Black Hispanics struggle for their racial identity

February 13, 2005
By Bruno Diaz

The pause and the silence at the other end of the line were eloquent: "Black Hispanics?"

Yes, black Hispanics.

"Well, the NAACP works for the benefit of all minorities, regardless of race" dutifully stated Yolanda Smith, executive director for the Houston branch of the decades-old civil rights association.

Her befuddlement is one many Americans share, whenever confronted with a reality that defies Hollywood-style stereotypes: Hispanics come in all colors and shapes. There are Asian Hispanics, white Hispanics, black Hispanics and even Latino Hispanics, as roughly 20 million people defined themselves, puzzled by the "race question" in the 2000 U.S. census.

But for the roughly 1 million black Hispanics who live in America, the question of their racial identity is one that pops up continuously along their lives, and not only once every 10 years during censuses.

"When people realized that my accent didn't match my face, they asked me where I was from. And when I told them that I was from the Dominican Republic, and that I spoke Spanish -- therefore my accent -- I always got this 'wow!-that-is-weird!' kind of look" recalled Eddy Bello, an electrical engineer who is now the manager of his wife's pediatric clinic in Odessa.

Back in the Dominican Republic, Bello's African heritage was a cultural undertone rather than a racial profile. It surfaced here and there, in the beat of merengue -- a very popular Caribbean genre -- in the spices of the country's most typical foods, in its literature, and, yes, in the white-on-black smiles of friends and relatives.

Having been born in New York to a Puerto Rican family, Ronald Flecha is, at the same time, Hispanic and black. Since the African heritage is especially strong in the Caribbean, Flecha thought that his genes and his ancestry would save him from being discriminated by other blacks. But he was wrong.

"When I was in the Army's basic training, back in 1968, I got caught in the middle of two discriminatory feelings. I was chastised by both ends of the spectrum: the African Americans were not agreeable with me, and the anglo Americans weren't either. There was a kind of two-way racism in there."

For both men, and for many black Hispanics in America, a mixed heritage often becomes a statement with an unexpected offshoot: blackness weighs more.

"Whether Hispanics choose to identify their race as white, Hispanic or black is not a matter of purely personal preference -- it reflects the social position of group members" John Logan concluded in a 2003 study by the Lewis Mumford Center at Albany University. "This is most evident in the case of the smallest group, black Hispanics, whose individual characteristics such as income and unemployment make them in many ways more similar to non-Hispanic blacks than to other Hispanic groups," concluded the study.

As blacks, black Hispanics tend to suffer higher poverty rates than other Hispanic subgroups. Put in perspective, their struggle resembles closely that of blacks.

It also illustrates how difficult it is to escape from racial predeterminations, even for those individuals for whom the race factor was never part of their identity.

But both Bello and Flecha shrug off the racial classifications and all its implications with one big smile. "Hispanics are not a race but members of a group with a common cultural background. To put all of us in the same bag is just ridiculous."

Rita Cuevas, a nun at Lady Guadalupe Catholic Church in Midland, and another Hispanic stereotype shredder, agrees with them.

As most Philippines, Sister Rita looks Asian but has a heavy Hispanic heritage, an inescapable byproduct of 350 years of Spaniards' colonialism.

"Spaniards left us many things that are now part of our identity: we are Catholics, we cook our seafood Mediterranean-style, our language is full of Spanish words and we are very 'family people,'" she said. But Philippines also owe vast areas of their identity pool to the Chinese influence, which puts them in the same place as black Hispanics: somewhere in the middle of two heritages.

Or perhaps beyond them.

Source: Midland Reporter Telegram

Comments

[Lidia Bonilla]

I really appreciate this article. Countless times I have been at looked strangly or asked question after question after I reveal my heritage. I like that the complexity of race and culture is addressed. Thank you!

[Nina]

Thank you for the article. As a member of a hybrid AfroRican family, its nice to see articles that address the struggles black latinos have and the politics of identity in the US.

[Abdul-Halim]

Gracias,
It is always good to see cultural complexity brought up. Too many people, have too simple an idea of how race works.

Actually, I try to deal with some of these issue in my own blog, Planet Grenada. And I'll definitely include a link to this article over there.

An Afro-Cuban-American

[Abdul-Halim]

.. but actually, now that I think about it more, I kind of wish the article had done a better job. Growing up I felt "biracial" at times (even though both my parents are Afro-Cuban and grew up in the same neighborhood) as if being Black and and Latino were these two contradictory seperate worlds. But they aren't really.

African populations have a huge presence in Latin America to the point where even Mexico has "black" regions like Verracruz and there are popular phrases like "el que no tiene de Congo, tiene de Carabali" or "el que no tiene de Dinga tiene de Mandinga". In the early colonial period, the countries which imported the most number of slaves were Mexico and Peru. At one point, even Buenos Aires had a huge Black population.

In retrospect, the article could have (and I think should have) gone alot further in pointing out the black presence in Latin America. Instead, the article made it seem like black hispanics are like centaurs or unicorns or something.

http://planetgrenada.blogspot.com/2005/04/slave-ships-south.html

[Maria Sanchez]

Thanks for sharing this article as a mother of 3 children they always ask about their heritage, why their hair is so curley or their skin such a lovely brown. They are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Hawaiian Portugese and Spanish so you see the cultural complexity though hard to explain at times is beautiful in and of itself.

I came across this other link that I thought might interest some of your readers
http://www.afromexico.org/index.html

[Juan Consuelos]

Thank you so much. As the Americans say, you hit the nail right on the head. Soy guatemalteco y sufro mucho en los estados unidos. Being slightly darker than whites but lighter than most African-Americans has placed me in a peculiar dilemma. I identify with people of color; however, not all people of color identify with me. I simply state that I am Hispanic and this seems to satisfy and divide. I know that I have Indian, Spanish and African ancestry, too. Somehow, other people of African ancestry do not regard me as one of their own. This is a bizarre world in which we live...

[Jaime]

I feel for those that are Afro-latino and don't fit in the rigid molds of the American paradigm. Many of us that are mixed have other ways of identifying ourselves.
One place to share your stories is at this website.
http://afrolatino.org/forum/index.php

[Denise]

A very interesting article about a subject that is not discussed very often. I can always count on this page to get educational information.

[Maurice Chavis]

Thanx alot.

Beacuse, for years, I have been struggling with the racial idenity crisis that I have been dealing with. When, I am with my afro-american freinds, and I talk spanish at a resturaunt, or, if I decide to talk to some one that does not knows english, it seems as though I am getting scorned at because I am dark, and I dont have a spanish accent when I speak english. At jobs, schools that I have attended and sometimes even, churches I get this look like How where and who!? Thank you for the clarity

[Rick]

Yes i can relate to you guys. I am half african american and colombian. It just makes me angry when i see the classroom roster sheet and on ethinicity it classifys me as african american. yes i am african american but its like they dont see the other side of my race.

[Joy]

My mother is african american and my father is half white and half spanish I just want to know if I am considered hispanic

[David el mejor cantar en el mundo]

I am so with you guys because my mother is from santiago cuba but speaks perfect english with an accent and my father is black and haitian creole and when I am with my freinds or even at work people look at me like I am some alien because they see a dark skinned boy with an hispanic accent. If only they could see my family (LOL!)

[sexy hispanic]

somethin yall need to learn is their is this thing in the world called one drop rule,it means one drop of african aka black blood ur BLACK!so if your mixed with black and white your black!Black is the dominiate GENE,therefore your considered black.Hallery balelry is mixed black and white but she is considered black,and she consideres herself black,black is the dominiate GENE!!So you can be mixed with any race but you will be BLACK!now as for me im 100% hispanic im from dominican republic,and most peopel think im a light skin black person until i tell them im hispanic they beleive it cuz where i live every hispanic looks like a lightskin blackpeople.Us hispanics are multiracial race mixed with african,european,and indian. ;) in dominican republic us hispanics are mixed of african/european aka black/white!and in mexico and many places hispanics are just pure indian with little european.So now you know the history mthafuckers!,lol just kiddin
im proud to be a latino!

[beautiful]

I am not hispanic, but african-american, however I am Tri-racial(Pygmie African, Native American-Cherokee, Blackfoot, Creek and Crow, European-Irish and French). I come Four generations of tri-racial mixture both grandmother and grandfather side and my father is biracial white and black. My Grandmother family grew up on a Cherokee reservation and she later married a Irish man. My grandfather, family owned an french island in the Carribean that sanked. When people(Asians, Hispaincs, some other african-american, white native american)see me they ask me if I'm hispanic, bi-racial, carribean or a native american mixtured. I say all of this, because as a rule all african-americans are triracial(african, european and native amreican) or biracial(african and native american, african and european)the only difference is that we don't speak spanish, but we share the same inheritage(african, native american and european). Also, there are places in USA where there are communities of blacks where look white blonde hair and blue eyes (octoon and quadtoons) and they consider themselves black. My grandmother and many of family members look white, but consider themselves black. Other examples of blacks who look white are carley simon, US rep. Butterfield. We are one beautiful people(Black Hispanics and African American). One Love

[Alana]

I really like this article. I have always been curious about "black" Hispanics. I am African-American, and when I see my Hispanic brothers and sisters I just want to ask them if they celebrate their African heritage also, and do they classify themselves as African-Hispanics? I tease my Dominican friend all the time and tell her that she is a black person that speaks Spanish, but honestly it is interesting hearing her background and her Dominican heritage that is so diverse. I am proud of my African heritage and wish I knew more about it, I am proud to be a black American also. I guess I envy anyone that has roots, so to all of you African-Hispanics, Asian-Hispanics, etc., don't let the "check" race here define you.