In this election year, I wonder why it is that those of us identified as Latino feel the need to point out what a diverse community we are? There's no doubt we are, and that we are differentiated based on national-origin, immigrant status, and skin color. Certainly we should acknowledge our differences, but perhaps all of our assertions of difference are politically detrimental at a certain point.
Thanks to various national polls, we all know that "Latino" and "Hispanic" are not universally accepted terms among those to which they are ascribed. We also know that many who fit into the "Latino/Hispanic" census category also reject additional racial categories and choose "some other race" rather than "white" or "black." These technical questions hint at the complicated way in which the Latino moniker is positioned with regards to racial identity.
It is clear that the Latino category's status as neither black nor white has created in the Latino-identified a level of discomfort with the notion of race. For society, as well. We all noticed a shift in the Trayvon Martin case when the one-drop rule got applied to George Zimmerman and he was re-categorized as Latino as media pictures featured his newly shaved head--what appeared to be a conscious attempt at visibly marking his race. Some of the outcries pointing to a hate crime were diluted.
Because Latinos know they do not fit into the black-white binary construct of race relations that has dominated American political and cultural rhetoric, they themselves have come to believe that their racial ambiguity means that they can opt out of identifying racially. Rhetoric supports this, although not perhaps reality. Take for instance an earlier article on this website, in which Susana Gamboa states "Whites, blacks and Asian Americans are all considered a racial group. Hispanics are an ethnic group, which means although they share a common language, culture and heritage, they do not share a common race." But, most anyone who studies race today understands the basic principle that race is a socially-constructed category. And if it signifies in its most empowering form what academic Michael Dawson refers to as "linked fate" (or a sense of collective unity), then why should we pretend that Latinos can opt out of racial identification? Yes, Latinos experience differential skin color privilege, just like African-Americans; but Latinos are nevertheless marked as non-white and, increasingly, non-American.
Even though the Latino-identified may find themselves at the intersection and overlap of various racial categories, they are not immune to the racialization processes that affect all Americans. We can all name negative stereotypes associated with the Latino identity; stigmatizations as macho, sexualized, criminal, illegal, and non English-speaking. By denying that the race-ing process exists, it becomes difficult to denounce acts of racism--because, after all, if Latinos are not a race, how can they be treated with racism? And it is our common experience with racism that unites us as Latinos.
This is precisely where insisting that politicians need to focus on our diverse heritage can undermine our political power. Those of us who fit into the Latino category seem to sometimes forget to acknowledge what brings us together. It is not fitting into an oversimplified identity term, but rather our commonality of experience, the racialized way in which we are treated. It's not that Mitt Romney doesn't "get" us; it's that his campaign hasn't proposed policy that will benefit the average working-class or middle-class Latino family in terms of economic and educational opportunity, access to healthcare, or immigration reform that doesn't implement punitive second-class citizenship.
For our part, the most powerful tool available to us--coalition-building--has not been adequately activated around our politically-mobilizing, panethnic racial identity as Latinos. We too easily accept neoliberal multiculturalism as an ideal, persuaded that mobilizing around racial identity is inherently racist itself.
The Latino identity is one that can complement the ethnic-specific one. It has become clear to me that those of us who are identified as Latino are missing out on an important opportunity to link ourselves--with our diverse physical features, dialects, countries of origin--in a common cause to better the quality of life for our families and communities.
Instead of taking politicians to task for not understanding the mighty differences among and between the Latino-identified, let's take them up on their homogenizing rhetoric and use our racialized identity as a political tool. Let's coalesce around our Latino leaders pushing for our families and communities; to name a few, Luis Gutierrez, Janet Murguia, Anthony Romero, and Angelica Salas. Let's be a little more saavy about racial politics in the U.S. and instead of rejecting race-based alliances, use them to our advantage. Whether we like it or not, we are racially categorized as Latino, and it is up to us to decide whether to go into denial about it or use it strategically.
Marian Wright Edelman: Poison in America
John Merrow: A Deafening Silence
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 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
"Whether we like it or not, we are racially categorized as Latino, and it is up to us to decide whether to go into denial about it or use it strategically."
Nobody should tell you who you are or how to identify yourself. You're not L or H if you don't want to, no matter the fact that forms and people would want you to fit into certain categories. There are limits, of course. I'm not an 80-year Japanese woman and I don't think I ever will. Other than that, it's open season, baby.
You're the only one who can decide your own identity. But you may say, nay, society decides,. You mean, people? You mean, American people? These people for the most part fail
a) on science: 70+% believe evolution is just a theory
b) on philosophy: again, about 70% believe in the devil and that JC will come back to save humanity
c) politics and history: can barely name 3 fomer presidents.
d) geography: can't even locate their own states on a map, let alone other countries.
These same people are supposed to be experts on ethnology and identity politics? I don't think so.
1. "LaTino" isNOT a race---never has been. Nor is it a political, spiritual or cosmic condition that affects any demographic.We do IN FACT exist on very separate ethnic, cultural, racial and political planes.We are NOT of one mind.
2. To attempt to gloss-over or"poo-poo"REAL ethnic,cultural,racial,class differences is a form of denial that leads us blind-folded to the rear end of a donkey with a paper tail in our hands---not a very worthwhile expenditure especially in the academic/intellectual realm.
3. To point to politicians who have made their dubious "careers" mis-representing,mis-leading,mis-analyzing FACTS for political mileage is an unwise tack to follow,unless politicalpandering is the ONLY goal.
4. Regardless of our REAL ethnic, cultural, racial and cosmic coordinates,we ALL deserve to have our REAL differences respected and not reduced to the status of political magic-markers.
5. The minute a "LaTino" spokes-idiot begins to tell ME, who I am,my history,my identity,my politics,my religion,they have just made an enemy for life.
6. If my being of Corsican-Basque-Canary Islander & Irish background AND being born and raised in Puerto Rico and NOT surprisingly being WHITE and working/living in the US, San Juan,the Middle East and Mallorca is toooooo profound for any aspiring scholar,then my only suggestion is to change academic regimens to something with less rigor like "La-Tino" Belly-Dancing.
Stripping 40 million people of their cultural, ethnic, racial and personal history just turns everyone into tail-to-nose donkeys wandering across the Taco Bell parking lot.
Start without me. I know a con-job when I see it, hear it, smell it and ESPECIALLY when I step in it.
I saw a slogan on a guys car that said "Proud to be an American" and I thought "What the does that mean?"
I'm fully Irish, and when I was a kid I would go to the St Patrick's Day parade and they sold a button that said "Proud to be Irish", but I knew that on Columbus day they sold the same button only it said "Proud to be Italian", then came Black Pride, and Puerto Rican Pride. And I could never understand national or ethnic pride, because to me Pride should be reserved for something you achieve on your own.
Being Irish isn't a skill, it's a genetic accident.
You wouldn't be proud to be 5'11". You wouldn't be proud to have a pre-disposition for colon cancer.
It is truly disheartening to continue to read these vapid, shallow "La Tino" brainwashes in the HP.
I always log-in hopeful, but leave disgusted by the continuous pandering of these ignorant "articles" that beg to be placed in the re-cycle bin earlier than usual...so sad...thanks.
not excusing just pointing out
your point is valid, however to the bigger "point"...any time you buy-into arbitrarily-ascribed "labels" meant at distracting from the REAL issues at hand, what you end up with is a group that is even more divided along personal, political and even philosophical lines, never mind that we DO NOT all think the same about any issue...thinking like that expressed in this article is representative of shallow understanding of issues/concerns requiring much more sophisticated and culturally-senstive treatment, analysis and synthesis...all very lacking in contemporary "La Tino" wannabe-treatises...