Afro Latinos React to “Blacks in Latin America” PBS Series

I have fought many years as a youngster growing up in the U.S., and not being accepted by blacks because they say I was “different,” and not accepted by Latinos because I did not look like Ricky Martin.”

—Marcus Edwin, son of a black Cuban mother
and a black Panamanian father

In one sense, I can feel Marcus' pain, and I am African American. Having grown up in New York City where the black community is much more diverse in terms of lifestyles, attitudes, and cultural interests than a city like Oakland, California where I spent most of my adult life; a city where the black community overwhelmingly considered me to be “different” and reacted to me accordingly.

 As a defense mechanism, I punctuated my “difference” by keeping my New York accent as well as my direct, straight-forward style of communication. I even came out of my proverbial closet as a lover of the Afro-Latino culture embracing the music, re-learning the language, and taking vacations to Spanish-speaking countries. As a result, some of the Oakland black folks were shallow enough to ask me if I am “black.”

When the PBS series, Black in Latin America hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates aired; it not only triggered a sharp increase in my blog readership but awakened more African Americans outside of New York to the existence of a Spanish-speaking black community. 

In response to the aired series, Tomáas Fernández Robaina of the National Library of Cuba, wrote in his essay of black struggles erupting in Latin-American countries, and how they should be recognized by all members of the African diaspora living in the Americas so our collective demands will gain more social and political strength, and become more internationally visible.

Marcus himself expressed delight that black Latinos are finally being noticed. His mother being black and Cuban, and his father, black and Panamanian, raised him and his siblings to be proud of their blackness, but as a kid growing up in the U.S., he was not accepted by blacks because he was perceived as “different,” and not accepted by Latinos because he lacked the stereotypical look of a Ricky Martin.

Elicia, an African American was enlighted by the series had no idea that African slaves were brought to Latin America. As a matter of fact, slave ships made their way through the Spanish-speaking countries over 100 years before coming to the U.S.

Murphy Brown of Guyana, South America, says that it is way past time that the presence of Africans in Latin America acknowledged. She herself freaked out when she met a black Portuguese-speaking Brazilian for the first time. It finally dawned on her that black folks in the Americas speak a diversity of languages.

Miticia, whose family is from Costa Rica, Central America, is shocked that so many people are unaware of the fact that one could be both black and Latino. People would ask her how long it took her to learn Spanish, And when she tells them of her family roots, they respond with a look of surprise and a frown. She firmly reminds them that black people are everywhere.

Mark, a black man of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage, lives in San Antonio, Texas with a large Mexican population. He finds that people are shocked when they hear him speak Spanish; however, he is still given the second-class treatment in a city that caters to white and brown people.

From my personal travel experience in Latin America, I noticed the same thing that Mark experienced in San Antonio where white and brown people are treated much better than black and indigenous people. 

There were instances when non-blacks didn't realize that I was a foreign visitor, and treated me with less respect than they would have if I were a white person. Of course, when they realized that I am American, presumably with a pocket full of money, their attitudes instantly change for the better. In Latin America, money whitens black skin.

Afro Latinos React to “Blacks in Latin America” PBS Series

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It's Nice Meeting “Proud” Spanish Speakers

Here in the US, I reached a point a long time ago where I generally feel uncomfortable speaking Spanish to native speakers who are also fluent in English. So many seem to have a complex about speaking Spanish to someone who is not stereotypically profiled as “Latin-American.” 

Today at my local grocery store, I experienced a surprising, positive reaction from a Spanish-speaking cashier. I noticed her conversing in Spanish with another store employee bagging the groceries. As I stepped up to check out and not wanting to interrupt her Spanish flow, I immediately greeted her with buenas, an abbreviated expression for good morning, good afternoon, or good evening.

I was pleasantly surprised by the way she responded to me as though I too were a native Spanish speaker. We then exchanged parting words, ¡que te vaya bien (have a good one)!, ¡igual (you too)!, common in the Latin-American community. I felt proud of her, and of course, pleased at the opportunity to use my own Spanish. 

Any time that I'm in a Latin-American restaurant, I tip better when staff members interact with me in Spanish. At work, there are colleagues from various Latin American countries who generally communicate with me in Spanish and are always open to giving me advice and answering my questions concerning proper grammar. Unlike so many bilingual people I meet, these gentlemen greatly appreciate my efforts to improve my Spanish.

In my quest to develop Spanish fluency, I get my best opportunities vacationing in Latin-American countries. Here in the US, I reached a point a long time ago where I generally feel uncomfortable speaking Spanish to native speakers who are also fluent in English. So many seem to have a complex about speaking Spanish to someone who is not stereotypically profiled as “Latin-American.” They forget that real Latinos come in all colors and are members of varying ethnic groups, not just Spanish, Mestizo, and Indigenous.

I had a good laugh one evening in San Francisco when a friend from India and I were walking to a local restaurant to get a snack. A mono-lingual Spanish-speaker got right in her face (not mine) asking if she speaks Spanish because he needed directions. You should have seen the look on his face when it turned out to be I who gave him the directions he needed. My Indian friend does not speak Spanish.

In New York City, a few days after my arrival from Caracas, Venezuela. I was walking from my cousin's house to the subway station, and passed by a housing project where a Latino gentleman was vehemently explaining something in Spanish to a couple of friends. He suddenly stopped and looked at me with fear in his eyes, seemly hoping that I was not a robber. After all, this was in the notorious South Bronx—at night. 

Again, not wanting to interrupt a Spanish-speaking flow, I said con permiso (excuse me) as I walked by. In eloquent English, he responded with “certainly!” Now, in a city with a relatively large Afro-Latino population, you would think that he is accustomed to seeing blacks who can speak Spanish. Why did he respond in me English?

I once read a blog post by a Mexican-American woman in Arizona who was deeply disturbed about receiving information from a business that was written in Spanish. She states that she understands Spanish very well, but would have preferred English. What's the matter, does she think her Spanish makes her less of an American? If so, she is fooling herself. Spanish was spoken in what we know today as the United States before the United States was born. Appalled by her self-snobbery, I posted the following comment on her blog:

“Here I am knocking myself out daily trying to develop fluency in Spanish, and am always amazed at people who are blessed with the knowledge of both Spanish and English who appear to be so ashamed of it as though it is some sort of a curse.”

The woman never responded. I hoped that she would have because I'm always open to seeing opposing views. Who knows, I may learn something.

There is, however, one city in the US where the Spanish speakers are in-your-face proud—Miami. The Cuban people who populate  the area love their language and culture. I entered a Cuban restaurant and the manager greeted me in English with a thick Cuban accent. When I ordered in Spanish, he and his staff happily made me feel very welcome. Even the customers who overheard me were pleased. 

I've always considered Miami to be an honorary Latin American city where no one feels a need to get cute and answer you in English. Miami Cubans don't care who you are; they are always ready to roll in their native tongue.

Some Unspoken Truths about Afro-Latinos

Statue of Venezuela's Pedro Camejo, one SimónBolívar's 

Lieutenants in the war of independence from Spain

My younger brother, a true world traveler, and I got into a disagreement about discussing race with Afro-Latinos. I myself am very reserved around Afro-Latinos on this subject because too many of them are unaware that they are indeed black. However, my brother is bold and dives head on into the subject. He told me of a conversation he had in Mexico with a black woman who denies having any African roots. She seriously claimed that her lineage goes back as far as Spain. Then there are those of mixed African heritage who insist on referring to themselves as Indio (Taino Indian), which to me, has more to do with internalized racism . They completely overlook the fact that the Tainos were exterminated by the Spaniards either by disease, violence, and overwork. This is why African people were imported; to replace of the dying Tainos in the physically demanding business of slavery. 

As for those blacks and browns who take such pride in their Spanish ancestry, they might want to keep in mind that it was the result of brutal rape of African women by Spanish slave masters, and not romantic love. African-American comedian George Mooney, in one of his monologues, alluded to the fact that just because he speaks English that does not make him look like Queen Elizabeth of England. The same principle applies to Latinos. Just because one speaks Spanish does not make her look like Queen Isabela of Spain.

Many Latinos, including Afro-Latinos, who come to this country and turn their noses up at African-Americans are simply clueless to the history of the civil rights movement, and how black (and white) Americans sacrificed their lives and were jailed so all people, regardless of color or national origin would have better lives in a country that preaches liberty and justice for all. I wonder how many of these Afro-Latino baseball players realize that were it not for an African American by the name of Jackie Robinson who broke the color line and endured humiliation by teammates and fans that they would not be enjoying the opportunity to play major league baseball today. Where would the likes of Dominicans like Sammy Sosa, who bleached his skin beyond recognition, and who allegedly claims “Taino” heritage, be today were it not for Jackie Robinson and star members of the segregated Negro baseball league.

Fortunately,  throughout my travels and online interactions with Afro-Latinos throughout Latin-America, I’m meeting more and more blacks from places like Bolivia, Ecuador, Perú, Uruguay, and heck, even Argentina who recognize and celebrate their black heritage. I recently met a friend who was surprised that I was surprised that a black pride movement has begun to spring up in the Dominican Republic.

Not Latino Enough and Not Black Enough

The Need for Bi-Cultural Awareness

 

I have so often entertained the idea of bringing my Afro-Peruvian goddaughter to live with me in the US, and wondered how well she would fit with US blacks and US Latinos considering that so many in both communities are unaware of the existence of millions of Afro-Latinos.

While doing business with a vendor who was simultaneously chatting in Spanish on his cell phone, I noticed how he insisted on speaking to me in English even though he acknowledged that I can speak Spanish. I said to him, “hey, I didn’t want to interrupt your flow; you were speaking Spanish!” His reaction to me, however, was understandable because I am indeed not Latino. 

What is not so understandable is when Latinos react the same way with fellow Latinos who do not fit the stereotypical profile of a Latino. It never ceases to amaze me how people who come to the US from Spanish-speaking countries could be so oblivious to the racial diversity in their own communities. As I stated in another blog article, I’ve personally met native Spanish speakers of African, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, and Middle Eastern ancestries during my own travels. So, where have these folks in the US been all of their lives being so quick to judge fellow Latinos based on looks?

Juan, an Afro-Venezuelan, told me that many brown and olive-skinned Latinos do not want to relate to him in Spanish and make it a point to respond to him in English. Vladimir, an Afro-Cuban healthcare worker in a Spanish-speaking community of Oakland approached a patient offering assistance in his native tongue, Spanish, and the patient's response was, “I need to talk to someone who speaks Spanish, Duh! Latin-American media also reinforces their lack of racial diversity.
 
Unfortunately, we have the same lack of awareness in the African-American community. In my own experience, more than one black American have looked directly at me and asked if I’m black due to my ability to communicate in Spanish and my having a large collection of salsa music. Joaquín, an Afro-Colombian, was told by members of the African-American community that he is not black enough. I wrote a blog article about the baseball player who referred to black Latino ball players as imposters, and of a black, adolescent Panamanian girl being referred to by her African-American classmates as a “confused n…(expletive)” simply because Spanish is her first language.

I asked Afro-Latino friends, like Antonia of Costa Rica who grew up immersing herself in the African-American community, why aren’t they speaking out and educating people, and the general response I get is that they’ve been doing it all of their lives and are a bit worn out trying. Mariela of Panamá.is slow to reveal her Latin-American ancestry around non-black Latinos to see if they would talk trash about her, and if they do, she would assertively let them have it in Spanish.

I grew up one block away from a major black research and cultural center  in Harlem, NY, which was named after a Puerto Rican of African ancestry who specialized in Black history. As a blogger and public speaker (Toastmasters), I’m very outspoken about Latin-American diversity, particularly the African heritage. I find myself inadvertently educating both Latin-American and African-American people on bi-cultural awareness.

Latino Use of the "N" Word

Recently, I was listening to a taped talk show on WBAI Radio in New York discussing an African-American woman’s $30K lawsuit against her company because of a Puerto Rican co-worker’s use of the “N” word. The interesting thing about this Puerto Rican co-worker, the object of the suit, is that he is as “black” as any African-American, and his Afro-Puerto Rican ancestors were victims of slavery and follow-up racism long before African-Americans.

Obviously, this woman is not from my neck of the woods where during my youth in New York City, Puerto Ricans of all colors, have been integral parts of African-American communities throughout the city. And this included the common use of that “N” word; not in racial context, per se, but what I would call a corrupt and misguided term of endearment. I even heard an African-American teen clowning a non-black Puerto Rican friend with the “N” word.

About a year before I went to college, three schoolmates and I were hanging out. Two were African-American; one was a brown-skinned Puerto Rican, and the other was white. The Puerto Rican, Robert Hernandez, got a little upset with me about something and shouted the “N” word (directed at me). The white classmate looked at me chuckling, wondering what I was going to do about it. I merely shrugged it off simply because I viewed Robert as an ethnic cousin in the hood whose closest friends included African-Americans.

Had Robert been of another Latin-American nationality, I most likely would have viewed it differently. Case in point: I was riding with a group of coworkers to a company event, and as we passed through a black neighborhood, a Chilean immigrant in the car started making derogatory remarks about the ghetto. I reported him to company management who in turn called him on the carpet for an explanation. He gave an insincere apology along with some weak excuses for his insensitive statements. He must have assumed that because I speak some Spanish and take trips to Latin America that I am  not “black” enough to be offended. Since his true colors came to light, he and I never spoke again unless it was work related, and even that was seldom.

I am by no means defending the use of that “N” word among African-Americans, let alone Latinos, and I really wish we would all drop it from our vocabulary all together. One afternoon while coming home from work on a commuter train, this thuggish looking black guy kept shouting “N” throughout his cell phone conversation. I then noticed two white women looking at each other in shock and disgust. I could just about read their minds as they were saying to themselves, it's bad enough when white people use such a derogatory term. I wouldn’t use it! Why is he using it and degrading himself this fashion, especially in public?

In the film, The Butler, a classy black servant working in an upscale hotel slapped a young black protégé for using that word stating it is racist, filled with hate, and that we blacks, of all people, should not be using it. It is of my utmost conviction that every black man, woman, and child who uses that word needs a good, old-fashioned slap in the face; including Afro-Latinos.

African-American in a Spanish-Speaking Texas Town

McAllen, Texas

Guest Blog Post

This post is from a fellow blogger, Jelisa Jay Robinson, at Black Girl Latino World. Her blog has a focus of bridging the gap between the African-American and Latino communities.

The looks you get when you speak Spanish in Texas are hilarious! I'm a noticeably Negra, there is no doubt about that. So it always trips people up when I speak Spanish with a better accent then they expected me too. "You speak Spanish so well? Where did you learn?" "Are you like Afro-Latino?" No, I just love the language, the culture and connecting it with my own.

When I found this blog, I was looking for other African Americans who felt passionate about Afrolatino culture. It was like "Okay, people who look like me exist." As I started getting more and more involved in Austin I found people that shared the same interest. Black people! Like my my friend Olivia who learned both Spanish and Portuguese. It started with Omar in the fifth grade. I was smitten so I learned all the ways to say "You are fine." Of course, I never told him these things! Learning the language has opened my life to new experiences, new people and communities. When I visited McAllen, Texas, a primarily, Hispanic city, I was able to have conversations with people I met. Using the language, I think, makes the stories and jokes easier to understand.

There is a down side. Sometimes people question your "authenticity as an African American. "So you think you Mexican?" Or maybe sometimes Spanish Speakers will make it a point NOT to speak to you in the language. To that you just keep it moving. You know who you are, your passions and what makes your heart sing! For me that's spanish, Afrolatino culture and great nights out dancing until my feet hurt. And dance is a universal language.

Not All Latinos Speak Spanish

I felt a little odd and out of place when Carl, my Latino co-worker, nudged me to assist monolingual Spanish-speakers when I thought that he being Puerto Rican would naturally assume that responsibility. However, it was a nudge that I gladly accepted because I love practicing my Spanish. Carl happens to be from New York's Lower East Side, an area of Manhattan with a large Puerto Rican population, and I erroneously assumed that he speaks Spanish. I learned otherwise when I offered him an apology for a work-related misunderstanding, and to reinforce my apology, I told him in Spanish that it would never happen again. He simply gave me a blank look indicating that he didn't know what I was saying. His reaction was a surprise, but at the same time, not a surprise.

Throughout my life, I've met Americans of Latin-American ancestry who speak little or no Spanish. In fact, I know Latinos today who have just enough of a command of the Spanish language to communicate with their monolingual grandparents but are more comfortable with English. I have met other Latinos who feel that they are being racially profiled when total strangers speak to them in Spanish when their English is just fine. I myself was guilty of that until I got a clue. Then there are other Latinos whose parents want their children to be English only. I wrote a blog post entitled Latina Learns English While in Her 40s, which is about a woman whose parents felt that her speaking Spanish would make her less of an American (wow!), and how she so badly wanted to reconnect with her Mexican heritage that she took it upon herself to learn Spanish. Good for her! I never understood how speaking a second, third, or fourth language makes you less of an American. SMH.

A friend, Elena, told me that when she first moved to Los Angeles from Nicaragua that she too would speak Spanish to Latinos, and they would respond with, Oh, I'm an American - I don't speak Spanish! Elena too had to learn the hard way that not all US Latinos speak Spanish.
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My Work with Illegal Aliens

Undocumented immigrants (or illegal aliens) in the US are very diverse, and do not solely consist of Latin American people as so many of us are led to believe. There are people from Canada, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands who are in this country without papers, thus the original meaning of WOP, which was directed at Italian immigrants who at one time were stereotyped as being without papers. 

Many of such immigrants go unnoticed by authorities because they are not Latino. Jaime, a Peruvian friend, also goes unnoticed by immigration because he is “Afro” Peruvian and does not fit the stereotypical profile of a Latino. I never knew that a girlfriend who comes from a West African country was also undocumented until she started pressuring me to marry her for a green card. She even offered me a measly $6K to take her up on this charade.

In San Francisco, one of the many sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants, where social service agencies not only made a commitment to protect these immigrants from the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), but to also provide them with various services, such as housing, food, and employment assistance. One such company hired me to assist all of their marginalized clients, most of whom are on some type of public assistance, with jobs and careers. However, the undocumented immigrant clients presented big challenge.

These immigrants were five times more motivated to find employment than the American-born clients. The illegals seldom displayed any of the flakiness I so often experienced from the others who were often no-shows for appointments. On one occasion, I organized a job search workshop, and bought coffee, pizza, and other refreshments, and no one showed. I ended up feeding to the rest of the staff. When the time came to give workshops in Spanish, however, I had a full house of participants, and this full house primarily consisted of undocumented immigrants. 

Many of them found jobs paying under-the-table, and others became successful in building their own businesses. Silvia, from Brazil who speaks limited English, but fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, developed a successful housekeeping service where I helped with the marketing. Her last words as she hugged and saw me for the last time were, gracias por todo (thank you for everything)!

Judge Mathis Exhorts Latino Pride

I never understood it, and hopefully, someone reading this can enlightened me. Every American, with the exception of the Native American, has original roots in other parts of the world. And as I mature, I have developed a lot of respect for many cultures, especially the folk music, be it European, Latin-American, African or Asian. What I do not understand is why so many Americans want to downplay their roots.

I was watching the Judge Mathis show the other day, and a Latino defendant, obviously born and raised in the United States, took it upon himself to explain his inability to speak Spanish, and even attempted to verbally camouflage his Latino heritage. Judge Mathis asked him if he is Latino, and the defendant gave a fuzzy answer. Judge Mathis began to comment on how so many Latinos he's met (not all, of course, certainly not all) try to keep their Latino heritage on the down low. Mathis felt that if his family speaks Spanish he should want to learn to speak Spanish himself, and if his heritage is Latino, stop trying to cover it up. STAND UP and BE PROUD, he proclaimed! I shouted, THANK YOU, JUDGE MATHIS, because I often noticed the same thing among quite a few Latinos as pointed in my blog post, Is it Shameful to be Latino?.

I once had a supervisor from Chile who was so proud that he did not allow people to mispronounce his last name. He insisted on the Spanish pronunciation of, Cabello (Cah-bay-yo), and not the Anglicized pronunciation that we Americans tend to practice. One of my favorite TV newscasters was Rigo Chacón who also proudly emphasized the Spanish pronunciation of his name on the air. As a proud African-American, knowledgeable of my history and the positive contributions that Africans and African-Americans contributed, I have similar admiration for Latino cultures, especially after having grown up close to New York's Spanish Harlem and having traveled to nine Spanish-speaking countries. My being a music lover has brought me even closer to Latin-American cultures and garnering more of my respect.

A co-worker of mine at my weekend job is a US Army veteran from New York's lower East side, an area heavily populated by Puerto Ricans. However, he is adamant about keeping his heritage on the down low and even interrupted a Spanish-speaking conversation I was having with a worker from Nicaragua in an attempt to switch our conversation to English. He feels this is America and we should be speaking English. I don't think he realizes that Spanish was spoken right here in the United States of America long before the Declaration of Independence was even signed and is still with us today with a stronger presence as ever before..