Full disclosure on my race and social-economic background

lmboogie · July 2007

maybe i've had a bit t much wine or maybe it's still hot as hell in this apt, i don't know why but i feel inclined to share.

mother is cuban and father is jamaican. raised by cuban mother who even after 20 years of being in this country refused to speak a lick of english. english is my second language.

my racial appearance depends on where i am in the world. three years in london, i was bangladesh. two years in atlanta, i was exotic bi-racial (black and white.) one year in milan, i was sicilian. most of my life in ny i have been puerto rican, dominican, indian and when i hang out with my white friends they swear i look white but if i hang out with my black friends they swear i'm a sister.

my politics and being are black identified. coming up in fortgreene projects that could be a problem. "you think you so cute with your good hair or light skin light skin damn near white skin.

my skin is light enough where white folks don't feel threatend so life has been a bit easier on me.

spent my entire childhood and teen years on welfare but was blessed to understand the only way out is education.

got myslef through undergrad and grad school. landed a wall street job that allowed me to travel the world and pays me an obscene amount of benjamins.

i'm starting to get the impression y'all think i'm this finger pointing, black girl with a huge chip on my shoulder that turns everything into the white man has his boot on my neck kinda shit. i sincerely believe we as a country need healing. recent supreme court ruling, katrina, black men in prison, black women aids, we should all demand these issues be discussed out in public.

ohhh boy, i'm going to regret this in the morning.

armchair_warrior · July 2007

there is always that delete and edit button. which i seldom use

. haha

filmlover44 · July 2007

Heh, heh. You are lucky that you speak Spanish. On the West coast, nobody ever took me for Mexican but when I moved to New York at 11, I had to learn Spanish because people kept speaking to me in Spanish!

lmboogie · July 2007

filmlover44 - would they get irate when you indicated you didn't speak spanish?

my mom would have cussed you out. i think it's funny now but when i was a kid it was mortifying..... my mom would approach someone and start speaking to them in spanish (only if she thought you were hispanic) if the person didn't speak spanish, she would lose it and start yelling at them to stop hiding who they were... it's ok to speak spanish... you don't have to assimilate so much to deny your native tongue. mom was big into preserving our culture and ensuring we didn't become to "americanized" or as she would say "blancita"

sweet tea · July 2007

lmboogie wrote: filmlover44 - would they get irate when you indicated you didn't speak spanish?

my mom would have cussed you out. i think it's funny now but when i was a kid it was mortifying..... my mom would approach someone and start speaking to them in spanish (only if she thought you were hispanic) if the person didn't speak spanish, she would lose it and start yelling at them to stop hiding who they were... it's ok to speak spanish... you don't have to assimilate so much to deny your native tongue. mom was big into preserving our culture and ensuring we didn't become to "americanized" or as she would say "blancita"

this totally happens to me -- although more often i get a LOOK than an actual cussing out. women seem more likely to believe me but be disappointed in/disgusted by me; men tend to act like they see right through my charade.

i'm not from spanish-speaking stock in any sense -- even our obligatory fell-off-the-armada ancestor (i'm a lot scottish) was most likely portuguese -- but i gather i have the look, especially in the summer, when i tan if i think about the sun.

i'm working on learning the language, which will probably lead to "why is your accent so bad? don't you care? who raised you?"

lmboogie · July 2007

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i'm working on learning the language, which will probably lead to "why is your accent so bad? don't you care? who raised you?"

you are so right!. that is exactly what they will say. good luck learning the language.

doublediamond · July 2007

I definitely get a look and the "where are you from, then" question when I don't respond in Spanish or tell someone that I can't speak it. It seemed astonishing to the Spanish folks asking me that I don't speak Spanish. But, when I say that I speak Portuguese and my family is from Brazil, then there's this sigh of relief, a smile, and then I'm treated as a compadre.

My favorite "game" is the "what are you?" routine. I cannot describe how much I hate this question, because I get it all the time. I do love it when they ask me if I'm Venezuelian (the most gorgeous women are from there and they constantly win the Miss Universe contests), but normally I'll stand there while someone runs through a list of countries they think my look is associated with and where the Latins in the area are typically from. Seriously, what is UP with that? There is no one Latin look and no Latin race.

stacey · July 2007

sweet tea wrote: i'm working on learning the language, which will probably lead to "why is your accent so bad? don't you care? who raised you?"

I grew up with lots of families who spoke Spanish. My best friends grandma would only speak Spanish to us and that I how I got a working knowledge of it. When I married my Puerto Rican husband my in-laws love for me to speak Spanish to them (especially when I curse them out

)

doctorj · July 2007

doublediamond wrote: There is no one Latin look and no Latin race.

Other than the Romans, of course.

lmboogie · July 2007

Seriously, what is UP with that? There is no one Latin look and no Latin race

i can certainly relate to that. that really used to piss me off but i've gotten over it. i got over it because at the end of the day we are in america and most people here really don't understand the differences nor are they that interested. this may sound wierd but if someone asks me are you puerto rican, i say yes. whatever country they decide to chose i usually respond with yup that's where i'm from.

caseopele · July 2007

I'm Greek and Irish and people tell me all the time that I don't look "Irish" or "Greek". I've never understood that kind of thinking. It's not quite the same but I've had Greek people give me shit for not speaking Greek. My first day in a music class a few years ago a Greek guy was sitting next to me. When he heard my last name he turned to me and asked if I was Greek. I told him I was half, he said, "Oh." Then turned around and didn't speak to me for the rest of the semester.

doublediamond · July 2007

lmboogie wrote: this may sound wierd but if someone asks me are you puerto rican, i say yes. whatever country they decide to chose i usually respond with yup that's where i'm from.

That's a really good idea. I may try that.

filmlover44 · July 2007

lmboogie wrote: filmlover44 - would they get irate when you indicated you didn't speak spanish?

my mom would have cussed you out. i think it's funny now but when i was a kid it was mortifying..... my mom would approach someone and start speaking to them in spanish (only if she thought you were hispanic) if the person didn't speak spanish, she would lose it and start yelling at them to stop hiding who they were... it's ok to speak spanish... you don't have to assimilate so much to deny your native tongue. mom was big into preserving our culture and ensuring we didn't become to "americanized" or as she would say "blancita"

No, thank goodness I never had that happen! I think that my yo no comprendo accent was so bad that they instantly realized that they had mistaken my ethnicity.

I have had a couple of people yell at me for "hiding" my ethnicity or for not picking one, but I've never hidden anything about myself nor picked an ethnicity.

filmlover44 · July 2007

lmboogie wrote:
Seriously, what is UP with that? There is no one Latin look and no Latin race
i can certainly relate to that. that really used to piss me off but i've gotten over it. i got over it because at the end of the day we are in america and most people here really don't understand the differences nor are they that interested. this may sound wierd but if someone asks me are you puerto rican, i say yes. whatever country they decide to chose i usually respond with yup that's where i'm from.

Whenever people ask me where I am from, I say "America"! It always makes me laugh. I have ancestors who came over on slave ships and others who came over on the Mayflower and some who came from Ireland and Sweden in the 19th century, so I'm pretty American.

izisharp · July 2007

Subject: Re: Full disclosure on my race and social-economic backgroun

lmboogie wrote: landed a wall street job that allowed me to travel the world and pays me an obscene amount of benjamins.

Now you've crossed the line. I.e., i'm envious. :x

raw · July 2007

I've met Cubans of every complexion.

Full disclosure on my race and social-economic background

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