African Diaspora Series: Afro-Latinx pt.2

What can we do when facing Anti-Blackness in the Latinx community?  

 

Let me start off by saying that I'm not categorizing all of the Latinx community for being anti-black. However, if we cannot address this issue, then we are doomed to let this hate settle in our communities. But I digress...

I came across an article on EverydayFeminism.com where the author had noted two reasons as to why anti-blackness is so prevalent in the Latinx world: 1) The discussion being ignored completely and 2) masquerading it as solidarity. I would also like to add a third reason for being colorism.

1. Ignoring it all together
       When the Dominican Republic had announced a "social cleansing", the world said nothing. Nobody wanted to accept the fact that the D.R. wanted to get rid of all and everything associated with Haitian heritage or Blackness. The government decided to revoke citizenship for people whose family had Haitian roots and settled in the D.R. around the late 1920s. Some people were upset because they were Black Dominicans, but didn't have any Haitian blood. And yet, they had their citizenship stripped away from them, so now there's a whole population of stateless Black people in the D.R. People still hardly speak about it.

2. Solidarity
        For some Latinx people, they have this colorblind attitude. While on the surface it may seem okay to see all of the Latinx community as one, it's just a facade and comes up outta convenience. Let us be real for a moment, once an Afro-Latinx person makes a mistake, the community rejects them and they are outcasted as those "Black folk".  So trying to say that "we are one" knowing that it's not true is counter-productive. So instead of ignoring and attempting to act as one unified group, let's address the hypocrisy.

3. Colorism
        Must I say more? People of Color are still working on rejecting White/European beauty standards and it's sad to see how much emphasis and praise we put on these standards.

So now what? Well, you can start by speaking up when possible. But do keep in mind, if you're not Black or a part of the Diaspora then please sit back for a minute. If you have no experience with the issue at hand and you speak on it, it can take away from a voice who understands and has been through it themselves. But don't let that detour you, you can always be an ally and speak up. Just be mindful.

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For the last part of the series, I will look into some positives and beauty of the Afro-Latinx world.