Determining One's Ethnicity

 

 A statue of Pedro (Primero Negro) Camejo, a high-ranking officer in Simón Bolívar's army in Venezuela's liberation from Spain.
 
Today, I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. The customer in front of me, an olive-skinned woman, ordered in Spanish and the cashier responded likewise. When my turn came, I ordered in Spanish and the cashier responded in broken Spanish and English. After responding this way for the third time, I pointed to my Caracas, Venezuela baseball jersey I was wearing and told her in Spanish that in Caracas people speak Spanish as well. Suddenly, thinking that I'm from Venezuela, her Spanish became fluent.


No, I am not from Venezuela, and I never told her that I am from Venezuela. I bought that baseball jersey when I was visiting Caracas, and simply stated that Venezuelan people speak Spanish as well, not just Mexicans—that was the point that I was trying to make. I wanted to teach little miss smarty pants a lesson that you cannot “LOOK” at people and determine their ethnicity.  

Yes, I'm African American, but as far as she, a total stranger is concerned, I could have been an Afro-Spaniard, Afro-Nicaraguan, or even an Afro-Mexican. An Afro-Colombian recently wrote on my blog stating how frustrating it is that in Miami, of all places with a large Afro-Latino population, people still assume that because he is black that he cannot speak Spanish.

The same thing applies to my fellow African Americans. One evening in Richmond, Calfornia, I gave an African-American woman, whom I met for the first time, a ride in my car. She noticed my New York accent and asked me if I am African. Confused, I answered no. She then asked me if I am a “regular black”. Now, what is a “regular” black, considering there are black people all over the world?

  A few African Americans who hear me speak Spanish would look directly at me and ask me if I am black. Of course, I am, what else could I be? Still, others ask me to confirm that I'm African American and not a member of another black ethnic group. Now, that I take as a compliment because it speaks to my global mindset.

I'm So Glad I Didn't Stereotype Her

I just came out of a job interview, which consisted of a panel of four. One of the interview panelist fits the stereotypical profile of a Latina and has a Spanish first and last name. I already knew that the ability to speak Spanish was a plus, so before I left the interview, I wanted to, as rapper Kid Frost would say, “bust some Spanish” to show off my Spanish-speaking skills, and that Latina woman appeared to be the perfect person with whom to exchange a few words to help me impress the panel. Yes, that's stereotyping, I know, because I've personally met too many Americans of Latin American heritage who speak little or no Spanish.

Finally, a question came up during the interview, which I thought would be a perfect sedge-way for “busting” my Spanish. Without looking directly at this Latina panelist, I asked, does anyone here speak Spanish? I once posted a blog post, What Do Spanish-speakers look like, about how you cannot look at people and determine what language they speak. No one raised their hands; not even the Latina panelist. So, I was so glad that I did single her out because that would have been embarrassing to me and frustrating to her because no one likes being stereotyped.

I went on and answered the question and described how I've traveled to nine Spanish-speaking countries and was totally immersed in the Spanish language, and even talked about how I gave a Venezuelan and a Peruvian feedback on their curriculum vitaes. The smiles of delight were evident on everyone's face, and at the end of the interview, every one of the panelist came over to shake my hand personally as I exited the room.

I left with a good feeling, about the how the whole interview went. However, we never know who we are competing with for an open position., therefore regardless of their decision, I already have a job, and for that  am thankful!