(Let me preface this whole challenge by saying that I know that I am late….but this is me catching up)
I don’t recommend blogs often and I know that I should probably get into the habit of that. I do have a long list of blogs on the left side of your screen that I already recommend, but I do feel that this blog is one of the few that really stand out.
There are very few people who keep it real in the blogging diaspora. There also very few who can write in such away that you can hear their voice (I ‘ve never heard her actual voice so I just imagine what it would sound like). I will also say that written sarcasm is hard to master, but The Jaded NYer does it very well.
I am not just saying all this because she is a Mets fan (but it helped her cause), I think that Raquel has stepped up her game this year. She has a brand new website, which is awesome. Her web persona with her blog, twitter, and website is something that I admire because I want to do something similar. She has a book that I promised her I would buy (I am getting there) and knowing her writing style, I am quite sure it will be a very good read.
I would also encourage you to read her first published story: Grey Matter.
I consider her blog to be the consummate New York City journey as told through the lense of a Latina. I feel that she is on the cusp of something great and I cannot wait to read her adventures. As always, please take time to look through her writings and support her.
(Let me preface this whole challenge by saying that I know that I am late….but this is me catching up)
It has been a while since I have traveled anywhere and my last trip was the Dominican Republic and I have to say, I miss it. The last time I was there was because of a wedding and it was one of the best trips I have taken as an adult.
The city I went to was La Romana and while it was resort that I stayed at, I will never forget how beautiful it’s beaches were. I fondly remember how green the trees were and how the island just radiated with a sense of culture and passion that you just do not see this side of Washington Heights.
With all the beauty that I did see, I am also not absent to reality of the other things that I didn’t see. Clearly, being in a resort makes my views a little biased because that means I did not get to see where the real people live. On the bus ride from the airport to the resort (45 minutes), I did see the real streets of DR and they reminded me of Puerto Rico.
Despite that numerous ads of tourism, we should never forget that the real people that live in these places are trying to survive, which makes me wonder about the numerous amounts of staff that I met. Were they truly happy to work there? While I am not entirely sure about that, what I am sure about is the people that I do meet from the Dominican Republic here in New York. There is a love of that place that is hard to match.
I am glad that I saw why it is they love that place. It is very beautiful and I cannot wait to return.
(Let me preface this whole challenge by saying that I know that I am late….but this is me catching up)
Being Latino in America is not easy these days. It is not just a social identity, it is also a political one. It seems that everyone wants to know how we are going to vote, but there will enough time for that in a later post. What I love the most about being Latino in this country is that we are all so different and yet we can all identify with the many of the same things regardless of country of origin.
There is a sense of community that is hard to describe. While not everything is perfect considering the treatment Afro Latinos, the sense of culture is all the same. I enjoy learning about history of Latin America because I find that each country is unique and yet there is a sense of connection when it comes to the indigenous populations and the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.
It is that history that connects all of us as citizens of the United States. There are so many of us now that we can effectively elect a president. However, there is still so much to do in terms of immigration reform, which seems to effect us more than any other group that comes to this country looking for citizenship.
Lastly, it is that sense of connection that has allowed me to have such a great connection with the students at Syracuse University. Despite our numbers, there are still not many Latinos in the field of Higher Education which made me stand out and allow for me to help many of them through their college careers.
People will read and hear what they want to. I have come to the conclusion that many people take the things that I do either too personally or too literal. In either case, that is fine. Last Year, I talked about the slow death of critical thought because I believe that people take everything at face value without thinking about anything deeper. Two Years ago, I wrote about how Everything is about Race and how there is this assumption that I point things out because I want to divide people.Why do these 2 things matter? Let me take you back about 20+ years.
I was walking with a friend of mine from school to the Bx 39 bus stop on White Plains Road in the Bronx. On the way there we were stopped but 4 guys who pretty much ignore me and focus on him. I had always been very good at being aware of my surroundings, but for some reason these particular guys came out of no where. He told me to run but I stood frozen in fear. They jumped him in front of me and amazingly, he took punches and never dropped. The entire incident was less than a minute and I believe they ran way after taking his Walkman (at least I think they did). I cant recall what happened after that but I do remember never being able to apologize enough for not helping or taking some of the beating.
This is something that I have often thought about. Would I let that happen again? How would I feel if I saw other people getting beat up. Fear has away of stopping you in your tracks (yet another topic I have written about). As I’ve gotten older and have come to discover myself through education and other life events, I have come to realize the type of person I am.
Hold that story in your mind and think about the majority of things I write on this blog. Most of which have chronicled my journey from a failed marriage to where I am right now. If you follow me on any of the Social Media outlets then you have a pretty good idea that I do have opinions about the world we live in. I do not consider them radical by any means. I feel that I generally have the same feelings as many people of color in this country when it comes to racism and oppression. I do not talk about how the “man” has me down. In fact, I talk about being able to succeed despite numerous issues that I have created for myself.
I do talk about race a lot. Ask any person of color how they think of themselves. The vast majority will say Black, Asian, Latino, etc. I am also guaranteeing that they are looking at the world and this country through the lens of their color/culture. Why wouldn’t we be? Racial incidences happen all the time but it becomes our fault for pointing it out. We are considered to be complainers when we point out that even though President Obama is getting slammed on the issues…we all know many people in the government and in this country cannot stand him because he is Black. Shit, people still wonder if he is even American! So when I say that everything has to do with race it is because it DOES.
This would also include Black people beating up on white people for no reason. See, the friend of mine that was walking with me was White and the kids who jumped him were Black. I’m not sure why they chose him over me and it could have very well been because he was a white boy. Does this make this correct, not at all. I have often criticized on THIS blog as well as other outlets how dumb Latinos and African Americans can be. We all have our issues because this country is not perfect despite what many people believe.
Which brings me to a video I posted about a show written by fellow SU alum Aaron Sorkin called The Newsroom (see video below). Jeff Daniels goes on this rant about how America is not the greatest country in the world and thus states specific reasons why. I agreed with this assessment because of all the issues that were stated about education, infant mortality rate, and incarceration. I have a right to my opinion, right? I mean, lets look at the Tea Party all the way on the right and how they say incredulous things all time but, they have a right to their opinion no matter how shitty it is.
But apparently, opinions are like assholes everyone has one and thus that old friend of mine insists that I am a bitter person that has been held down by the man. While I am not going to recount the argument that we had on my Facebook wall, I will pull out some things that have made me think about myself and what I do. I am not sure where some people think that my opinions on based on fiction or out of thin air when I read more than most people on my Facebook timeline. I will gladly post a bibliography of everything I have written to prove this. The notion that I speak about race too much is pure absurdity. White people generally do not talk about being white because they do not generally need to, unless they feel they are either being attacked or perhaps feel guilty because of their whiteness.
I love this country plain and simple. I am as American as my dad can raise me. I once had argument with my ex-wife because I would not let her raise a Puerto Rican flag on our lawn without an American Flag next to it. I understand that this friend of mine defended this country and I thank him for it…yet I wonder if he had to go through the racism my father did when he was in the Navy…oh that is right…everything is not about race. However, being called a coward because of something that happened 20 years is probably what hit me the hardest. Sure, I do not go to protests in Arizona or Florida. I have protested here in Syracuse in unison with my students…but I guess that doesn’t count. I guess the fact that I have given money to organizations who need it to fight policies does not count either.
I had to take a hard look at myself and see if I was this “coward.” No, I am not. Not mentally and not physically. Listing instances where I have jumped into situations that could have gotten me killed or seriously hurt is self absorbing because I have nothing to prove to anyone. I will however take one thing to heart and make it my own. I was called a word ninja. I have never heard of this and after talking to someone he came up with a definition. “He meant word-ninja to mean someone who hides in the shadows and fights only with words, I suspect. But I see it as a skilled wordsmith so smooth you can’t even see how he did it” (Thank you, Chris)
I’m still angry. I am STILL troubled by all of this. I went to work today and I almost called this student who worked for “Trayvon” and it is not because he looked like him. This kid is a young black male from the city of Syracuse that is only a year older. It makes me think of the flyer I have hanging on my door from the rally the night before that says: We are all Travon.
I am still angry at Geraldo Rivera. This guy was a trailblazer in the 80’s that failed at trying to uncover Al Capone’s treasure. Look it up, it was the beginning of the end for the so called investigative reporter. It was Geraldo who said that the hoodie that Travyon wore that night was just as responsible for his death as George (Jorge) Zimmerman. After all, a hoodie is a symbol of being a thug, a gangster, or any type of negative stereotype that you can muster up.
So is a hoodie this year’s excuse for killing unarmed Black men? A few years ago, a wallet could get you 41 bullets to the body. We like to make excuses for the inexcusable. That is why there are these reports that Travyon was suspended from school and how he is a possible drug dealer. Let’s smear a dead teenager who cannot defend himself. Where is his Stand Your Ground Law? Instead we will say that his character is bad and his death was justified.
How about we blame the bag Skittles that Trayon had on him. Perhaps they were too bright and colorful. Maybe they jingled too much in his pocket or perhaps they were really drugs! Let’s blame anything except poor innocent George Zimmerman who has a black friend. All of sudden people are coming to his defense saying…oh he is hispanic…he cannot be racist. While that is only partly right, White Hispanics/Latinos can be prejudice as hell. Los Zimmermans don’t want this to be considered a hate crime because now we want to use our brown card….”damn those assholes always seem to get away.”
What Geraldo and George have in common…is fear. That fear that they will be considered in the white and black conversation. That is why Geraldo’s son is ashamed of him because I am willing to bet that little junior loves hip hop. I am betting that he wears his skinny jeans down past the crack of his ass. Papi Rivera doesn’t like that because that is too niggerish and I am quite sure there was a conversation on not bringing a black girl home.
Yet, Zimmerman is smarter that you think. See, in Florida, you can carry a gun and kill someone as long as you can say that it was self defense. That Stand Your Ground Law has given those gun touting, second amendment lovers, a reason to kill. He followed Travyon and confronted him. How is this self defense? That is like when you fight back on a bully and the teacher catches you being the aggressor and the bully becomes innocent.
Now the bully has gotten away and the media wants to make Trayvon the aggressor with his gangster hoodie and his poison Skittles.
As I write my next blog for the Huffington Post, I feel obligated to say how angry I am becoming. There are so many things that I am seeing and reading about this Trayon Martin tragedy that it just makes me sick. This whole situation where George (Jorge) Zimmerman has not seen a minute of jail time is unacceptable.
I am angry because I feel that not of the right enough people take this seriously. Of course, most people of color take this serious because bottom line, Trayvon could have been anyone of us. What gets under my skin is the media’s attempt to show a different side of this kid by making it seem as if he was a criminal. This is making it seem as if his murder could have been justified although he was unarmed. Not to mention that he was 17 years old!
Let’s think about Zimmerman. Yes, he is Latino and should I really talk about how racist my brethren can be? I talk about Afro Latinos all the time and the prejudice they face in this country as well as other countries. I would not surprised one bit that he may consider himself white as many Latinos have under the 2010 census. It has been my experience that many of these “white” Hispanics strive to gain the same level of acceptance and privilege that many white Americans have. So many adopt the same racist fears and attitudes of bigoted white people.
The problem is this notion that black people are criminals. Zimmerman thought that Tayvon was up to something and the fact that no one really questioned this is indeed sad. The fact that the Sanford PD has not arrested him is so troubling. This is old news at this point but I feel the need to talk about this because this it has been weighing on my mind even before my trip to Boston. In fact, it has been bothering me so much that I cannot finish my original blog I had set for this day.
Then there is Geraldo Rivera, who made this situation worse with his stupid comments. I just need to get this initial blog out because I feel very unfocused, which brings me to my Huffington Post article. SU students, faculty, and staff got together for a rally today. It was comforting to see that we can come together for a cause. Now it is up to us to do more. I will be addressing all the above issues in a more structured format.
I laugh. I laugh at the ignorance of others and realize that at some point the American Education System has failed so many. I laugh because my sarcasm just does not cover the range of things that I could say to people who just do not know their history nor do they know what goes on around them. This is not limited to the young people in this country either.
What am I talking about? Is Black History Month the issue? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t but my issue is that ignorance is not constrained to just one month. It becomes prevalent as we get close to and into months like this. This really is a month of reflection on where we have been and where we are going. Instead, I feel we live in a world where people actually believe that racism is not an issue anymore. I am not even talking about white people.
I understand that most white people do not understand the intricate system of oppression. I get that they do not see white privilege. I see why they do not understand the black and white paradigm or why the color blind ideology is negative. I expect the responses from them because they are raised in a world that is made for them. But what about our people? What about Black and Latinos who have been white washed to believe that racism is a distant memory that they see in black and white news reels where they see black people being hosed by firefighters in the south?
I have often talked about the color blind Latinos. This is nothing new. The whole idea being lighter skinned in the Caribbean and South America is to obtain a high social standing. We have pretty much the same thing here in the United States when it comes to how black women are viewed. The concept of beauty is to be as light as possible (and as skinny as possible). African Americans should not feel that because Obama is President that we have gone through great strides in “solving” Racism.
On the contrary, racism is at the heart of the issue in the GOP political debates. While it is not being directly said, let’s think about the tone of things being said and what we are willing to let people get away with. Newt Gingrich, who is known to say bigoted things, can come out and say that “Spanish is the language of the Ghetto” and where is the uproar? Sure, Newt will say that Mitt Romney fabricated such a statement which begs the question, even if Mitt did, how is this ok to even lie about?
I can use tons of examples of how Newt views the working poor (who are seen as black), but the one thing that is my absolute favorite is how Mitt Romney is now considered Latino. We as proud Latinos are so eager to claim anyone and of course we should because most Latinos are just as prejudiced against African Americans as white people.
What gets me is that most people don’t see the things that are blatantly in front of them, which brings me the the Birdcage Analogy. A few years ago I read an article by Marilyn Frye called “Oppression.” In this article she talks about the oppression that women endure by the hands of men. I have often believed that if one group of people are oppressed then we all are. Even though she focuses primarily on women her Birdcage Analogy fits racial oppression very well:
Consider a birdcage. If you look very closely at just one wire in the cage, you cannot see the other wires. If your conception of what is before you is determined by this myopic focus, you could look at that one wire, up and down the length of it, and be unable to see why a bird would not just fly around the wire any time it wanted to go somewhere. Furthermore, even if, one day at a time, you myopically inspected each wire, you still could not see why a bird would have trouble going past the wires to get anywhere. There is no physical property of any one wire, nothing that the closest scrutiny could discover, that will reveal how a bird could be inhibited or harmed by it except in the most accidental way. It is only when you step back, stop looking at the wires one by one, microscopically, and take a macroscopic view of the whole cage, that you can see why the bird does not go anywhere; and then you will see it in a moment. It will require no great subtlety of mental powers. It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers, none one of which would be the least hindrance to its flight, but which, by their relations to each other, are as confining as the solid walls of a dungeon.
Grasp the power of this analogy and realize who the bird in the cage is. There needs to be a general understanding of the system of oppression in this country that is not limited to just people of color. When you do not see the wires of the cage then you do not realize that you are trapped. Like the bird, people think everything is ok in their world and automatically resist the urge to step away from it. Kinda sounds like The Matrix, huh?
It is only when you can step back and see the cage or the system as whole do you realize the grand scheme of it all. The only way to see the entire birdcage is to educate ourselves to these things. Let’s not forget the people who own the birdcage are apart of that system. They may not see it that way because the system has been that way for years and they are just doing and benefiting from such a system for centuries that they have no idea that it even is a cage.
I get tired of the unwillingness to understand the need for Black History Month by hearing such a question like, “Why is there no White History Month?” Very simple. Every month is White History Month. The fact we even have to be given a mere month to keep the masses aware that Black people did contribute to this country is just another part of the wire in the cage. Just like when the Tea party wants to ban any mention of the founding fathers having slaves from History Books because it gives a negative view on them. Perhaps the fact that Arizona can ban Mexican Studies should suggest that many people wish to have a color blind education. The funny thing about being color blind is that you see no color but we are are Black and you cannot hide that.
What a wild ride it must be. To take a stand against immigration! Wow! I am sure that all the Republicans in your great state are celebrating this monumental victory. Think about how you have all the illegal Mexicans cowering in their sombreros (big Mexican hats).I am sure that our borders are now much safer from those brown aliens that do nothing but work the jobs you wont do and multiply! We certainly do not want The United States of America (land of the free) to be a melting pot of all cultures. After all, the American Dream is reserved for it citizens only (or at least the rich ones anyway).
Speaking of dreams, I am sure next January, when you have a day off for Martin Luther King Jr, you can think about all the Mexicans who get pulled over for just looking brown. Let’s face it, this is what that holiday is for, to observe the idea of Civil Rights. Martin Luther King’s dream was of little black and white children playing together in harmony. There was no mention of Latinos (or Mexicans…let’s face it, it is all the same to you). Of course, it took you all so long to even recognize that holiday that perhaps the true significance is lost some where in the desert that is your state.
Nor should I mention that the true illegals are us. Of course, I wont count African Americans because they were brought here. In fact, I wont even count Latinos because…well most of us were either here first or forced to come. We cannot count Asians because who else was gonna build the Railroads? So I guess that leaves you. I know, it wasn’t your fault that your ancestors raped and killed most of the original population here before this was considered the “land of the free.” The Native (please note the word “native”) Americans were just savages right? How dare they not use up all the land and natural resources! We could have blamed them for Global Warming (which you don’t believe exist because it is always hot in Arizona)!
Well when you think about it, I guess it is only right to pull over every Mexican look-a-like since Arizona used to be a part of Mexico. Great Job Arizona! Let’s make sure we stand proud because as you know, before this decade is up, Latinos will be the majority in America!
Oh, the Census. I always find this to be a good time to think about how race is viewed by the government. If you are simply white or black the US Census form is of no real issue. This is proof that we live within the black and white binary. Sure, if you are Asian, American Indian, or (my personal favorite) “Some other race”, you can pretty much fill out this form with no family discussion. With Latinos…not so much.
As I have been saying all along on this blog, most Latinos do not understand their origin. Of course they can tell you that they are either Puerto Rican, Cuban, or Mexican, but they will not all agree if they are black or white. Personally and with no surprise, I selected black. I mean, just look at me. I think I would be lying to myself if I put down anything else. But, some people with my skin tone will have a very hard time selecting black. So what to do? American Indian will not fit the so that would mean you have to write in “some other race”? Perhaps Caribbean Indian (for lack of a better term)?
Thus, one of the issues with Latinos: the fact that we as a people have to choose within the binary. I made a joke that if you make brown a selectable category, then a large part of Latinos will indeed check that off. This maybe a cop out but, there are many Latinos that will only put white because they do not feel they are black.
First, lets break this down. Race is nothing more than a social construct that was created to separate all people. We all feed into this with racial stereotypes. The process of counting people the way the Census does feeds into the idea of the black and white binary. Back in the day, when people filled out a census form, you could check off mulatto or negro. Last time I checked, these were not considered races. Yet, Latino is not considered a race, but an identity. So we can identify as Latino, but we can be black or white. To me this is crazy because we all know what white means in this country. Unless you are from Spain (and even then), most White Latinos do not feel as Euro-centric as what average white American is. The same applies with black in America. While black in this country is not Afro-centric, it is still not what Afro Latinos fall into in terms of culture.
So, race is not real. In the words of Clara E. Rodriguez who wrote, Changing Race: Latinos. The Census and the History of Ethnicity in the United States: “…‘race’ is not fixed, is imperfectly measured, is at variance with scientific principles, is often conflated with the concept of ‘ethnicity’, and is under increasing scientific criticism and popular interrogation.” The idea that race is ever changing brings a new concept to how race is socially constructed. Rodriguez suggests that because traditionally oppressed groups of people are able to claim or in some cases reclaim their ancestral identity and change their race into more of a political identity that the idea of race is ever changing. Because the ancestry of Latinos are so widespread in the amount of countries groups of people are from, certain groups within the Latino/Hispanic category have had the ability to take on a political identity, such as Chicano or Nuyerican.
If know you anything about science, then you will know that there are no such thing as multiple races. There is only one race: the human race. So everything is just a popularity contest. The questions on these forms makes very little sense to Latinos because we are what we are.
If you know you me well enough then you will know that when I first entered Syracuse University as a freshmen, my major was History. It was one of the few things that I was really good at in high school. I loved it and understood it. History was not just about dates but more about the events and how things occurred in the past that might effect our present day.
So when I really started getting into history when I was in college, I was shocked by a very disturbing fact, I was learning about His Story. History is always written by the winner in most cases. What bothered me the most was what I did not learn in high school. The thing that comes to mind the most was the Transatlantic Slave Trade. While, I knew about it in high school, it was never presented in the same way as it was in college. That always stuck with me, so I decided to talk courses in African American history.
Once I got a different perspective on history, I dropped the major and switched to English. However, I still wanted to know more about my history. At that time, there wasn’t a Latin American Studies program but you could navigate certain classes to learn about the Caribbean and South America and I made sure that I did that.
I bring this up for 2 reasons. The first being that I was speaking to one of my students, who is Latina, about know her history. I have no problem explaining how the slave trade impacted the Caribbean. I have no problem explaining how Europeans killed most of the indigenous population, raped the survivors, and then replaced the workforce with African slaves. Most of this information cannot be found in history books at the high school level. What I do have an issue with is people not knowing icons. The second reason is really simple. February is coming soon and that means Black History Month will be upon us. As usual, most Latinos think they they have no contributions to this month and that is the farthest from the truth.
I have a Wheaties Box in office. Yes it is there, unopened. The person on that box is Roberto Clemente. Maybe it is just me, but I feel that all Puerto Ricans should know who he is. What bothers me is the ignorance. I have been asked, “why haven’t you eaten the cereal?” I like how certain people scoff as if it is disgusting to have an old box of cereal. I always have this puzzled look as I think to myself that all they see is a box of cereal and not the person who is on the box. Why is that? Because they do not know their history.
Conservatives in Texas do not care if you never know your history. Clearly they believe that they can remove people like Cesar Chavez from the history books because he lacks “lacks the stature…and contributions.” Which basically tells me that they are just looking at the Wheaties box and not understanding that history cannot just be rewritten by the “winner”. It very much like how the MTA in New York City wants to remove free transportation for students. The less people who know their history, the more control the powers that be have. Make no mistake that racism is still alive.
So, my question to you. Do you know your history? Or are you faking the funk? The way to understand everything that is going on in this world, from Islamic Extremists to Gay Marriages, is to know the history behind them. Perhaps more perspective will be gained by everyone.
Anthony Otero 