Among Latinos in the United States, the concept of Latinidad, is something is described as an understanding of the unison of identity, place and belonging within Latinos here in the United States. “Todos Unidos, Si Se Puede” , a mentality that together we can do it. Whether you agree that this mentality is putting us in a little box as just Latino, how does this affect the individual development for the formation of ideas around race, gender and politics within the Latino community? We are constantly told we are just “Latinos” in this country, but how does the individual begin to unravel their personal Latinidad?
Before we explore the concept of Latinidad through the lens of race and ethnicity, a basic understanding of colorism within the Latino community has to be understood. Looking back into history, out of the 11.2 million Africans who were transported to the New World, only 450,000 came to the United States. The rest were transported from Patagonia to Mexico. With such a large portion of our ancestry being African, why do so many of our fellow Latinos deny this part of their identity?
Each individual country has had a long period of white-washing, white supremacy has sneaked into multiple aspects of Latin American Society, forcing a level of colorism within the Latin Americans. The value of whiter skin within our society drives why many Latinos who have African Descent often ignore it all together and consider themselves mixed race white or mixed race. According to the US Census, black Latinos in the United States are only about 2.5% of 50.5 million Latinos living in the United States. Depending on the country in Latin America, it goes from 7% of the population being considered black in Brazil to up to 11% in the Dominican Republic. The percentages are deceiving though, because even those with just an ounce of white heritage consider themselves “mulatto”, often identifying much further with white heritage. A denial of African heritage is often what happens within most of Latin America and Latinos in the United States.
Your Latinidad is very dependent of your country of origin. Much like the diversity between England, New Zealand and the US, just because you all speak the same language does not mean that you have the same concept of identity. Therefore, for the non-Latino, hearing Latino most of the time means someone who speaks Spanish and lives in the United States. However, when we explore Latinidad for Latinos, this is an interesting dynamic between the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender identity, our country of origins history and personal experiences.
As we continue to construct our Latinidad, it is important to look at those intersections and see where white supremacy has forced a system of assimilation and exotification of our people. As Latino individuals, begin to deconstruct your ideas of race and ethnicity and explore your ability to shine light on your roots and others’ stories. As non-Latinos it is important not to put us in one box, we are not just Latino. We are the Black Venezuelan, we are the indigenous/black Mexican, Afro-Colombian, the European /Indigenous Peruvian, we are different, so I challenge you to get to know your history and push for individual stories to be heard.
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