Africa : Are Latinos / Hispanics - 'Africans' too?

Destee

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Hello Everyone,

I saw in another thread, Black Male Shortage - Myth or Reality?, where a Sister said ...
"Sisters better take notice...there will be more women looking at the Black man...namely the latino women."
This comment made me wonder ...

If a Black Brother or Sister is with a Latino Brother or Sister ...
aren't they still with an "African?"

In general, do Latinos consider themselves Africans?

In general, do Blacks consider Latinos Africans?

Are Latinos Africans too?

:heart:

Destee
 
Hello my fellow Panafricanist!! Destee this forum is a great idea, and you deserve much credit for starting it.

To answer the question. There are "Black" Latinos, "White" Latinos, and "Mulatto" Latinos. Latinos are generally made up of the same racial background as Americans. South America and the Caribbean (containing the Hispanic countries Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominician Republic) has the same basic racial makeup as the U.S., with African slavery and the mixing of Europeans and Indians or Native Americans. A major difference in the two different cultures was the extent to which this "mixing" took place. Although race mixing is evident in the U.S. (with the high number of light skinned blacks in the country). Race mixing in South America was so ingrained in the society that the majority of the people are now what we would deem as mulattoes.

However in many countries there are Hispanics who are clearly black (having such a large percentage of African blood, that their skin is dark brown & their hair is course). As Panthaxx already pointed out, most of those Latinos who are "black" classify themselves as Hispanic. However I think this is a social-political strategy. From what I've observed, Hispanics suffer from an identity crisis. Most will tell you that race is classified differently in their countries. However being married to a African Spaniard, and knowing a handful of "black" Latinos that correctly classify themselves as black, I know that this isn't really true.

Hispanics are coming to this country to make a better life for themselves (to escape poverty & persecution in their homelands). In America blacks (despite the civil rights movement) continue to occupy the bottom of the social-economic system. If Afro-Latinos come to this county & identify themselves as black, then they would inherit the economic & social discrimination that we face. Since they are fleeing from poverty they don't want to face economic discrimination here. Therefore they disassociate themselves from blacks: "My skin might be dark, but I'm not black. I'm Cuban, Mexican, Dominican, etc."

Despite this trend, I still consider black Latinos part of the African Diaspora. I wouldn't be a true Panafricanist if I didn't. However it is important for them to recognize their blackness if we are to consider them allies in the struggle. Until they do, we are mistaken to expect their support.
 

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