Beatriz Carrillo: Racism Among Latinos
Latinos come in all the different shades of color from negro to moreno and even blanco, and unlike in the United States race is not a black-white phenomenon; there are other colors in between. It is in this sense that Latinos are for more understanding and liberal about race and color. However, we are not free from discriminating against our own Latino people.
In the Latino culture it is common for families to encourage their children to marry somebody lighter to “avanzar la raza.� When a baby is born and if he/she is light then it is always “ay pero que bonito colorcito tiene!� The Latino community is still under the old European notions of race inferiority. It is something in our community that usually goes undetected but it is important and wrong.
Like I mentioned earlier, in Latin America the racism and discrimination against darker skinned peoples is not as obvious but it exists. An article by Mirta Ojito, a New York Times writer, discussed how a black and white friend from Cuba now living in the United States thought of race. They recalled that even back in Cuba, although it was not as bad as in the United States, discrimination against dark skinned people existed. As has been shown in films like City of God, even Brazil, which is supposed to be a racial utopia, has racial conflicts. Darker skinned Brazilians are incarcerated in larger numbers and are living in poverty in disproportionate numbers compared to their lighter skinned counterparts.
If Latinos are to gain equal rights and economic standing in the United States, the issues of race that we face in our communities must first be resolved in order to be able to have Latinos united instead of divided.
Comments
Hi Beatriz, I've been searching for such an article. Gracias por esto!
Can we really call this preference for light skin racism? I think it's difficult to also draw the line where racism stops and preference starts. My reason is this. I'm from Nigeria and everyone in Nigeria is of afro-descent. However, some people are significantly lighter than others. Light skinned girls are usually of very high demand, however this does not affect the demand for darker skin girls. It's just that people view light skin as prettier (maybe because it's not as common as dark skin). Some women would go all the way to use lightening creams to lighten their skin color. This existed way before European influence, and I know some very old songs in my language with lyrics such as "I want a light skinned girl". I guess it's the same reason blonde haired girls are in higher demand - and some girls dye their hair so they can be blond. Now the question, can we call this racism? I am very interested in this topic as well as tracing the origins of racism. I'll be glad if you send me any more information you get.
Posted by: Dave | April 25, 2009 8:38 PM