[Dwan W.]

Why is that a lot of 'black' Hispanic people deny their African ancestry? Why have they bought into the European myth that being black is bad? Usually, the first thing that comes out of their mouths is 'I'm not black. I'm Hispanic' or 'I'm Dominican or Puerto Rican.' Don't they realize that Hispanic is a culture and Puerto Rican is a nationality that does not desinate a specific race of peaople? Why don't you realize that you are apart of the Diaspora (if you know what that means) and that the only difference is that my ancestors picked cotton and tobacco and learned to speak English, and your ancestors picked sugar cane and indigo and learned to speak Spanish? They all came from Africa.

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Name : Dwan W., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Tallahassee, State : FL Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Alicia31388]

Several reasons:

1). People in most Spanish-speaking countries were never exposed to the black pride movements that spread through the United States, Europe, the West Indies and some parts of Africa. As a result, despite many people's claims that Latino societies are not color-conscious, blacks still deal with problems that black Americans were facing before the civil rights movement. An example is that Afro Latinos are generally absent from the media - and when they are included, they're cast as maids, buffoons and the like.

2). Many citizens in Hispanic society are outwardly racist, as opposed to in the United States and Europe, where people are now taught to be politically correct and more civil. For example, here in New York, I have Hispanics screaming 'negro,' 'morena,' 'chocolate' and other words at me to denote my race and color, which I find very offensive. Imagine if you lived somewhere and every time you walked out in the street or somewhere, people were constantly insulting you because of your skin color and race.

Because of these things, Afro Latinos have been raised to hate themselves and to turn away from being black, proud and accepting of themselves.

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Name : Alicia31388, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Afro-Caribbean, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, 

[Asad]

Maybe some people's sense of identity transcends race and color. Maybe some people have more of a bond with their culture than the color of their skin. Maybe some people don't want to define themselves with a lot of negative historical baggage. I think your real complaint is that all black people aren't like you think they should be, and that is sad.

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Name : Asad, Gender : M, Age : 30, City : Miami, State : FL Country : United States, 

[Mike20609]

I know many Hispanics who identify with their culture more than their race. I know Hispanics who look completely 'white,' with blond hair, blue eyes, etc., or completely 'black,' with dark skin and coarse hair, and neither would refer to themselves as white or black because they often see those as terms that denote a culture that is not theirs. Also, most are a mixture of black, white and native, so they really don't fit into the U.S. 'black' or 'white' category.

If you dislike 'black' Hispanics denying their African roots, do you also dislike African Americans wanting mixed-race celebs like Tiger Woods, Colin Powell, Alicia Keyes, Foxy Brown, Halle Berry or Vanessa Williams to completely ignore their white/European roots? In the black media and among African Americans in general, it is always presumed that anyone with any black blood should ignore all other parts of their ethnicity and embrace only the 'black' part. Does that bother you?

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Name : Mike20609, Gender : M, City : Newark, State : NJ Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[C. Clear]

Asad, I think you should pay more attention to the point L. Wilson is bringinh up than brushing it aside with maybe's. While it is true that they might have more of a cultural identification than a racial one it is also true in Latino culture that African derived culture is a huge part. For a Puerto Rican, or a Dominican or that matter a Cuban to identify themselves as black when so much of the physical appearance and culture falls into that category. I have heard some Latino's argue that since Latino culture is a mixture of Native, African and Spanish Culture that it escapes Racial category. Yet they also forget to mention that depending upon the person's country of origin one of those three tend to dominate the culture as opposed to being evenly mixed. (e.g. Mexican Culture which is very Native American derived as opposed to Caribbean Latino culture which is very African derived.) I understand L. Wilson's point fully and I don't think your maybe's are enough to brush it aside. Some serious thought must be given to his question.

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Name : C. Clear, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 26, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[Campbell McGregor]

I suspect that the answer is that it is not quite as simple as that. We could have quite a lengthy discussion about what we understand by the concept of 'race'. The implication in your question is that e.g. Mexicans who look slightly darker-skinned than most Mexicans ought to identify themselves as 'black' rather than 'hispanic' is that they have more in common with US blacks than most Mexicans, which they might not accept. You use terms like 'Diaspora' which whatever their merits are culturally constructs, not simple facts of biology.

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[Dan27351]

European Spanish norms imposed upon Non-European people. In Mexico it is highly unfashionable to be an Indian, even though a 3rd of the population is Indian and 55% are Spanish-Indian mix (Mestizo). The majority of people in Latin America, aside from places such as Argentina and Chile, are at least partially of Indigenous and African Ancestry. Spanish or Portugese are only part of the mix, and certainly not the whole. It's been that way since the Spaniards overran the 'New World.' It's kind of like light-skinned blacks in the Jim Crow South who tried to 'Pass.'

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[John29176]

Nor do white-collored Hispanics identify themselves as White. Some friends from multicolor Hispanic families did not know they were 'black' and 'white' untill they got to the U.S.A. In the U.S.A., Hispanic (from the Americas)is a racial category in its own right.

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Name : John29176, City : Chestnut Ridge, State : NY Country : United States, 

[Jordan]

there are many mulatto that deny there white ancestry i am of the opinion that racial minorities want to belong to the smallest there fore they calim hispanic rather than black

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[Miguel]

I am not sure you are asking a question or expressing a negative personal conviction about Hispanics in general. Have you asked them point blank, 'do you consider yourself to be of African descent?' Or do you bait them (like I have been many times by some African Americans with a hidden agenda) with the standard question, 'are you Black?' I normally reply, 'I am Dominican', because I interpret the term 'Black' to mean the 'Black Experience' in American history. I also mean to imply the 'Dominican Experience' in Dominican history when I use the term 'Dominican' or the 'Boricua Experience' in Puerto Rican history when I use the term 'Boricua' . Just because you have the same kind of hair as I do and the same shade of skin color doesn't mean that there is only 'One Valid Experience' and you better answer with the 'Black Experience' because any other experience is not valid and brands you as a 'turn-coat'. How silly would it sound to you if you were in a Caribbean island and I asked you, 'are you Dominican?' And expected you to say, 'yes', or 'are you Boricua?' or 'are you Jamaican?' I first have to get to know you and then I can surmise what might be your personal ethnic identification based on observations of your appearance, accent, demeanor, your sense of personal history, culture, etc. Then, to confirm this, I might politely ask you what country are you from. This, I think, is a more sensible and informative way to get to know people than going through life categorizing people as 'Black' or 'denying they're Black'.

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[Luana Kenyatta]

I am a history fanatic, and what I have found is that historically, African Americans have NOT rejected their European ancestry, but rather that, Euro culture has rejected our outstretched arms. Slave-economics defined anyone of a certian percentage of 'African blood' to be eligible for sale, eg. 'legally black'. This was often simply a matter of how 'black' someone looked. I find it wonderful that, no matter how much prejudice tries to keep poeple seperate, hearts & hormones prevail! There always have been & always will be 'mixed' people. BUT I have found that when this obvious fact (that there are for all practical purposes no ethnically 'pure' people left) is presented to some whites, they look at me, see dark skin, and refuse to believe that my grandfather was a pale brunette African American!! It is too much for some people to have to change their paradigm of 'ethnic definition by eyeballing', and acknowledge that people really are more than meets the eye. Being a healthy member of a diverse society is WORK! And, judging a book by its cover is a good way to never learn the story!

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Name : Luana Kenyatta, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Hebraic Christian, Age : 34, City : Buffalo, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : performer/writer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Emilio]

1.) In the case of Black Hispanic Americans, It isn't a matter of pride, or a lack of it. Some hispanics have tight ties to their culture, and see it distinctly different from that of a black person who is not Hispanic. I've actually seen times when some black people I know were simply unaware that one could be black and hispanic at the same time. The legacy of slavery is a strong one, but for some Hispanic black individuals, it doesn't define how they view themselves. 2.)This is simply a stereotype. Just as uneducated whites and blacks utter racist thoughts, so do uneducated hispanics. A lot of the Hispanics migrating to the United Sates today come from poverty and may not have experienced a worthwhile education. They are forced into lower class jobs and struggle to raise their families away from this. This isn't to say they cannot grow, in fact, that is exactly what all migrating groups have done when they came to America. This is present in the Irish who were persecuted during the 1800s and in the African Americans who fought for equality in the midsts of inborn racist feelings.

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[Ron C.]

I totally agree with your post! I have a friend who is puerto rican. He explained to me that Puerto Ricans were formed by Tahoe Indians and Africans who escaped and fled to the islands and were mixed together as people.

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[Shawn]

I feel the same way you feel. I had an experiance with an black latino. I told him that his ancestors are black and you are a product of a black man and a black woman. He said he would never say he is black but cuban. I then said this to him, ' Your great grandfather and great grand mother were tooken from there homeland which is Africa. Dropped off on a Hispanic Island which is Cuba, which was the biggest slave trading island at the time to supply the rum trade with the americans. There were only africans on the boats no hispanics! The Africans who were taken from there families, villages, and most of all there land to a forign land. They had to adapt to climate, food, and most of all the languages they had to learn in order to servive. In time, the slaves lost there homeland language because they were slaves and they could not speak in their on native tongue. Just because your name sounds latin doesn't mean your of latin blood.

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Name : Shawn, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 29, City : Union City, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Payroll Specialist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[carl]

I don't think most of them are that worried about it. Some people should stop living in the past and worry more about the future. Race isn't as important as happiness to most people. Maybe they are just happy with who they are.

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Name : carl, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 21, City : norfolk, State : VA Country : United States, Occupation : US Navy, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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