We put much thought into defining where we come from. Some do it because they care about their heritage. Others do it simply because they want to make sure that they are not added into the mix. The mix that make us draw the imaginary line that divides Black from White. Here is where the people that draw it make it seem like white is better. What makes me angry about all this is the fact that these attitudes that I am talking about do not come from white people. They come from us. Yes! The latinx culture. Here and there, we are in a constant fight with our own history. This is our own fault!
Growing in the Dominican Republic, watching Haitians break their backs everyday. Working for their food along their fellow dominicans made me believe that we were unified. You know, since we are neighbors when it comes to the location of our country. I thank God today because I have an education and I was able to open my eyes about my own culture, specially my country. We… the Dominicans, we are racist. Most of us, if not all of us within the Latino culture are racist. We are in a constant fight to find ourselves further away from Blackness as if being black was some sort of disease. Now, if you think I’m lying let’s talk about the Dominican Republic because what I am talking about now is what I grew up seeing.
I say “We” when I talk about racism in Latin America because no one who grew up there is able to say “I did not have these attitudes while growing up.” It might not be our fault because we were young but the thoughts were there. I used to celebrate February 27th as the best day in Dominican history. We celebrate independence from Haiti as if it was our greatest accomplishment, but what happened to the independence from the colonizers? Why do we have a “Faro a Colon” as some sort of tribute to him? As if he deserves to be recognized. Why do we try to copy North American culture in most of the racist things they do? Because we are racist. We are poor, we have different skin tones and because of that are oppressed by the elites. However, we ain’t no saint because we also oppress others. The “others” are called Haitians in my country. What are they called in yours?
Being latinx is complicated enough, now when the word Afro is added… Where Afro is tied to Blackness and “we don’t want to be considered black because white is better.” We make the construction of our identity too complex that we do not know who we are even thought we believe we do. You believe that the negation of your roots makes you more of who you really are. YOU ARE WRONG!
Some do not want to be fully black, others do not want to be fully white and I do not want to be racist at all. Embrace the different flavors!
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