“Oye, ¿vas a ir a la fiesta esta noche?”
Normally such a phrase wouldn’t make me think twice (and no, it wasn’t directed at me). However, I had never heard this guy speak Spanish before. Besides the fact that his Spanish was noticeably better than mine, I couldn’t help but wonder how this Black guy learned to speak such great Spanish.
“Maybe he’s a Spanish major, or maybe he grew up around a bunch of Mexicans,” I thought. Of all the different things that went through my head, it didn’t once cross my mind that maybe Spanish was his native language.
Fast-forward a few months. I’m now in my third semester in college, sitting in a presentation about Afro-Latinos, a presentation that would literally change my life (and my perceptions of identity). The woman presenting explained how she was hondureña, and identified as garifuna. She talked about the African slave trade in Latin America and how the majority of slaves (over 90 percent) brought to the Western Hemisphere ended up in the Caribbean and South America.
The African influence in the Latino culture was everywhere: in our dance, in our food, in our music. Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience that should have happened a lot earlier in my life.
Soon after the presentation, I learned that the guy was indeed Latino; Cuban, to be exact. I have to admit, I was embarrassed for not once thinking that he was Latino. I almost couldn’t believe that I had such a narrow view of my culture.
To be fair too, there wasn’t much diversity growing up in South Texas. If you were Latino (and you probably were), chances were pretty good that you were Mexican. In school, we learned that many of us were mestizos, of mixed European (Spanish) and Native American blood. Unfortunately, that was the extent of our (limited) education on Latino (or I should say, Mexican) identity.
Many of my colleagues at Being Latino have talked about the Afro-Latino experience, and even their own personal Afro-Latino experience. But for people who grew up (and live) in sections of the country with a limited amount of Latino diversity (or just diversity in general), there also needs to be a greater understanding of the Afro-Latino experience.
If I lived 20 years without knowing or understanding the African influence on my own culture, there must be thousands (or millions?) of Latinos at this moment that have no clue either.
This is where education plays a key role, and not necessarily in the formal sense. We must continue to educate those around us, of all races and ethnicities, about the diversity that makes our community (or perhaps better stated, communities) so rich and beautiful.
In regards to better educating ourselves on the Afro-Latino experience, it could even lead us to better understand our relationships with other communities of color. Or at the very least, it could keep us from making stupid assumptions, as I once did not too long ago.
About Cristopher Rubio
Nice article. I never understood why Mexicans completely denied their African ancestors and heroes (Gen. Saldana) until I discovered you have all been lied to since you were children and had your heroes given the Michael Jackson treatment. If Mexicans and Chicanos on the West coast were just give one class on African history/influence in Mexico we would see the end to this idiotic black vs. brown nonsense. But it is not just Mexicans, most “Latinos” here on the mainland no absolutely nothing about the racial and ethnic diversity of Latin America. The majority seem to have accepted the US myth that we are ALL brown and/or have Spanish last names.
* know.
How about the human experience? Stop with the labels!
Hmm I wonder how???
how did the black man learn english?
Good article, glad he learned,what really funny s seeing people say “mayete” and other choice ores in front of people or other disrespectful things and getting a surprise lol when thy find out the person who looks very African , mulato or even aryan white speak Spanish and they are Latino , I’ve even had a couple guys running to their car in a Wendy’s , these days you can’t just make assumptions when you look at anyone.
it’s a trick. he’s dominican !
“How about the human experience? Stop with the labels!”- YESSS!
Last year, PBS aired an excellent series on this very topic–very informative. I think it can be viewed online.
I hate that people see a dark person speaking Spanish and right away they assume that they are Dominican. We come in all colors. Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Venezuelans, etc are dark too. Stop being so ignorant!!!!
Mounique is right. I live in Puerto Rico and there are Puerto Ricans of African origin just as their are Colombians, Venezuelans, Panamanians ect. that are also of African origin.
there*
I’m an Afro-Latina who is Brazilian, Cuban and Puerto Rican, so I speak Spanish, Portuguese and a few other languages. I keep my African heritage at the forefront and I’m proud of all my heritage. I hate when people label me and try and put me in a box! Get a grip already. I’m human, we all originated from our mothers, that’s all that matters! That’s why there are always more than one word for ‘mother’ in every language!
I love labels!
This would blow lots of people in the Latino culture, including mind family that some think they are one thing and in fact don’t know about who they are. Excellent article.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. “Black in Latin America” series for PBS is well done. You can watch the episodes online, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/
Having lived in New York, the Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Brazilian community is quite large and you hear Spanish and Portuguese all the time on the streets and on the subway. We are a multi-racial people with strong cultural and linguistic roots.
I really don’t know if its because I’m Cuban and in Cuba there are/were larger number of unmixed people [pure European descendants and pure blacks] than in other parts of Latin America where perhaps a more mixed population exists, but I always find it odd and interesting how some Latin Americans react when they see a black latino speaking Spanish or a very white blond latino speaking Spanish. It’s almost as if in their mind, you have to look like George Lopez in order to be Latino. And they are shocked and surprised if you don’t look like him. In Cuba, we’re used to hearing blacks speak Spanish, blacks who could pass for Michele Obama’s or Oprah Winfrey’s sister. In order words, blacks that are unquestionably black, not “dark latinos,” and we’re also used to seeing people who look no different than any blond European [William Levy is an example] speaking Spanish, dancing salsa and eating comida criolla and yet, we’re not shocked, surprised, etc…
Good article.. Most times when my mother would speak spanish others would assume she was Panamanian in turn she would respond.. “Yo soy mas Puertorriqueña de El Coqui’ lol
Learn about Yanga, casta paintings, and Costa Chica in Mexico.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/featured/full-episode-mexico-peru/227/
Bottom line is we need a better education system , to educate those whom still cannnot understand the real world and it’s history.
There’s a short film about a young Afro-Latina set in Puerto Rico as part of the PBS Online Film Fest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BknDzyhEOX8&feature=share
Learn about Yanga, casta paintings, Costa Chica in Mexico, and Susana Baca.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/featured/full-episode-mexico-peru/227/
My family is from Peru, and everyone asks him 1. How he learned Spanish. 2. What part of Mexico my mom is from and how “he found her”. My mom is light, my dad’s dark. We’re all Peruvian! There have been so many times when people who don’t know we’re Hispanic have just said some rude things to/about my dad in Spanish. When he responds to them in fluent Spanish, they get so embarrased! People are so ignorant!
radames, as a cubana of mixed african/european heritage who is more light skinned i couldnt agree with you more…there wasa non-cuban latina girl at my college that was surprised that i knew who elvis crespo was…wtf?! i get this all the time i have people in my family who look like they came from africa yesterday and others that look straight up european…like everyone here says, you just never know and it’s cruel and unfair to make such assumptions
it doesn’t matter what race you are you can learn anything -_-
The assumtions are no different than when someone looks at us light skinned Puerto Ricans and think we’re all Mexicans. People are just not educated and live in their small worlds, with their small minds….
I loved this piece, Chris! A catracho and an Afro-Latino over here! (Although my skin tone comes from my boricua side.)
Art doesn’t lie. Look at the mother culture of all the Mesoamerican people, the Olmecs. My student in Detroit, Omar Paulk, once asked me if Jesus was Black. I found that in my father’s state of Michoacan, a Black Christ with woolen hair exists as it has for about 500 years. Mainland America could use a trip to Polynesia to see how the world’s races have mixed. It is very different here in Kaua’i. Hawaiians even speak a form a Spanish when they sell ganduri rice at roadside stands. All languages have been pijinized. Arroz con gandules became ganduri rice! When the Hawaiians asked the original Mexican cowboys what language they spoke they said, “Hablamos Espanol.” The name paniolo stuck as the word for cowboy in Hawaii! Here in Kaua’i, we are just humans who practice aloha, love and compassion for all humans where ever they came from. Hawaii expells mean people who can’t get along with others for any reason. We are all connected or we will perish on this island. Africa is homeland to all humans no matter how far away from home we are from her. Be good and kind in which ever language or dialect you speak, and have an aloha filled day!
The vast majority of Mexicans have African blood, yet Mexico denies it’s African heritage. It’s not just in your history and culture, it’s in the blood as well. And as someone mentioned earlier, very much in the heroic history of Mexico right from the beginning. It is not just a history of slaves, it’s also a history of great war generals, liberators, and presidents. Yes, presidents, too. The two great generals who led the Mexican war of independence to victory after the death of Father Miguel Hildago were both “mulato”. Gen. Guadalupe Victoria and Gen. Vincente Guerrero, the great liberators and heroes of Mexican independence, were both men of African descent. Gen. Vincente Guerrero became the second President of Mexico. The second President of Mexico was a man of African descent. The Mexican state of Guerrero is named after the great liberator. Guerrero abolished official recognition of racial categories in Mexico. Today, it is almost impossible for anyone who identifies as Afro-mestizo to win a city council election in Mexico or even appear on television except as a clown or on a crass talk show, to speak less of becoming President. The loss is Mexico’s.