Are you Latin@ enough?

Are you Latin@ enough?

*Authors note: The “Latino community” that I describe is limited to the United States. Outside of the US, race and ethnicity mean similar, but also very different things.

In the increasingly diverse society that we live in, race is often one of the first ways that people identify themselves.  Additionally, visually, race is the first thing we see from a person.  While its true that some people don’t “see race” or don’t think about race (often these are people that are either members of the dominant racial group or people that can “pass”), think about the last time you met someone who you couldn’t label into a racial group.  The racial ambiguity kinda bugged you, no?  You wanted to know how to label the person and often wouldn’t be satisfied until you could put the person into a box (“Ohh you’re Pakistani and White…that makes sense now…”).  But what if I told you that some people didn’t fit into a racial box?  Or maybe they did, assuming you even considered what they were a race.  And if you did, you did so with the understanding that this “race” is a little over 500 years old.

[Let’s be clear, to be Latin@ generally means that you aren’t a part of a race.  Sure there are some Latina@s that are almost all Indigenous, almost all Black, or almost all White, but these Latin@s are in a very small minority (sadly a “very small minority” means an entirely different thing for our Indigenous population, but that’s another story for another day).  Almost all Latin@s are racially mixed, trace a Latin@’s roots and you’d quickly find that out for yourself.  I mean, Brazil has the highest population of people of African descent, outside of Africa. Argentina has the world’s 5^th largest Jewish population.  Either way, even if Latin@s aren’t considered a racial category in it of itself, we generally lump it into a racial category anyway.  You’ll see things like: Whites, Blacks, Asian-Americans, Latinos…etc.  So yes, even though we are technically not a race, socially, we are considered one.]  

Race in this country is an extremely complicated topic, one that our society still struggles with to this day.  To get to the point, in the US, you are either White or you’re not.   Even if you’re racially mixed, societal pressures usually force you identify one way or the other.  For the millions of people of color in this country, this creates an identity tug-of-war.  You aren’t just “American,” you are either a Black American, a Brown American, a Asian-American, etc.  For better or worse, you must choose what cultural values you wish to honor, and which ones you must sacrifice in order to remain relevant to the society as a whole.

This is the issue that I struggle with today: Am I Latino enough?  And if I am, who decides?  Do I have the right to accuse someone of not being Latin@ enough?  Does it even matter?

The answer to these questions are, as one my favorite professors Dr. Zepeda would always say, it depends.  For example, I claim to be extremely proud of my heritage and my culture, but someone else may not agree with me.  A recent Latina immigrant may see me at the grocery store and determine that I’ve conformed, or that I’ve assimilated into “American culture” far beyond what is “acceptable.”  Another Latino that isn’t a culturally aware may see me participating in my Latino Fraternity and think the complete opposite of the recent immigrant.  They may think that I’m Brown and militant when they see me marching in a pro-immigration rally.  Thinking of it in that way, it becomes very hard for just anyone to say that someone else isn’t properly representing their community.

I’ll never forget the unity of the Black community at the University of Texas.  Now, after discussions with many of my friends, they’d quickly point out that it wasn’t as united as it seems.  But compare the Black community with the Latin@ community and it was a landslide!  It seemed like every Black student at UT knew everyone, and, on average, the Black students were more politically aware of their place at UT and what being there meant.  I mean, there was Malcolm X Lounge in the Jester Center that was always full of people, often having relevant discussions!  I always wished we had something similar but I wondered if we’d use it and appreciate it as much. Anyways, you can argue different reasons as to why the Black community was more united.  Many say it’s because at UT, Latin@ students were about 13% and Black students were at 4% of the student population.  Less numbers means “we gotta stick together.”  But I…disagree.

Here’s the real reason why I think the Black community was more united than the Latino community (besides the fact that the Black community, as a community, has more experience as the college level): Latin@s can “pass” more than any other non-White racial/ethnic group in this country.  I mentioned this before, and here’s what I mean.  Like I said, Latina@s come in all hues, and for those of us that have lighter skin, well, we look more White than anything.  For some Latin@s, they can go their entire lives without anyone ever knowing they’re “brown.”   This was essentially my reason for writing this post.  I wanted to see if it was fair to call someone a “coconut,” while still knowing that someone else might view me as a sellout.

The Black community suffers from a very similar thing (“oreo”) that stems from the days of slavery (and even before).  Just a couple weeks ago boxer Bernard Hopkins (like an idiot) accused Donovan McNabb of having a “suntan.” In other words, he was saying that McNabb is not “Black enough.”  Skin color is important in both communities, but since I can only speak from experience on my own community, I’ll stick with that. To start, here are some ways in which Latin@s are judged for not being “Latin@ enough.” I’ll address each one after I list them all:

1. You don’t speak Spanish, understand Spanish, etc.
2. You’re dating outside of your race.
3. You’re rich.
4. You’re smart!
5. You don’t look Latin@
6. Your political ideologies don’t match everyone else’s.
7. You’ve never even been to Latin America.
8. You don’t hang out with any Latin@s.
9. You are not involved in the community.
10. You’ve never been in a car with 9 or more people.

1. This is probably the biggest one that Latin@s in this country struggle with!  To all those that claim you need to be able to speak and understand Spanish to be considered Latin@, chill.  For starters, it’s not someone’s fault if they can’t speak Spanish.  Unfortunately, it is often up to the parents to determine whether or not they’re going to learn Spanish.  Also, many Latin@s in this country have been here for generations, and the sad reality is that each passing generation loses a little bit more of the culture.  Do I think it’s important to know Spanish? Yes, but don’t fault someone for not knowing the language, and don’t think that they are not Latin@ enough.
2. Another big one, especially for the older generation.  To be fair, my mother is the only one of all her sisters that married a non-Mexican man.  At that time, I’m sure my mother’s parents were not too happy with the fact that she married a Salvadoran man.  That said, you can’t fault someone if they fall for someone outside the circle.  When you fall for someone, you fall for someone.  That said, I do wonder sometimes what it means when our children are mixed Mexican/Guatemalan/White/Colombian.  At what point do we lose our specific country identities and just become “Latin@?”  Or, will the same thing happen that also happened to Italian and Irish-Americans, for example? I wonder…
3. Having money doesn’t mean that you must identify any less with your community, at least when it comes to ethnicity.  But having money, in any racial/ethnic community, does serve as a divider, that divider just happens to be classism.  You’re not any less Latin@ if you make money, but you also have to understand that, socially, it does give you privileges that many people in our community do not have.
4. This one is tied very closely to #3, as being “smart,” or more correctly, educated is often seen by some people as a measure of no longer identifying with the Latino community.  What’s the alternative, however?  Are we, as a community, supposed to sit on our butts and not contribute to this country?  In some states, Latin@ students are reaching 50% of the K-12 population.  If we don’t progress as a community, we will continue to be oppressed.  Education is the fastest, most secure way to reach equality.  That said, those of us that have had the privilege to study and progress academically must remember not to have an “elitist” mentality.  We must help those that come after us to have the same opportunities.
5. This one is hard because, well, what is a Latin@ supposed to look like?  This is going to sound stupid and cliché (too lazy to put the accent mark) but one identifies as Latin@ because of what’s on the inside.  We can easily throw this one out!
6. As much as I wish our community would support certain political movements as a whole, I can’t get mad at the person next to me if they don’t feel the same way.  We are all entitled to our personal feelings about politics.  I’d rather have someone who really thinks about their opinion that I don’t agree with than to have someone who agrees with me without really knowing the issues.  I think that’s all I will say about that.
7. Latin@s in this country are the poorest racial/ethnic group, so would it be fair to expect all of us to have the opportunity to travel?  Some people never leave their state, much less their city.  And we can’t go to Mexico anymore…
8. What can I say?  I went to a high school with a 99.5% Latin@ population, I surrounded myself with my community in college and I still do to this day.  Is that bad?  Is that good? Who can say?  Some people in our community grew up in more diverse areas, or in areas where there are no Latin@s at all!  That’s just the way it is.
9. If you look across different racial/ethnic groups, I can guarantee you that a large percentage of the population is also not “involved in the community.”  That’s just how it is, some people are super involved, others sparingly, and some not at all. 
10. If you’ve never been in a car (no bigger than a mid-size sedan) with 9 people…I need your brown card.

I’m sure there are a couple other things that Latin@s are judged on for not being “Latin@ enough.”  These are the main ones, I figure.  So back to my initial questions…

Am I Latino enough?  And if I am, who decides?  Do I have the right to accuse someone of not being Latin@ enough?  Does it even matter?

*I think I am Latino enough! I love who I am, I love the diversity of the Latino community.  I love our food, our music, our tight-knit family structure, and everything that encompasses our culture.

*Who decides? I do!

*I also have no right to accuse someone of not identifying enough with our community.  Like I said before, there may be someone out there who may accuse ME of not identifying enough, so I can’t throw stones.

*Does it matter? Well, yes.  So there are plenty of Latin@s in this country that don’t feel the same way about their community.  To put it very frankly, some Latin@s don’t like our community and they try to distance themselves as much as possible from their community. To that I say, ok, that’s fine. BUT…if you are not going to identify with the Latino community then just don’t.  Don’t use the fact that you are ¼ Latin@ to get a scholarship for Latin@ students if you’re not going to give back to the community.  Don’t use your ethnicity when its convenient and forget about it when its not.  You’re either all in or you’re not.  I’m not saying you have to go around and make it a point to let everyone know that you like beans and rice, I’m just saying that, if you’re going to use your ethnicity as a means to make your life better, then give back to your community.  Mentor a young Latina at your neighborhood school, help translate for someone when they need help, or donate money to scholarships that help young Latin@s go to college.

Sadly, we will all continue to judge and be judged for either being too Brown or not being Brown enough.  But we must appreciate the diversity in our community and understand that we are all different.  There is no one Latino experience, in fact it may not even be correct to say that there is one Latino community, rather a set of communities.  We must always keep that in mind as we continue to grow and influence the culture of the United States of America.