Friday, June 17, 2011

Blacks Stereotyping Blacks

Black Americans Who Are Oblivious
to Black Latinos (Afro-Latinos)

In other parts of this blog, I talked about the ignorance of many Latinos who feel that only brown or olive skinned people can speak Spanish and enjoy Latin music and are totally oblivious to the black Latinos/Afro-Latinos in their own communities. This post is addressing the ignorance of many African-Americans who feel that black people are only limited to English, Ebonics, and hip hop. It's bad enough when Latinos stereotype blacks; it's appalling when blacks stereotype blacks.

When I was working as a security officer in a downtown-Oakland office building, I had to laugh when I learned that my African-American co-workers were clowning me behind my back as they stamped their feet, snapped their fingers in the air making the sound of castanets, and referring to me as Merengue Man. It was hell-a-funny in one sense and hell-a-sad in another.

A question an African-American supervisor asked my co-workers, referring to me was, “does he know he's black?”

My co-workers often heard me speaking Spanish on the job and listening to salsa music while on break. A question an African-American supervisor asked my co-workers, referring to me was, does he know he's black? On another occasion, some African-American youth referred their classmate, a black, Spanish-speaking girl from Panamá, as a confused niggah. That says a lot about their knowledge of black history. More slave ships went to Spanish-speaking countries than those that came to the U.S. Furthermore, when the Spanish conquistadors, like Cortez and Pizzaro, first invaded what we today know of as Latin-America, there were black slaves marching in their ranks. Spain had African slaves more than 100 years before the before the U.S.

What is it about so many black Americans who think we are the only legitimate blacks on the planet?

I always get a thrill and a chuckle when an African-American (and members of other ethnic groups, as well) react in shock when they hear me speaking Spanish. What is it about so many black Americans who think we are the only legitimate blacks on the planet? I've often heard black Americans infer that blacks of other cultures were non-black. In fact, I've been asked myself if I were black. Black people come in many nationalities and cultures, and speak many different languages.

Some African-American youth referred to their classmate, a black, Spanish-speaking girl from Panamá, as a confused niggah.

Yes, I know that I'm black. I'm also proud and knowledgeable of black history; not just in the United States, but around the world. In addition to Latin music, I like R&B, jazz, classical, new age, and world beat. Spanish is my second language, but I also know a tiny bit of Russian, Amharic, Tigrinya, Arabic, and Mandarin, and my skin color will never, ever change because of it.

6 comments:

  1. I like all of your posts and they are full of facts not opinions. Keep posting

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  2. Why thank you, Mr. Teller, thank you!

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  3. Bill,

    It's a shame that many AA's knowingly and willingly embrace and celebrate this type of ignorance. I hope one day that black people from all over will appreciate and love one another instead of fighting. I also hope that we as AAs start filling and enriching our selves with more knowledge and history, and less garbage.

    Myself, I hate being boxed in and limited in regards to the languages I study, the music I listen to and the activities I enjoy by my own people.

    I was listening to a black talk radio show one recent morning and the announcer didn't even know who U2 was. The other announcer stated that this isn't a concert that "we" would not go to, whatever that means.

    Gil

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  4. Bill,

    I was thinking again about this last night. I actually feel bad for your co-workers. It's shame with their limited thinking that they will never truly experience all that life has to offer. Some people just choose to stay in their own confined worlds.

    Gil

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  5. Gil, you are so right. People get caught up in their own little comfort zones.

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  6. "What is it about so many black Americans who think we are the only legitimate blacks on the planet?"

    I would tweak this only to add that the only blacks that are seen as legitimate by many AAs are those who speak English from North America or those from Africa.

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