With the
immigration population rising in astonishing numbers, identifying race becomes
a hot topic with so many people coming from different parts of the world. The
way people are seen, identified, and judged are by the color of their skin or
by their English accent. Once identified as a “foreigner” or simply non “white”,
people are discriminated against and not given equal rights. Latinos,
specifically the darker skin toned ones get it the hardest. They are
discriminated against by the white people in this white culture, and even by
their own kind as “pretos”,” indios” or “morenos”.
In Wendy D. Roth’s article “Creating
a “Latino” Race” she interviewed Puerto Ricans and Dominicans from New York City
to see how they self identify each other. The respondents all identified primarily as “Latino”,
“Dominican” or “Puerto Rican”. What was interesting was that they all
identified themselves as not being “white”, something that was a trend from the
readings. In Dropping the Hyphen article some Mexicans identified themselves as
being “non white” because of discrimination. The more discrimination that
individual received, the more awareness of their non-white status was making them
feel stronger about identifying themselves as Mexicans or Latino. They
basically alienated from “whites” in their communities because they felt as
they didn’t belong. Compared to Marrow’s
article on Brazilians, most Brazilians did not even want to be identified as
Hispanic/Latino, but rather as “white” for social rewards. Wendy’s respondents
had a familiar approach to these “social rewards”. One respondent was a light
skin Latina, but when she was applying for jobs it benefited her to be identified
as a Puerto Rican English speaker. In her article she talks about how Latinos
saw advantages to being bilingual and bicultural in a country with a growing
Latino community.
Back to
Marrow’s article, Brazilians would rather be identified as “white” however, if
their skin tone was dark then they would rather be identified as “black” than Hispanic/Latino.
It is clear that Marrows, Wendy’s and just about every other article on race,
it is talked about being “white” is the most privileged racial category. They
all acknowledge that the lighter skin tone you are, the more advantages you
gain in society, especially gaining approval among white people. But this is
not an easy task because in order for Latinos to fully become white, they must
lose what makes their “Latino” identity and adopt the American one. But what’s
with the whole idea of becoming “white” and being accepted? This has been
created because America is a country of white supremacy. It has the power and
advantages over everybody else; making them want to not feel discriminated
against. Why is there a fear in Latinos to be discriminated about their skin
tone and background? It is not just a Latino thing, but a whole race issue with
America. Blacks have had it really bad and still do. Everybody is in fear,
including white people.
Why would white
people have fear you might ask? What is it that stops so many white people from
wanting to change their hearts when it come it comes to race? What is it that keeps
them stuck right there in that comfortable position? It is a combination of
fear and greed. Greed in that they don’t want to lose dominance, power,
privileges and benefits at the system of white supremacy has created in America
for white people. They don’t want to lose none of it because they are scared.
They are scared of black retribution and black vengeance. Since they put their
hands on them and made them their personal slaves for no pay. Throughout
America’s history black people been discriminated against and still are to this
day. White people are scared of losing what they got and scared of losing their
positions to minorities as a whole, not just to “blacks”. The whole “they took
my job” is complete bullshit. It is a competitive market out there so man up
and stop being lazy making up excuses for not doing the jobs you don’t want to
do. America needs to face reality and admit it is a country of white supremacy.
It is now and always been through institutions, culture, power, politics,
education, and media. It is all biased. White people are not bad, we are all
equal but white culture is racist. Not saying all whites are, but the culture
is racist and that is the problem. Do something about it. Say something. Face
your greed and fear so we can all live in a more peaceful country and peaceful
world. America is meant for all people. We must embrace all cultures and
identities while respecting and celebrating the culture of others. As talked
about in (http://everydayfeminism.com/
http://everydayfeminism.com/
http://thesocietypages.org/
http://thesocietypages.org/
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