racism – Page 2 – Anthony Otero

Afro Latino, my life, Race/Ethnicity, racism, Trayvon Martin

El Cocolo

I don’t know. Maybe I am getting too old for this. Perhaps I need to dial the rhetoric down a bit. I have always recognized that I see the world from a certain perspective and my views comes from the type of lens crafted through education and experience. I have never expected my views to be universal and as most of you know that I take criticism and critiques very seriously. I just find myself tired of everything that is going on.

Let me preface this by saying that I lead a very happy life. I’m where I want to be with the person I want to be with. I grateful for my job and my family. I have no complaints about my personal life nor my work life. Believe it or not, I love this country. It has it’s faults but I know I would not have this life if were a citizen elsewhere. However, I feel that what comes across in my words on Facebook and on Twitter is a person who complains about everything that is going on. Let us just acknowledge that there is a lot of incredibly messed (note: I kept it clean) things going on in the world.

I can sit here and take a snap shot of the past 2-3 weeks that have included the Zimmerman Acquittal, the killings in Chicago, Riley Cooper, Don Lemon, Stephen A. Smith, the Darius Simmons trial, and a host of other shit (that didn’t last long) that just makes me cringe. Am I getting angrier? Am I changing or is the world around me seem to be more ominous? Because I often feel like the only Jor-El in a room filled with General Zods.

I guess what I’m really saying is that I grow tired of all of it. While I know that I am not the only one who screams out about inequality of all types, I sometimes get the feeling that I am on an island alone screaming at a ball named Wilson. I know that I could just put my head down and continue writing the novel. I know that I have ability to be completely apathetic about the whole thing and just talk about comic books (although, do not get me started on the lack of Black and Latino writers in Marvel and DC).

Its hard when I have to explain to family about the nature of my blackness. Yes, I am Puerto Rican and Equadorian but what do I look like in the mirror? Moreno? Chocolate? I knew at an early age about how “bad” it was to be dark skinned. My cousins called me Tar Baby and other times I was called a Cocolo (look it up). How I define my blackness is really up to me and I have hard time seeing how being an Afro Latino can be viewed any differently in the eyes of the majority compared to an African American.

So yes, I feel that I fall into the black and white binary that holds America together. I am not in favor of blaming the victims. I am not going to sit here and agree with any notion that because someone like RIley Cooper says the n-word so freely it is because his black teammates say it in front of him and thus it made it easier for him. So does that mean we blame Paula Dean’s cooks for allowing themselves to employed by her? Do we blame Travon Martin for wearing a hoody because that looks thuggish? Do I blame myself for my family calling me Tar Baby?

But, you know what? I complain too much. I am an elitist Latino that couldn’t possibly understand what the world is about. I guess that is the way it is in this Post Racialized society.

Race/Ethnicity, Racial Profiling, racism

We are not Delusional

This is, in many ways, is a open letter to my (former) facebook friends who think that race was never a factor in the Zimmerman case. I have had some time reflect on the verdict that was completely unsurprising to me.

We are not delusional. There is no way that anyone can say that the millions of people who are marching and protesting are about the outcome of this trial are delusional. Yet, there are people out there who are celebrating the not guilty verdict. There are people saying that there was a clear case of self defense and that Travyon Martin contributed to his own death. The best part about some of these idiots on Facebook is that I’ve seen them posting articles of crimes that black people have committed against white people. This is when I know we are living in two separate worlds.

We do not live in a post racial America. I wish people would stop saying that America has changed. The fact of the matter is that the value of Black life is not equal but I don’t expect those in the majority to understand. Quite frankly, I am tired of having to explain American History to them. They never had laws created, changed, or amended so that “on paper” they can be considered equals. But, they can get offended easily to the point where they have to question whether the word “cracker” was just as bad as “ni***r” (yet, they know they cannot say the latter of the two words).

There is no delusion in the simple fact that the Stop & Frisk law in NYC as allowed the police to make 533,042 stops in 2012 in which 87 were Black and Latino. But is ok to dismiss our claims of racially biased laws, it is ok to say that we are crazy to believe Travyon Martin received zero justice despite the fact that he was indeed profiled by Zimmerman. So, I suppose it is ok to follow anyone and accost them in the middle of the night and not expect a fight? So it is ok to proclaim self defense when the simple fact is that had Zimmerman listened to instructions by the police to stay in his vehicle, Travyon would be alive today. But, he did nothing wrong, right?

We don’t live in the same world. I know a plethora of parents (who are Black and Latino) who are genuinely scared for their children now. Some have wept about their future and some have wondered how will they explain this to their children. I don’t see that concern coming from the other side. I don’t see any white people (who are celebrating) feel any concern for their kids because they don’t have to. There is no one profiling their children.

Let’s also not pretend that just because Zimmerman is Latino that it is not still racially biased. White Hispanics are just has bad. I have said it time again on this very blog that Latino racism is real and you can tell simple by those who refuse to consider any African influence in their culture. Why do they fight it? Because black has always be considered something bad and that is not a delusion.

I thought that having different opinions coming across my timeline was a good thing. I wanted to see both sides of many issues. But, after this weekend, I just can’t. We just live in two separate worlds. We may have gone to the same high school or grown up in the same areas but I refuse to be associated with anyone that is going to think that we are delusional. Everything is about race, EVERTHING. The fact of matter is that you do not think think about about your whiteness, while we are reminded of our blackness, our immigration status, our language use, our cultures every fucking day. Why? Because it is people like you and the laws that put in place and later amended that remind us of our place in this country.

Emmett Till, Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Kimani Gray, Yusef Hawkins, Troy Davis, Luis Ramirez, James Byrd Jr., Willie Edwards, Anastacio Hernandez Rojas, Micheal Donald, Sean Bell, James Chaney, The Central Park 5, John Collado, Darius Simmons, Jordan Davis, and Trayvon Martin. (just to name a few)

We are are not delusional. You are. Get the fuck off my Facebook.

New York City, Race/Ethnicity, racism, Trayvon Martin

Tainted Victory?

Yesterday people (in my circles) were talking about victory. DOMA has been deemed unconstitutional in the states that allow gay marriages and California may be the next state to allow such a law. It is a clear win for those of us who support equal marriages and I am truly happy about that. The problem is that feeling is somehow tainted with the Voting Rights Act being cut down the day prior.

Many people have stated that the Voting Rights Act signed by Lyndon B. Johnson is the corner stone of the Civil Rights Movement. This act made it difficult for southern states within the U.S. to suppress the black vote that has now ultimately turn into the “minority” vote. If anyone has been paying attention over the last four elections, then it should be easy to point out that each year since Gore/Bush the stories of voter suppression has increased.

It was no secret that Republicans were tight when Obama won the first term. This was due to the fact that his grassroots campaign netted a plethora of new voters, young voters, and of course, people of color. We all came out in droves to vote for this man because we were tired of the same old story in Washington. Now, we also know that McCain/Palin also help us by shooting themselves in the foot on multiple occasions.

Since then it was fairly obvious that Republicans wanted to keep Obama as a one term president and those began the open criticisms, the stories of false birth certificates, the rumors of him being Islamic, and just overall fighting of any thing he wanted to do. While I cannot be sure, I am willing to guess that there was some brainiac in the GOP that came up with a bright idea of taking away votes from POTUS during the 2012 election, not to mention they felt they had a winner in Romney/Ryan. Thus, more reports across the country about people not being able to vote.

It was Justice John Roberts that said, “Our country has changed” and my response was and always will be, has it really? At what point do these judges (which includes Clarence Thomas -which doesn’t say much actually) believe that things have gotten better from a racial perspective? Yes, the country has changed decades after the Civil Rights Movement but that does not mean that people will not still use their power to oppress others. In fact, it has become a part of the political game that being played.

I know that I had deemed last year a banner year for racism and I stick to that. This year makes me wonder how close it will come or if it will even surpass it. Or maybe I should just go ahead and prematurely call it a banner decade. This feeling is way past the political climate but just an overall feeling when I look at what is going on.

The Travon Martin trial is just a shit show being played on stage. The Paula Deen hysteria is drama that is not surprising me at all. The defense of the show Devious Maids is laughable.The NYPD reprimanded one of their officer for speaking Spanish to another officer (this is a personal gripe of mine but their Stop and Frisk program does violate the rights of thousands of young men and women of color).

This is just huge distraction to keep the dim witted from actually realizing that their righst are slowing being taken away from them (see the Patriot Act and then look at the NSA).

All I’m saying is that I cannot get too happy at a victory because things can change very quickly. I just hope all the people that were celebrating yesterday will also be in the same corner of those fighting hard to stop the disenfranchisement of “minority” voters.

Latinos, Race/Ethnicity

Hi, Hollywood. Not all Latinas are Maids.

I feel like I am back here again. Almost two years ago I wrote an blog about Latina Magazine and how they were glorifying maids in one of their articles. This was around the time that “The Help” became big at the box office. I was annoyed that a magazine that supposed to be for women can help stereotype them, but of course, this is how the media works.

Then I saw the trailer for the new show on Lifetime called “Devious Maids” about five Latinas who are (you guessed it) maids. I shake my head because this is the type of shit that getsd on my nerves. Five successful actresses playing into these roles because quite frankly, there are probably not many opportunities to play much else. However, to top it all off the executive producer is Eva Longoria (who obviously defends her show). What in the blue Django is going on here? I wont even get into Oprah’s new project called The Butler either because I’m just through with these people giving us stories that they feel we need to hear when the real stories that we should hear go untold.

So I’m going to go on record and say that 95% of all the Latinas I know are not maids, at least no in the traditional “let’s serve master” kind of way. I will say that the 5% is an uncertainty. It could’ve been completely possible that either one of my grandmother’s could have been maids, but I think they worked at a factory. I can run down a quick list of women in my family and their occupations.

I have a cousin in Harvard working on a PHD, her sister is a lawyer, my mother and two of my aunts were nurses and got their masters in Nursing Administration, my aunt from my father’s side is a retired teacher with a PHD in Education, another aunt who was a stock trader, and several others who have a college degree working in offices.

I could talk about the women who have have graduated from SU with me, or the graduate students that I worked with when I worked there. I could talk about the women that my alumni association (LANSU) has profiled. So why is there this insistent need to show Latinas in servant role? Have we not move passed this business? The true reason lies behind the fact that society, as a whole, is not willing to except the fact that a woman of color can, in fact, be strong and step out of the mold that is set in place for her.

Case in point, people LOVE Scandal. A big time attorney that has an affair with the President of the United States. You know what it sounds like to me? It sounds like society telling us that no matter how big a black woman gets, she will always a side piece. But it’s just TV right? It means nothing right? Wake up mi gente, this is how people view you through the media, but I’m quite sure that you will love this show.

Not all Latinas are Consuela from Family Guy.

P.S. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a maid, but there a may other professions that Latina actresses could play.

Afro Latino, Latinegas Project, Latinos, my life

A Little About Me…

I feel the need for a little reintroduction. There is so much newness around me that has sparked an array of inspiration so far in 2013. New Office, New Apartment, and New Blog; I have to admit this is going well especially since I am getting new followers. This makes me think about the fact that many people are probably wondering what I am about…and even of you aren’t I should just explain anyway.

First and foremost, I consider myself a Latino man. More importantly, I consider myself Afro-Latino. I know that this term has gotten popular over the years and as plotted out my digital identity, I came up with the name Latinegro (which is something I did not invent). I got the name from Marta Cruz-Janzen who wrote some articles that lead me to write a major research paper for a graduate class I took a few years back. In my mind, she coined the phrase Latinegro and I have been using it every since.

It is important for me to state this because I believe that identity is important. It is one of things that makes us who were are. I cannot tell you how many college student I have run into over the years that simply do not know who they are…or perhaps they do know, but just have trouble accepting it. The acceptance of oneself is so very important in a lifetime because it is that catharsis that will really lead to success. That is why I have made sure I spend much of my blog about race and Afro Latinos in particular.

I define Afro Latino as someone who has African and Hispanic bloodlines (this does not exclude Haitians or Brazilians). This can include just about all Latinos, however, the real difference is their own acceptance. There are many of us who feel that Latinos are not Black or African American. Some will defend this point based on whatever facts they can try to dig up. There is a stigma to be being dark skinned and it a shame, but not all that surprising. What so many Latinos do not understand is that the plight on of the African American is also their plight because we live in a black and white world where you are either one or the other (based on skin color) in most cases.

Of course, Latinos have issues specific to them when it comes to immigration and places like Arizona that have made racial profiling a reality. Unfortunately, Latinos are used to this fight. We have been dealing with immigration and access issues well before World War 2. The commercialized version of Latinos look very much like the typical Mexican images you tend to see when we talk about immigration issues in the South West. The idealized version of Latinos tends to be the more the Rick Martin look; light skinned, dark (good) hair, light eyes, and over-sexualized. The less idealized look tends to be the David Ortiz look which is dark skinned, heavy accent, and wool hair (pelo malo). The great thing about understanding race is that Latinos are all three of these which can lead to a lot of scratching heads. The Census Bureau barely knows how to categorize us which leads us not understand what it is we are.

This is why the Latinegr@s Project had to be created. When I co-founded this group it was with the purpose of educating people about Afro Latinos and showing pride in what we are. This where we have lead to the discovery of and within ourselves as well as help people like us discover what they are. This is not just to say that we solely deal with Afro Latinos either. We champion those who are oppressed which is why posts can range from homosexuality to Native Americans.

Well, that seeed like such a long reintroduction, but I figured this is something I need to put on here now. As I get along in my new location here on wordpress, I am sure there will be other things I will feel the need to reiterate. While this blog is mostly about my life, there will be other things that will bleed into my posts. Just wait until I start writing about my other love…comic books.

Django Unchained, Dominican Republic, racism, Slavery, zombies

Django – My Unchained Issues

I wasn’t going to do it. I wanted to just let it go away because there is no way that I would ever think I would see a day in which people are just way too complacent to care. First let me preface this to say that I did not see this movie. Django Unchained was never a movie I wanted to venture to see. I can never truly say that I would never watch a movie but I can say that I would never pay for it. Trust me, I would never pay to willingly see this movie. So, if you saw the movie and do not care about my opinion about this…then by all means, this is not the blog post for you.

Understand that there are at least a dozen ways for me to see this movie right now for free and I would not exercise that. Mind you, I love movies and I’m a big believer in paying to see movies. I am not into bootlegs or downloaded copies because nothing beats the theater experience. I need to state this because the idea of me not paying to see this movie is saying something. I am not saying that when it come on HBO that I am all over it either but many people are asking me, “what is the big deal about this movie?, why are you SO against it”

For starters I think there are 3 types of people when it comes to this flick. There are the people who saw it and loved it, the people who saw it and were truly disturbed by it, then there are the people who refuse to see it. I am in the last group. I refuse to see this because there is something not right about all of this. I felt that way when I saw the previews months ago. Fine, it is a slave movie that is fictional. Fine, it a movie made by Quentin Tarantino (who loves the n-word). But, a Christmas movie?

That is my FIRST issue and here is why. When I think about Christmas movies, I think about Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Die Hard, etc. These are movies that are fanatical and sensational. Movies that are meant to entertain or that maybe you can bring your kids to despite the parental ratings it receives. Christmas Premieres are meant to go out to a wide audience. So that means that we are going to exchange gifts in the morning and watch a fictitious slave narrative with my kids in which the N-word is said over 100 times.

Ok, that is fine, let’s just say say I am reaching with that. Let’s just say that I am being foolish. But, I think about the commercialization of slavery. We are now saying that we can make sensational movies about a very sensitive period in American History. Why does it have to be that way? I am sure Tarantino says he wanted to make a film about a Black Hero right? But, I am quite sure there will never be a movie about the first slave rebellion in the Dominican Republic in 1522. I am even more certain that they will never make a movie about Nat Turner’s Rebellion. So what are we talking about here? The Boba Fett of the Antebellum period?

Yes, there were other movies like Roots and Amistad. Neither of them were sensational and both were telling a story about true events. Here is the kicker though, just when anyone could think that this wasn’t about making money over slavery…we have the Action Figures for Django. So now everyone can play with “Slave Master Bill” and relive the glory days of Slavery. See, I compare this to the part in Fight Club when Tyler Durden renders the fat from the rich to create soap in which he sells back to the same rich people.

Many people do not have a problem with this. Most people will watch what they are told to watch and they buy what they are told to buy. Most people are ZOMBIES because all they do is consume in this world of consumerism. We tend to forget about the past and just do shit because the television said so with no regard for actual critical thought. If you think I am wrong, then let me ask you if it is too extreme to make action figures bases on Schindler’s List? I mean, can’t you imagine little boys and girl playing with Nazi dolls? I didn’t think so. They will never commercialize the the Holocaust nor with they sensationalize 9/11. Yes, they are different, but they were all tragedies that we will never forget.

I guess what really gets me is that people are defending the movie. Saying how good it was and they don’t get the big deal. There was one woman who said that the only part she didn’t care for was the fact that Samuel Jackson always seems to play roles in my movies that degrade his people (huh?). What really gets me is how people have been blasting Spike Lee for his comments about not ever seeing the movie because they think he is a hater (really?). So my question to all the Black and Latino people (yes, white people too), are you are really ok with the misrepresentation of your people as long as it is a cool movie?

There seems to be a goal in “Post Racialized” America to make it seem as if racism does not exist, but it does. You can actually buy it for $34.99 on Amazon.

50 Shades of Grey, Afro Latino, color blind, culture, Dad, grand father, Latinos, my life, racism, zombies

The Grey

It seems like everyday I’m finding another grey hair on my face. Which I suppose I am ok with since I am deciding to grow more facial hair. If I get tired of it, I can just shave. Yet, I look at it as proof that I continue to survive from year to year.

I often joke that each grey hair on my head is assigned to various people in my life both past a present that have left their stressful mark on me. However, the obvious reality is that I am getting older. I would like to think that my graying hair means that I am growing in wisdom, but I am not sure how true that is. I feel that I make enough mistakes to keep me young. Of course making mistakes is what being human is all about but, making mistakes usually means that one is out there doing new things.

For some reason when I think about the eventual salt and pepper look I will get (which will be a LONG time from now), I think about my maternal grandfather. I kind of knew, by my hair type, that I would be dealing with a greyish look. My dad has a different hair structure (I still compare him to Danny Trejo) that is very flowing and South American. Mi abuelito had hair that was more traditional with afro Latino…

{Pause}

I want to take a pause here because I am trying to not laugh…really. I mean, look at me trying to be all politically correct when it comes to the quality of the hair certain family members have. I could be really honest and just categorize it the way most people do. My father has good Latino hair that flows like Jesus and mi abueltio has pelo malo (bad hair) that flows like brillo.

{Un-Pause}

I think that I will eventually go back to the clean shaven look since there seems to less grey on my head than on my face. I’m really not that old. I’m staring at 39 in about six months and I feel like I am about 25. Truth of the matter is that being grey is not so bad. I feel like most of my life has been different shades of grey (which by the way…I hate that the book has coined this phrase).

{Pause}

Now that I think about, those are not grey hairs. They are white. Maybe, they seem grey when compared to the black hair. I find that interesting. I mean, I have been called racist by white people so I wonder if there is this psychological thing that does allow me to call a white hair white. Maybe, I am color blind in the sense and don’t want to recognize the importance of a certain color so I just call it grey. Interesting thought.

{Un-Pause}

It’s all good. I think have the wisdom to get through such trivial things like grey hairs. I am just glad that I still have my health. I just hope that I never get to a point where I consider using products to color my hair back to black. Do not get me wrong, both Clyde Frasier and Keith Hernandez are both legends but I’m not doing that little “touch of grey” thing that they have been promoting for years.

I think that when people get older they need to own up to their age and just face facts. Getting crap like botox or any anti-aging things will only end up making you look plastic. I mean, just imagine how they will look during the zombie apocalypse. No one wont be able to tell if they are alive or dead AND that is a damn shame.

I am owning up to my impending age. I think I look good. I can’t help but laugh at the fact that when I was younger two things occurred. The first was that I always cried about being the shortest and the youngest. I would always look too young or small for anything and I hated it so much, I could not wait be old (when you’re a kid being old is 19). The second was the fact that I looks so damn young and nerdy, women never looked at me.

Well, I think now I have the last laugh on both cases. 🙂