Personal Essay: Yo Soy Boricua
| 01/18/2010 - 16:00 | 20 Comments
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A lot of people don’t realize that I’m Latina, which is fine. One thing about being Latina is that there isn’t one look that comes with the territory. I don’t expect people to know my cultural background just by glancing at me. I do, however, expect that when I tell people my family is from Puerto Rico, that I will be believed and not accused of trying to be something that I’m not. It usually goes something like this: a person having a conversation with me discovers one way or another that I’m Puerto Rican and fluent in Spanish. That person then expresses their shock over these realizations for any number of reasons—common responses are, "You don’t look Latina" and "I thought you were black!" I never said I wasn’t black. And since when does being black and being Latina have to be mutually exclusive?
In my experience, people tend to have an uninformed and rather narrow view of what it means to be Puerto Rican. For me, not looking like some people’s idea of a typical Latina has been challenging and often painful. I constantly find myself trying to justify who I am, and why should I? I’m proud of my heritage and my family. Both of my parents are from Puerto Rico. They raised two kids in Brooklyn and later in New Jersey, where we ate arroz con gandules and pasteles and listened to salsa music. I feel just as at home in Puerto Rico, where I still have tons of family, including aunts, uncles and cousins. Puerto Rico is in my blood. And that has nothing to do with the color of my skin.
I’m not angry with anyone who doesn’t understand the complexities of race and culture. And I’m also not interested in having long, drawn out conversations about how it’s possible for me to look like this and speak Spanish. In fact, sometimes I make it a point not to mention my parents’ birthplace because I don’t always feel like having the inevitable discussion that follows. Instead, I let people look at me and come to their own conclusions. As I start to get my feet wet in Hollywood, I already know that there are certain parts I won’t even be considered for. The character can be Puerto Rican and speak Spanish just like me, but Hollywood defines Latina as Jennifer Lopez and Sofia Vergara. As beautiful as they are, we’re not all one race in Latin America. But I don’t go to auditions so that I can give history lessons to film executives. I’d rather skip the entire process.
I’m raising my son to understand who he is, and it’s my hope that he’ll never let others define him. It reflects poorly on us when we don’t educate ourselves about the rest of the world and what it looks like. I encourage people who are interested to learn more, do research and ask informed questions. If you’re lucky enough to visit various countries in Latin America, you’ll be baffled to see the blackest of the black and the lightest of the light living together. And I dare you to ask one of them to prove their latinidad.
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lingeriblog
I am so glad that La La Vazquez wrote this short reflection. I am not Latina; I am an anglo African-American with a lot of African, European, and Native American heritage. For some reason, when I go to the Dominican areas of NYC, I am frequently asked (in Spanish, and I don't speak Spanish; I speak French!) whether I am Dominican because of my hair texture, probably passed down from my European and Native American ancestors. Although, I wasn't aware that Dominicans had a particular hair texture!
My point is that all too often in the USA, Latina = white, or at least looking like Jennifer Lopez with straight hair. And it isn't true. I'm sick of it, and I'm not Latina. I can only imagine how Afro-Latino/as feel.
It also makes me feel sick to see all of the discrimination among Latinos. It's bad enough with light skin/dark skin among African-Americans. But it makes me really feel bad to see, in 2010, very few Afro-Latinos on Spanish language TV (or in very demeaning roles), people talking about "pelo malo," the various explanations for what would be Black in the USA (thanks to the "one drop rule" created by the Colonists), and black Latinos being denied their Latino ethnicity simply because they are BLACK. The whole discussion is sickening and harkens back to the 1950s in American culture, if not earlier.
So LaLa, I'm glad you spoke up. It's about time. Maybe Zoe Saldana and other Black Latinos will stand up too.
La La Vazquez,
I enjoy reading your thoughts, especially about the shock you experience when people learn that you are Boricua. From my reading and travels, I Iearned that in the Western Hemisphere, there are more Spanish-speaking blacks than there are English-speaking blacks. I also learned that the ignorance you experienced exists on both sides. There are black Latinos who deny their color. In fact, it was an Afro-Peruvian who told me to my face that I myself am not black but moreno. All I could do was shrug. =================================================African American-Latino World - http://ahorasecreto.blogspot.com/
Gracias, La-La. AMOROSO.
OYE,
IF YOUR PROUD TO BE BLACK AND LATINA/O, AND YOUR NOT AFRAID TO SHOW THAT PRIDE, PLEAS READ THIS!!...I Thought i was the ONLY ONE having trouble with that!!!!!
Otra bez, MUCHiMASSS GRACIAS LATINA!!
-Mestiza
I really enjoy what you have written. My whole life I have found myself in a similar situation, only from the other side because, I'm really blanquita. I have very very pale skin, freckles, green eyes, and medium brown hair. My parents are Dominican and Cuban, and are both darker than I am. I have a sister who is also as a darker complexion. Not only am I treated with disbelief when people discover that I am Latina, people also find it hard to believe that my family is my own! Growing up, and to this day, people make a big fuss about how I look NOTHING like my own sister or father. Not only is this hurtful, but I find it strange that people react this way, especially fellow latinos, because I do have very "European" coloring, but my features are not at all Anglo. I have Afro-Latina hair texture, that with any amount of straightening could never be confused for European, and my facial features are clearly those of someone with a heavily mixed background, as my features resemble more Asian, African and Taíno, which would make sense. I am just light in coloring, and it upsets me that even upon telling people, in Spanish mind you, that I have a Dominican and Cuban background, they only can reply with, "Mentira!" People need to realize that LATINO is not a race. Latinos especially need to realize this so we can stop the discrimination amongst our own people. I am proud of who I am, and I don't want to have to prove myself to anyone to belong.
My mom is Afro-Puertorican, my dad is a Puertorican of Spanish and Chinese descent. I look Asian, my sisters look black. Half of us were born here in the states, the other half in PR. We all speak Spanish and are culturally tied to PR.. Why is that our features make us less Latino then the girl with the olive skin and long dark hair?
Speaking of questions:
Why do people automatically think you are Dominican when you are "dark"? I have been to DR, and I saw all colors of the rainbow-no different than PR. Beautiful people, beautiful culture btw. Why do we have our differences between those two countries?
And why is it bad to be considered "black"? I agree with Lala, it should not be one or the other, you can be Latino with a black, Asian, European, or Native American background.. why must it be exclusive?
If anyone can explain that to me.. by all means do! :)
Bravo LaLa: I am a bronx born dark-skinned Boricua. Growing up, I was told "YOU'RE spanish? But you dont' look spanish! If you're REALLY spanish then say something. Unfortuantely, I am 3rd generation Boricua and my spanish isn't so great.As a little girl I would cry because my own people wouldn't accept me, and it was devestating. As a tenneager I wouldn't wear T-shirt with spanish sating on it, i.e "100% Borinquen" with the coqui on it b/c that meant the questions would come again. Now as an adult,and thanks to my family I've learned to igonore the ignorance. Even when I get "interrogated" about my ethnicity by fellow Boricuas, I tell them what town in P.R my grandparents are from, they say "Oh, no wonder...that's the black part of Puerto Rico." I just smile and say, when you actucally go to PR, make sure you visit various towns and come back educated. My dad would tell me an old saying, "Y tu abuela, donde estas?" And your grandmother, where is she. Its an old school Boricua saying, b/c back in the days { Supposedly} the lighter skinned families would hide their darker skinned grandmother in the back of the house, when entertaining "whiter" hispanic guest.
What a strange coincidence, I actually did a small post about my life growing up with an American dad and a Latina mother. I was told by many that I did not look Latina (actually I look Spanish) or I could not be Latina because I was not fluent in Spanish or even born here! I would remind them that Selena's first language was English and that she and her parents were born in the U.S. So if you compared my life with hers: my mother was born in Honduras and I was surrounded by the culture drinking columbian coffee for breakfast as a kid with coconut bread; was I any less of a Latina as she was? If you would like to read my post (comments are welcomed!) www.deemakesjewelry.wordpress.com
IF YOUR PROUD TO BE BLACK AND LATINA/O, AND YOUR NOT AFRAID TO SHOW THAT PRIDE, THEN LISTEN TO THIS!!!
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