The Afro-Latino Connection: Bridging The Gap
“African American” has a peculiar application. If we were to take the literal meaning of the term, it would not only include the 41-42 million people of African descent born in the U.S., but the 100-150 million people born in Central and South America. Not to mention the Canadians of African descent.
But we don’t say it with literal intentions. We say it referring specifically to people of African (sometimes mixed with European) descent born in the U.S. It speaks more to a phenotype than genotype, and modern publications aimed toward African Americans (as the term is commonly used) have picked up this racial football and run with it.
One look at a magazine shelf presents part of the picture. Two listens to a conversation with a Guyanese or Dominican gives another parcel. Three issues of Essence or Ebony present a fuller picture: Businesses rarely cater to both African Americans and African-Latinos. The partnership between the two cultures is sparse.
This is odd, considering the similarities of both groups. There’s no need to rehash it all here; one would have to be a part of four generations of Rip Van Winkles to not be aware of the shared origins. However, both groups share more than similar roots these days. Latinos and African Americans accounted for more than half of home foreclosures in California between 2006-2009. Both groups have been hit the hardest by the recession. Even before the recession, Blacks and Latinos felt similar pains in the workplace. Between 1999 and 2005, the work force in Silicon Valley’s largest 10 companies (which includes Hewlet-Packard, Intel and eBay) grew 16 percent. During this span, Hispanic workers declined by 11 percent while Black workers fell by 16 percent.
Perhaps this current shared plight stems more from professional experience than overt discrimination. Minority groups in America are the last to develop a footing in Corporate America, therefore their standing is more tenuous. Combine that with the economic meltdown and there is potential for a full-fledged catastrophe.
Or opportunity.
In a scriptwriter’s world, these minority groups would join forces and become a conglomerate in a similar manner to European immigrants before them. They would devise a plan and take control of the 30 percent market share potential to create a pool of wealth untapped in the current system.
But that scriptwriter, if he or she is good, would acknowledge the inherent conflicts and nuances in both cultures that would make partnership difficult. Take the story of Evelio Grillo, the Black Cuban who was acculturated into the Tampa, Florida African American community in the 1930s. Grillo realized that U.S. Blacks didn’t care much for the preservation of speaking Spanish or Catholicism—two staples of Latin culture.
The English-Spanish divide isn’t insignificant. Many Afro-Latinos acknowledge the same African ancestry as their North American counterparts, but qualify their culture by citing manners of communication (Spanish) and aesthetic tastes (hair type, skin type, facial features). Considering the fact that Latin America and the United States have not had the friendliest relationship over the years, it’s easy to see why “African Americans” and Black Latino Americans don’t readily embrace each other.
But for Grillo, those differences didn’t override the social ills (Jim Crow, xenophobia, lack of representation in the corporate and political world) that both groups faced. He actively represented both groups and had a “hybrid identity that can’t be torn apart.”
If there was a better time to shed our American exceptionalism (monopolizing the term “African American”), now is that time. But before unity ensues, both groups need to fortify a sense of pride in their African heritage.
There’s no reason not to mix Mary J. Blidge and Soledad O’Brien and Malcolm Gladwell together in our media musings. Catering to the “other” Americans of African descent could do wonders for the financial coffers of Black-ran business publications. It’s simple math: Add the spending power of Black consumers to Afro-Latino consumers and there is over $1 trillion of revenue on the table. That kind of earning power would change the corporate landscape and how businesses deal with our communities.
If we can’t be bound by similar histories, then surely the greenback can bridge that divide.
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I hardly use the word African-American. It’s too broad/debatable. I just say Black American.
You talked about lot in the this article, but I’ll comment on this:
“those differences didn’t override the social ills (Jim Crow, xenophobia, lack of representation in the corporate and political world) that both groups faced.
There’s no reason not to mix Mary J. Blidge and Soledad O’Brien and Malcolm Gladwell together in our media musings. Catering to the “other” Americans of African descent could do wonders for the financial coffers of Black-ran business publications. It’s simple math: add the spending power of Black consumers to Afro-Latino consumers and there is over $1 trillion of revenue on the table. That kind of earning power would change the corporate landscape and how businesses (Corporate America) deal with our communities.”
Agree and somewhat disagree. I dont see anything wrong with people wanting to keep their culture. Lets keep that mind. Same goes for every other racial group.
Afro-Latinas could relate to Zoe Saldana/Dania Ramirez differently than they would with Beyonce/Halle.
Afro-Latinos could relate to Sammy Sosa (pre-bleach) differently than they would with Darryl Strawberry. But we all know that having a different culture, doesnt change your racial origin.
When it comes to Black Latino & Black American relations, theres more to the issue than just the language/religion difference.
This subject is completely different when talking about relations with Black Caribbeans (probably excluding Haitians) or Black Africans (west/central/south).
And I think “if” Unity ever happens, it will be a long time. Jmo!
While I do believe it extremely important to support our own I want to address the term “spending power.” We have no power if it’s being spent regardless who we give it to. Let’s re-examine and instead encourage investment power…
That aside @Alexandra, the terms African anything is a political designation. People who actively choose to refer to themselves as such are making a statement that who they are is somehow formed by a connection to Africa. African American is indeed a broad term but it needs to be to encompass us all. We come from a shared background regardless of our locale on the planet and that is of people who were viewed as less than human largely because of appearances and were colonized in some shape or fashion on some place on this planet. In most recent history African descended persons are the only people who that happened to on such a massive scale.
I’m curious how you think people of Afri-Latina origins relate differently to certain celebrities than non Latina African descended persons and what you base your assumptions on?
Signed,
An African Descended Hispanic American
Alex, I kind of agree with you. Although I prefer to use the term African-American ( I mean, we are “black” because we descended from Africans. Plus, the whole color-coding thing was something Eurpoeans came up with in their quest to exploit the world but I digress.) I do think that African-Americans can better identify with people who share our heritage, and vice-versa. Nothing wrong with that. I can relate to beyonce more than Christina Millian and Iverson more than Manny Ramirez. Doesn’t mean they aren’t all “black” or whatever. Just that it’s a different culture. Latino culture seems to be more inclusive than others anyway. This is why many people (myself included) tend to think of it as being it’s own race.
Actually Cuban and Puerto Rican latinas I know have some of the strongest “black ” conscious and political mentalities of the people I know.
I read this book last Fall in an Afro-Latino Culture class that I took, and I must say that I learned so much about the Afro-Cuban culture and ethnic politics in America, period, specifically in South Florida. Tampa is a stone’s throw away from me and you wouldn’t even know about the cigar factories and rich Cuban culture that existed in Ybor City, which is now a tourist attraction for partying. This book, along with interviews and accumulated info and research from many published pieces gave me insight into how I view ethnic identity, race and class not just in a regional sense but on a global scale.
I have never used the term African-American because I don’t believe it speaks for who I am. I am a black hispanic woman. I have no roots in this country. My family dates back generations in the Dominican Republic – although we do have African ancestry, we are so far removed, that it’s almost an insult to those African’s that where their nationality proudly.
There is a difference in culture but we really are all from the same people (in Africa). My family always joke that the Blacks in South America, Central America, and the Carribean just got dropped off (of the ship) before we did and instead of being mixed with White, mostly English Speaking Europeans they were mixed with the more ethnic Europeans (Spanish and Portugese). I really think it is time for us all to embrace one another and not forget our common African heritage! Many people don’t even know there are more people of African descent living in Brazil than all of the United States.
totally agree.
TRUE! What we have in common significantly outweighs our differences. However, I respect that there are differences. Race, ethinicity, heritage, and culture all define who we are however, being closed minded about blacks that speak another language is genocide. This is the point. WE are not the minority when we unite and this is the point……
i think it’s important to recognize that even though we share ancestry, we have different ethnicities and cultures that are meaningful to us. being cognizant and celebrating those different idenities would not only enrich our community and widen the scope of the sense of history we have but could make us more cohesive because respect is being paid to the differences among us. maybe respect and cohesion could lead to a financial boon for all us, because we are considering the culture and tastes outside of one particular group’s. i don’t know about using african-american as a catch-all phrase for every black person in america though. as it is used right now, it definitely assumes an entire culture, language, and history based on a person having black skin and being in america. i’m haitian. my ancestors didn’t exactly go through what african-american’s ancestors went through. we have different languages, and food, and idiosyncrasies about culture. can we actually expand what african-american means to include all of our narratives?
I have always struggled with the term “African-American” and prefer Afro-Latina. I would really like to see a resurgence of a “Black is beautiful” movement. To me, that would encompass all people of African descent no matter where they are from in the diaspora. I am 100% Black and 100% Latina, neither being exclusive of the other. As a dark-skinned Black Panamanian growing up in the Bronx where one either had to be an olive-toned Puerto Rican or Dominican to be considered Latina has definitely played a huge role in how I identify myself. If the question of ethnicity comes up, I am most likely to say “Black.” It is the umbrella term that includes all of my ancestry.
I don’t think there is a problem with highlighting shared history, but there are other complications. Culturally, the US had the one drop rule, where as Latin cultures had more differentiations. Latin culture is very Eurocentric, while a lot of Black American history had been about discovering/recovering/celebrating/preserving our african and black heritage. And then there are differences in language, in real or perceived privilege, and not to mention that the divide and conquer strategy by the mainstream pits the two groups against each other.
Love the Pan-African/African Diaspora articles! Please keep them coming. :)
Cultural differences are always going to be a divide between people, you see it in whites as well with italians irish and so on. Its the lack of respect and tolerance for others that is the problem.
I, for one, am a proud Afro-Latina. It wasn’t until later in life that I began to embrace my Latin culture. My mother’s family is Creole from Louisiana so I grew up very aware of that culture, from the food, the music and the language. My father, whom I never knew because he died when I was young, was from Brazil. As I stated earlier, it wasn’t until I became an adult that I began to embrace and seek out my Latin heritage. Now I embrace the cultures of both parents because I think it’s important; without them, I wouldn’t exist. Just my opinion.
I don’t find it “odd” that this partnership is “sparse.”
I’m young (born in Latin America and still live there parts of the year) and used to be this idealistic type that thought there was enough (even if small) commonality on which to build some type of bridge, but I gave that wishful-thinking bullsh!t up long ago and, while stateside, I deal strictly in individuals!
I’ve real life thoughts, experiences and ideas on why this will never be. I’ll leave the bulk of that alone for now but will highlight one hint:
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Zettler Clay (who, going by what they’ve shared about themselves via various articles, is not Latino) wrote: “…both groups need to fortify a sense of pride in their African heritage.”
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Oh so, once again, an AA from a small population of 40 million gets to dictate the terms and set the tone of the conversation (i.e. Catholicism, the language divide “isn’t significant” etc,) on a majority over 5 times as large as themselves? Grillo? 30′s? 70-80 years ago? For real?
Ha!!
Has anyone here read Neither Enemies Nor Friends: Latinos, Blacks, Afro-Latinos by Anani Dzidzienyo Suzanne Oboler . I’m trying to get my hands on it , as I’m glad clutch has brought this up, I’m South African and I’ve done my fair share of travelling and all I can say it when I went to Puerto Rico a while back I felt so embraced by “my” people and going to the island of Curocao was like discovering my “long lost cousins” and @ Lachapelle believe me to call your self an African would not be an insult to me or any other ‘afro-politan’ african , to see people of african descent aknowledging their roots no matter how historically detached they are is touching but I also think on a wider scale this issue is getting notice on a wide scale even the president of Brazil spoke about it
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10500100 and Hugo Chavez and Gadaffi (not the best examples but hey…)have also spoken of creating an institution of sorts …
Black people and mixed raced people that speak spanish or portuguese…next
I just don’t see why we can’t all come together and embrace eachothers cultures/diversities/ etc. BUT maybe i’m living in a fantasy world. My bestfriend is Latina me being “black american” and she being Latina we relate to eachother just fine.
@JustaThought, Sloane and Erika:
First of all, European whiteness in any degree is promoted as the aesthetic ideal for all races. The whiter you are, the more attractive and socially acceptable and that applies in Latin, Black, Asian and South Asian cultures. Blackness is equated with “unpretty” and, by the way, lowness of social status, of intelligence, of morals, etc. Even Black Americans are conditioned to believe that they can be “too black” and that blackness in inherently inferior. So creolized Latinos take the back door out of blackness. They feel they are from another culture, therefore not obliged to respect the infamous ODR.
If not for lynching — and the Supreme Court informing Plessy that his creoleness equals BLACK — white-skinned African Americans might have used the same argument as today’s urban Latinos.
White people have successfully won the color wars to the extent that they have convinced black, brown, and Asian people to stay as far away from “dark” skin as you can breed. On top of that, Hispanic immigrants arrive seeing African-Americans still being miserably treated by their own nation. (High unemployment, non-acceptance in the work force by employed Blacks, prison, welfare, terrible housing concentrated in rotten communities, and drop-pouts are the measuring sticks. Black Americans are routinely killed by police and disrespected within the justice system.) So when immigrants come to the US obviously looking like they have Africans blood lines, they bristle at being called “African-American” or black. Who wants to be stirred into that mess, even though there’s a high instance of the same oppressive treatment of poor urban Hispanics?
African Americans see mixed-race Latinos as light-skinned black people, but Spanish descendants see themselves as Latino — not even “mixed”, but Latino. No matter how African their features may be or coarse their hair, they do not accept being identified as “Black” or African-American. Haitians, other West Indians, and Afro genotype mixed-race people from Spanish speaking Islands say “I’m not Black.” It’s complicated in so many ways. The larger society treats them like Black people, but like a “better breed of black”, more compliant and less likely to beat white Americans over the head with a guilt trip about slavery and oppression.
In politics and some social circles, there is a presumed alliance between African Americans and Latinos. But that is held together by a thin thread of shared poverty.
When they get money and education, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Colombians seem to cross over into whiteness more easily than even educated African-Americans.
Try to get hold of the Miami Herald series published about 3 years ago. You’ll see how miserably Afro-Latinos have been treated for centuries in South America and the Dominican Republic especially. There’s one striking anecdote about a woman who was forced off a public bus in Santo Domingo because her hair wasn’t straightened enough! But Afro Latinos and Africans immigrating to the US look down on African Americans as low achievers. That’s one reason newcomers don’t want to be labeled Black or African American. They don’t identify with the struggles by Black Americans who have fought white oppression, only to see black-mixed-Latinos and others enjoying the privileges while sneering at blackness and calling one another the n-word.
These are my observations. But I have to add that my Latino/a friends have been the most consistently loyal and sincere of any of my friends or relatives.
L
Yes there is so much division in this world but if we lean to bridge the gap & see eachothers similarities rather than differences then maybe we can all make the world a better place.
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LarryKrishna wrote: “They feel they are from another culture, therefore not obliged to respect the infamous ODR.”
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…and here we go again with “others” making statements as if they’re experts, but “creaolized Latinos?” That’s rich!
Latinos don’t have to “feel they are from another culture”; Latinos are from another culture. Fact! Different location, food, language, religion, music, beliefs etc. As another mentioned, these things have to be acknowledged and respected before there is any bit of a hope for some type of ‘unity’.
Latinos are not obligated to “respect the infamous ODR” (one drop rule) because it is an American concept and “rule”; it is not the way or belief nor did it take hold in all of Latin America.
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LarryKrishna wrote: “Spanish descendants see themselves as Latino — not even “mixed”, but Latino.”
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Huh (to the bolded)? Anyway, whatever, but here are a couple of novel ideas:
- Latinos don’t want to be called African American because that is not actually or factually what they are! Nothing more, nothing less!
- Many mixed and biracial people (I’m talking those with 2 parents of different ‘races’, not those who speak of having a ½ Chinese great-great-grandmother) don’t want to be called black or white or whatever because that is not actually or factually what they are! Nothing more, nothing less!
- Maybe it’s way past time for people to quit being so self-centered and egotistical as if the whole world revolves around their group and how others identify – or what they do/don’t do, believe, feel or think – has anything at all to do with African Americans.
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LarryKrishna: “The larger society treats them…like a better breed…more compliant and less likely to beat white Americans over the head with a guilt trip about slavery and oppression.”
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Unless you are one of these immigrants — how would you know and who are you to speak with authority on how they are treated?