oppression that would be impossible to completely eradicate from their society unfortunately.
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