Rosie Perez, a well-known director and activist in racial affairs, produced a documentary entitled "¡Yo Soy Boricua!, (I am Puerto Rican) in an attempt to explain the importance of understanding what being a "Puerto Rican" means. Specifically, she explains what being an American of Puerto Rican descent means, and why Puerto Ricans have been so "obsessed" with their heritage and ancestry. Perez does this by going into detail about her own heritage (as she is also Puerto Rican) as well as the socio-political history of Puerto Rico. However, despite the prevalence it holds in Puerto Rican society, Perez omitted the history of West Africans and their culture in Puerto Rico. Historically, it has been found that "modern-day" Puerto Ricans are actually the result of centuries of cohabitation with people of European, West African and Indigenous descent, especially the last two. Still, there remains a denial of Puerto Ricans being descendants of West African slaves, which can be seen in Perez's work.
It has been common practice throughout history for people to try and negate the presence of the African component while giving much more emphasis to the White American and European component. Perez is no exception. It is important to have pride in one’s heritage, but it’s even more important to embrace your full heritage-- not the “glamorous” half.
In 1994, friends Gilberto Villarreal and J.D. Urbina formed the Texas Chicano Brotherhood in Hidalgo County after splitting from their former gang, the Tri-City Bombers. Although the reason for the fissure between the two gangs remains unclear, it is believed that there was racial tension between Villarreal and other members of the Tri-City Bombers. Villarreal’s stepmother, Penny Villarreal, was African American. Despite himself being of full Cuban descent, Villarreal felt led to claim that he himself was “half black”, because of his interest in black culture. This led to a falling out between Villarreal and other members of his former gang due to the carrying belief that Villarreal was denying his Hispanic heritage. After leaving the gang and creating the TCB, Villarreal and Urbina went through the process of adding new members to their growing “brotherhood”. Though the majority of these members were, and are still today, of Hispanic origin, there is a significant number of multi-racial members that are taking part in the gang. Many of them are Afro-Latinos.
The majority of young people who have joined the TCB, and other gangs in general, join because they have specific needs that are going unmet. Social acceptance is one of the factors for why many young men and women throw themselves into a life of crime and violence. "The gang is an important social institution [...] because it often serves social, cultural, and economic functions no longer adequately performed by family, school, and the local market." (Spergel 1991, preface) Gangs are an adaptive social mechanism for satisfying the needs of some youth which are not, or cannot be, met through traditional and socially acceptable avenues. As a result, gangs such as the Texas Chicano Brotherhood are, unfortunately, the only outlet many Afro-Latinos have for them to face a world that treats them unequally due to their mixed background.
On top of being one of the more "preferred" hairstyles of women, straight hair has also been tagged as an Eurocentric value that has been imposed on black women in and outside of the United States. It is true, many African American women have given up their coarse curls for smoother, straighter hair; however, claiming that the reason for the stylistic change is due solely on assimilation is a viewpoint that I cannot agree with. In an article from the Miami Herald entitled "Black Denial", the author Frances Robles suggesting that this practice of straightening hair was a form of denial of African heritage. In one instance, he states "And to many [...] to look pretty is to look less black". I refuse to believe that the denial of an entire culture could be denied single-handedly through the applying of relaxers, chemicals or weaves to one's hair, and I am actually astonished that someone would believe that this is the case. There were some truths in Robles article that pointed put the wounds that still continue linger in the hearts of those who suffered under colonial rule from both the Europeans and the Spaniards. It is an unfortunate fact that some people refuse to identify with being black, and instead choose other "dark-skinned" races such as Native Indians to relate to out of social anxiety and grief.
Currently, there has been a merging of a multitude of peoples who have gathered together for one purpose: to seek basic human rights in their homeland. Similar to the Black Civil Rights Movement that took place in the United States not too long ago, the black population in Latin American countries such as Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Cuba has begun to embrace sentiments shared by outstanding members of the race riots that were waged decades ago. In fact, one prominent non-political movement for racial equality among blacks is called the Martin Luther King Movement for Civil Rights. These movements have erupted from the continual years of hardship faced by blacks in Latin America as well as African American proponents from all corners of the world. In Nicaragua alone, it was found that "blacks in the region are more likely to be born into poverty, to die young, to read poorly and to live in substandard housing". ("Afro-Latin Americans: A rising voice") Fortunately there are those who are willing and waiting to assist there fellow brethren from the United States. In the summer of 2007, U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks had rallied supporters and proponents for this "black power" movement while hosting the Congressional Black Caucus. During this televised event, Meeks discussed the sordid living conditions of much of the black population with the Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. Since then, many other politicians have followed suit. I find it encouraging that Latin American has taken a great part of America's past and incorporated it into their own factions. Though I believe America still has a ways to go to reach true racial equality, knowing that one nation is not alone with keeping this ideal is truly comforting.
This past week, my class had to read an article entitled "Left Out", which argued why several prominent Afro-Latino baseball players should be inducted into the Negro Leagues's own award showcase. The author also stated why these players were left out in the first place, which was due to their skin color and mixed ethnicity. The players' behavior on and off the field, their accomplishments, and all of thier hard work were ignored, leaving them isolated from their counterparts; even their African-American teammates at times kept their distance. Afro-Lations still shared much of the suffering of African-Americans due to Jim Crow laws that were in full effect at that time, but ultimately had no real community to fall back on in times of desperation. Still, many Afro-Latinos did not let these burdens befall them, and played to the best of their abilities under all circumstances.
We also were told to view a poetry presentation by Willie Perdomo, who talks about his challenges with being an Afro-Latino himself. He summed up of both sides of his race were unable to accept that he was indeed a "mixture" of the two, but instead claimed that he was one or the other-- either a dark-toned Puerto Rican or a light-skinned black man. This ties in with a number of other articles we have read in the past. I particularly liked this poem due to its relatability. Everyone at some point in time has struggled with his or her identity, and society can also have an heavy impact on what to view someone as.
Works Cited:
Burgos, Adrian. "Left Out." Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line. Berkeley: University of California, 2007. Print.
To piggy-back off of my previous blog, I have narrowed my classical argument paper about minority's portrayal in films and television to stereotypes that have been generated about Arabs and Muslims in not only media, but in society as well. Ever since 9/11, there has been an nation-wide generalization that most, if not all, members of the Muslim religion are secretly terrorists, or harbor anti-American sentiments. Degrading images of Arabs all across the media, (the internet, for example, has numerous pictures of cartooned-versions of Islamic terrorists screaming gibberish before exploding into a colorful burst of orange and red) offer devastating implications of the stereotypical Arab. Over time, these images have served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture in general. This has lead to many Americans creating a narrow and one-sided view of Arabs and their culture. Hollywood, and media in general, has inspired people from all over the globe to depict an entire race as hostile, unwanted, giving no warrants about the social, political, and basic human consequences of letting these stereotypes be.
A film, "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People," communicates to its viewers that change is necessary and that those who injustly stereotype a diverse and varied people such as the Arabs are only ignorant of the reality and richness of a country's history and culture. There re a few that may say that the creators of movies such as "Reel Bad Arabs" only pick-and-choose interesting antedotes meant to arouse entertainment value or sentimentality over more humanistic ventures. However, a movie's sole purpose should never be to enterntain. Movies, films, TV shows and other areas of media also harbor the ability to educate its audience. For those who may not know much about the Arabic people or any other minority, movies such as the one below can become a source of enlightenment.
For a paper that is due this week, I have decided to write about how minorities are often portrayed stereotypically in the media such as TV and films. I choose to write about this subject due to a case I heard about in class surrounding the movie Red Tails and how its creator, George Lucas, had to essentially fund his own movie. To be precise, $58 million of his own money. ("Red Tails") This was a result of Hollywood's refusal to fund a film featuring minorities (in this case, blacks) in a more befitting role than the usual background character slot or comedic side that is ultimately overshadowed by another more influential character. In some cases, minorities are depicted as the antagonist(s) of the story or, as the title suggests, either play yet another stereotypical role in yet another Tyler Perry skit or die from some unnatural cause before the story actually begins.
The fact that nearly every major movie corporation refused to support Red Tails due to its inclusion of an "all-black cast" is a major signal of society's trend of keeping certain ethnic groups in their place, and how far America has to go in order to truly provide "equal rights" for all.
Works Cited Page
This, Hide. "‘Red Tails’ Based on the Tuskegee Airmen Opens Friday - The Root DC Live - The Washington Post." Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. .
