[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’.

User Detail :  

Name : Miguel, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Catholic, Age : 32, City : Nanuet, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : telecommunications, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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