PBS Special: BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA

ReginaStar said:
I wasn't trying to imply that no one had this sort of issue I just personally think Americans make it bigger than it really is. And I don't really see the difference between a person that looks like this
la.jpg
saying I'm not black and a AA saying I'm not white.
Click to expand...

As an African-American Latino, I can tell you from personal experience that the subculture of attempting to distance oneself from African ancestry is very common. Those who openly affirm African ancestry and culture (including some who are 'whiter-looking' than Colin Powell, some who look 100% African, and everything in between) are usually those steeped in one of the African-derived cultural phenomena: santeria, candomble, capoeira, bomba y plena, guaguanco, etc, or those who have had significant experience in non-Iberoamerican societies, where their white self-concept was stripped from them. Those without overt links to one of these cultures or the communities that birthed them have as much desire to straighten hair, be "white" (whatever that means) or be viewed as such, as blacks in this country prior to racial empowerment movements. All the "good hair vs. bad hair", high-yellow, "my grandfather was from Spain", tropes are all present.
 
Last edited:
orejon4 said:
Bad example. David Bisbal is a Spaniard with Arab and Roma ancestry, along with Catalan and Castilian. And I hate to tell you this, but racial consciousness and denial of African ancestry are large problems in Latin America and greatly complicate attempts to address racial inequality in the countries in question. This difference in racial consciousness causes problems amongst Boricuas all the time, most starkly between those with experience in the US versus those who remain on the island.
Click to expand...

Like Flame said that wanna be slave owner hillbilly doesn't know what she's talking about.

Please Watch This
[YOUTUBE]Gb-tjIUu0i4[/YOUTUBE]
 
MrFantastic said:
Like Flame said that wanna be slave owner hillbilly doesn't know what she's talking about.

Please Watch This
[YOUTUBE]Gb-tjIUu0i4[/YOUTUBE]
Click to expand...

Damn, MrFantastic, that's a lot of science for a Sunday afternoon! That clip was heavy-duty LOL - I'm off to grab a cup of Cafe Bustelo (sin leche) and put on some bomba music!
 
orejon4 said:
I think the examples you are referring to about black people with known white ancestry being "allowed" to be white are like what empyrium was talking about with Colin Powell, but it's RARE that someone as dark as Will Smith would be considered as white (I've never heard of such an extreme example). And Barack, while technically a mulatto (I hate using these ridiculous terms) is called black almost universally in Spanish and Portuguese-language press.

Many of the rules you cite were used during slavery as pseudo-scientific distinguishing characteristics for separating the children of slave masters and African and indigenous women from the larger groups of slaves in their surroundings. These terms have almost no social relevance or use beyond anecdotes or physical descriptions in the modern era, however.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom