Librada Loera Ybarra, my grandfather's mom, was a platinum blonde, my mother says, with blue eyes and fine skin. Felicitas Carillo had brown ringlet curls, a fine lady who died when my grandmother was young. Bis-Abuelito Porfirio Ramos was also a blonde, with eyes like the sea, a pale blue-green. His wife Mercedes Perez was mixed, how or to what degree we didn't know, but she was beautiful. Black ringlet curls, green eyes and pale skin (or was it dark?). "Maybe Bis-Abuela Mercedes was mixed with French," my mom suggests. "Look at the dark skin and light eyes of Grandma's brothers and sisters". How Abuelita Aurea and her sisters ended up with auburn hair and gray-green eyes I'll never know.
Most Latinos, inspired by grammar school "family tree" projects, have had a similar conversation with their parents. "We are white," my mother implies.
I can list my European ancestors, but ask me about Jose Cruz Espinoza, about Nicolas Rodriguez and Benito Guzman, and suddenly the old family photos disappear. "He was short, dark, an ugly man." Ugly in Latin America means indigenous.
If we are honest, we will admit that we are mixed. We will that we are mestizos (white and indigenous), admit we are mulattos (white and black), admit we are zambos (black and indigenous), as well as the ethnic components which make up these.
I despise comments which imply that racial mixture in Latin America was the result of rapes and conquest. I do not mean to deny the reality of what occurred, but I regret that voluntary mestizaje (racial mixing) is often left out of the equation and rarely acknowledged. In my family, it seems the mestizo social climbers married European women. I hope that my racial heritage is the result of loving relationships, despite the political and social implications of marrying "lighter."
It is the stigma of rape, of conquest and colonization, which forces us to identify ourselves as conquerors (white) and not the conquered (indigenous) or enslaved (black). It is these implications of class and social standing which cause the Latin American exaltation of Whiteness.
This also leads to snobbery among Latinos of various national origins. My editor wanted "facts," "figures," "census data." I countered that these were useless because many people, as well as governments, lie. These figures mean nothing. According to these, Argentina doesn't have any blacks. These have been "lightened," co-opted, assimilated into the general population. In addition, the indigenous population has been annihilated, leaving few original peoples in the hinterlands. Census data in Argentina is also loath to acknowledge recent indigenous immigration from neighboring countries. Argentines ARE very white, but the majority of Argentines are of Italian descent, not Spanish. Everybody knows the Italians never conquered anybody. Argentines also acknowledge many German ancestors as proof of their Whiteness. Nazis in the family tree aren't anything to brag about.
Mexico's central region, including my home state of Jalisco, shows French influence due to the brief reign of Emperor Maximillian and Empress Carlotta. The northern region saw later Spanish immigration as well as Polish, German Catholics, and Russian and Sephardic Jews. The southern region (similar to Central American countries) is mostly indigenous, long forgotten due to its limited economic resources. Along the Atlantic coast, Mexico is home to colonies of full black, zambo and mulatto peoples. There are even significant Asian populations along the Pacific Coast. Mexicans are a microcosm of the world.
Peru follows a similar pattern as a mestizo nation. Its black population is limited by the scarcity of house slaves in the region, and Italians comprised a significant European immigrant group. More notably, Peru has significant Japanese and Chinese populations.
Other nations, Columbia, Venezuela and Brazil, follow a three-way mixture. These people include white, indigenous, black and every combination of these. I have heard it said that Venezuelans refer to their racial mixture as "cafe con leche" or coffee with milk. Brazil in particular is a very mulatto nation. Like Argentina, Brazil saw a large influx of Italian immigrants at the turn of the century. Its large African population is the basis for its mulatto and African-inspired culture. The Japanese have also played an important role in the development of Brazil.
Caribbean nations, due to their dependence on slave labor, are comprised of African and mulatto populations. Cubans are still very white, but for the most part, they are descended from poor Spanish immigrants in later generations and are not necessarily conquerors.
Race is a sensitive topic for Latin Americans. This article is difficult to write because I am discussing a topic which is central to my daily life; it affects the way I react to others and the way others react to me. Yet it is a silent specter, always acknowledged but never addressed.
In Latin America, race does not exist. Neither does racism. This is what they tell you. This is the polite lie of government officials, of friends and relatives. They do not notice that you are darker/lighter, more indigenous/ European looking. Bull.
I got blasted last quarter by a little freshman girl who saw "light-skinned" in one of my articles and took personal offense. Skin color was the not the topic of that discussion. This just proves that people will always take away from an article whatever values they place upon it and whatever they bring to it to begin with. "Didn't you know about the light-skinned Jalisciences?" she asked. You're telling me? Of course I do.
We are always told of the European influence within our nation of origin. I have blonde cousins as well as darker cousins. I have Arcadia cousins who pass for white.
With the vast array of racial mixture among Latin Americans, it's hard to define yourself. Choosing boxes for census data and other forms poses a problem. You may know that I am a Mexican woman, a "Latina-Chicana-Hispanic-American," but my birth certificate says "caucasian." I don't know why exactly this happened.
My mom says it is because the nurse saw her (dyed) auburn hair, saw that she could speak English well, and just thought she could list us as white. My mother is fairly light-skinned, as is the rest of her family. I know my mom, and despite her slight accent, I don't think her English was that good 23 years ago. With a name like Maria De La Luz Espinoza Guzman, I'm pretty sure the white nurse could've figured out that my mom was a Mexican lady.
I guess she (the nurse) thought she was doing me a favor. Drop the accent, and "Guzman" sounds German doesn't it? I never realized how European my name sounds till a white girl said my name - Mimi Guzman. That's far different from the way I write my name every day - Noemi Guzman.
I found out later, when doing research for a class project, that the U.S. census only includes three races - black, white/caucasian and Asian. Latinos (Hispanics) are listed in another section. We are supposed to mark one of the three boxes that best describes our racial group.
Is there a box for "all of the above"?
I'm not exceedingly light and not exceedingly dark either. I always say I'm as close to the middle as you can get. Light or dark, it depends on who you are comparing me to. I am often mistaken for Italian, Philipina, Persian and even Turkish once. It makes sense that I should be mistaken for peoples who have also been at the crossroads and are the result of racial mixtures.
Latinos are aware of skin color and physical features from an early age. We get nicknames like "guero" and "prieta" ("light-skinned boy" and "dark girl") as children. We notice who is called pretty and whose hair is the best, are told that light eyes are always better. We get these messages, about the value of whiteness, about the distaste for color, and internalize these. We notice that the lighter children are the favorites.
It's hard to think that you are pretty with these kinds of racial standards. I remember once my mother saying that Max Factor, or some other famous Hollywood makeup artist, said that Latina women were the most beautiful in the world. Our indigenous bone structure and more delicate European features were what made us beautiful. Today, Patricia Velasquez (half Amazon Indian, half Spanish) is recognized as a beautiful woman. Salma Hayek (mestiza/indigena) is recognized as a beautiful woman. This is an improvement over the women portrayed in Latino telenovelas (soap operas) who still worship a white ideal of beauty.
For a long time, I hated my straight black hair, always wished that it was curly, always wished that it was lighter. For over 20 years, I never noticed how thick and full and shiny my hair is. How dark hair can reflect light. How the mulatta girls wished they had hair like mine. I know that I am a Latina of mixed-racial heritage, and I refuse to lighten my hair or change my physical features in order to pursue a standard of beauty which is not mine.
So I keep my family pictures, the ones with the hawk-nosed relatives, the darker grandfathers, as well as the European ones. I cling to the picture of Mercedes and her children, where noses and ringlet hair reveal an African influence - through Morocco and Spain or untold origins. It is all of these people, which make up who I am - my round (indigenous) face, my more delicate (European) facial structure, my small mouth, my full lips, my light skin, my ability to tan, the strands of red and castano brown, and the rope-like black hairs that prove that I am mixed.
Vasconcelos wrote a book of essays titled "Raza Cosmica". I sought it out as inspiration for this article. It didn't move me. But what I remembered from the first time I read it was his belief that as mixed people, Latin Americans are the future of the human race - to be all peoples, all nations.
We are not bastards, not half-breeds, but whole peoples. I am all peoples. I am Raza Cosmica.
Joined: 02 Feb 2010 {Posts: 5 } Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 14:39 Post subject:
Greetings
Vasconcelos' 'Cosmic Race' is mestizaje in disguise, and very flawed. His concept of race as how he wanted to see a Mexican society, which during his time was a more indigenous in appearance -- and less European / mestizo.
To apply this concept deep-rooted in the racist ideas of his time [social Darwinism, eugenics and whitening] to the whole of Latin America is simply 'wishful thinking'. How does one reconcile Vasconcelos' concept with places such as Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras, Belize, DR, Cuba etc...... without phasing out the dominant cultures / customs & ethnicities? Folks will hold down strongly to a heritage which makes them 'whole'. I for one would not exchange / & or compromise what makes me whole for a flawed ideal -- which doesn't or rarely recognizes the heritage of my folks and their ways.
Anything that strives for lightness until folks who look like me 'disappear', as the case in Argentina, and perhaps Chile is dangerous to my well-being and unacceptable -- Also, it will be fiercely resisted.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 15:46 Post subject: Cosmic Race
Olorun1 wrote:
...
Vasconcelos' 'Cosmic Race' is mestizaje in disguise, and very flawed. His concept of race as how he wanted to see a Mexican society, which during his time was a more indigenous in appearance -- and less European / mestizo.
To apply this concept deep-rooted in the racist ideas of his time [social Darwinism, eugenics and whitening] to the whole of Latin America is simply 'wishful thinking'.
Quite wrong, Olorun1.
The idea of the Cosmic Race is the basic "racial" ideology of Latin America. Is deeply rooted in our phylosophy of life.
Moreover, I don't believe Vasconcelos created the concept but only put it in writing. The idea came from Roman times. The idea that you can become a citizen of Rome regardless of your origin. Rome was the first "Cosmic Race".
Now, during the conquest if you become Christian you belonged to the Cosmic Race and period. The Cosmic Race was once called Christianity.
Have not you hear the terms "Raza" or "day of the Race"? They don't celebrate a particular racial features. That is the celebration of the Cosmic Race that exist in the Hispanic civilization.
Quote:
How does one reconcile Vasconcelos' concept with places such as Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras, Belize, DR, Cuba etc......
Why not?
They are also part of the Cosmic Race. In all of those countries you will find melting pots of different people. (Belize is not Latino so I will exclude from this discussion). In Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Panama you find peoples of Indian ancestry in large proportions, but the large majorities are always mixed heritage people. In Cuba you find a lot of people of Black heritage but they have European and Indian in them as well. Nobody escape from it in Latin America.
And we know it.
Quote:
without phasing out the dominant cultures / customs & ethnicities? Folks will hold down strongly to a heritage which makes them 'whole'. I for one would not exchange / & or compromise what makes me whole for a flawed ideal --
You are following the idea of multiculturalism, the modern way to separate the people in guettoes. Multiculturalism is just another form of racism. The Cosmic Race ideology is about sharing, not about separing people in boxes.
Quote:
which doesn't or rarely recognizes the heritage of my folks and their ways.
Which are your folks? and who say that heritage is not recognized? You have to go where your folks are numerous and you'll find what you are looking for there.
Quote:
Anything that strives for lightness until folks who look like me 'disappear', as the case in Argentina, and perhaps Chile is dangerous to my well-being and unacceptable -- Also, it will be fiercely resisted.
Nobody has dissapeared. People assimilate and addapt to the customs.
Perhaps you will find that descendents of those "dissapeared" people are today very proud of theirs current heritage and culture.
Joined: 02 Feb 2010 {Posts: 5 } Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 16:53 Post subject:
Omar wrote:
Quote:
Who are you to judge them?
Here we go again. Your post is full of contradictions. I can go on and shred your definition of multiculturalism / admixture / mestizaje etc.. and the concept of a 'cosmic race', but is it worth it -- I think not. In formulating a harmonious society, just equality ought to be the measure by which success is validated. Where in Latin America this 'utopian world' exists, Omar?
In response to your quote above; I'm somebody, a human being - hopefully like yourself with very strong personal opinions, w/ a modest degree of education. I also have a solid definition of self, deep-rooted in afrocentered thought [not Afrocentrism extremes]. You are the one passing judgement with what I write.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 17:03 Post subject: Uruguay
Olorun1 wrote:
Omar wrote:
Quote:
Who are you to judge them?
Here we go again. Your post is full of contradictions. I can go on and shred your definition of multiculturalism / admixture / mestizaje etc.. and the concept of a 'cosmic race', but is it worth it -- I think not. In formulating a harmonious society, just equality ought to be the measure by which success is validated. Where in Latin America this 'utopian world' exists, Omar?
We have failed in lots of things. But at least in here there is less racism that in the U.S. And we truly believe all humans belong to the same race.
Quote:
In response to your quote above; I'm somebody, a human being - hopefully like yourself with very strong personal opinions, w/ a modest degree of education. I also have a solid definition of self, deep-rooted in afrocentered thought [not Afrocentrism extremes]. You are the one passing judgement with what I write.
It was not my intention to offend you. Sorry if I did.
By the way, in the case of Argentina, why don't you check the African heritage of neighbour Uruguay (just accross the River). If you got the chance, ask any Uruguayan, regardless of color, about Candombe and what it means for that country. Then, perhaps, that perspective would change. I hope.
We have failed in lots of things. But at least in here there is less racism that in the U.S. And we truly believe all humans belong to the same race.
Hi Omar - How are you defining racism? I'm always hesitant to say that a country with entrenched white/European supremacism and a legacy of racial slavery is more or less racist than another. What are you comparing to make that conclusion?
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 18:23 Post subject: Racism
sagascend wrote:
Quote:
We have failed in lots of things. But at least in here there is less racism that in the U.S. And we truly believe all humans belong to the same race.
Hi Omar - How are you defining racism? I'm always hesitant to say that a country with entrenched white/European supremacism and a legacy of racial slavery is more or less racist than another. What are you comparing to make that conclusion?
Good point,
When I think in racism is in discrimination in terms of phenotype.
There are other classes of discrimination: social class, money, culture, sex, behavoir, country, religion, political ideas, etc., which I don't include in the cathegory of "racism", and that may be very pressent in here as well.
And when I talk about racism I think in discrimination based in phenotype among locals. Latin Americans are usually very xenophobic people, so we should be aware of that fact. But discrimination between locals in base of phenotype, although exist, is not as marked like in most of the world. No race barrier exist. And anyone can marry the person it likes, regardless of phenotype, and people won't even comment it.
Class prejudices are another matter. But is important to know that classism is not the same as racism. Classism is a sort of Mafia in the Corleone's style, which in here does not go along racial groups. Certainly is not the same.
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 {Posts: 282 } Location: 51st State
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 18:45 Post subject: First Contact
Mimi Guzman wrote:
I despise comments which imply that racial mixture in Latin America was the result of rapes and conquest. I do not mean to deny the reality of what occurred, but I regret that voluntary mestizaje (racial mixing) is often left out of the equation and rarely acknowledged.
Is there any proof that racial mixture didn’t occur by rape and conquest?
What do we hear more news reports of when a nation is away at war: volunatary hook-ups or murders and rapes?
These facts don’t rule out loving soldier-native hook-ups or war-brides.
Quote:
In my family, it seems the mestizo social climbers married European women. I hope that my racial heritage is the result of loving relationships, despite the political and social implications of marrying "lighter."
It is the stigma of rape, of conquest and colonization, which forces us to identify ourselves as conquerors (white) and not the conquered (indigenous) or enslaved (black). It is these implications of class and social standing which cause the Latin American exaltation of Whiteness.
Isn’t this sort of identifying with the oppressor? How can whiteness be exalted if Latins are the La Raza?
Quote:
This also leads to snobbery among Latinos of various national origins. My editor wanted "facts," "figures," "census data." I countered that these were useless because many people, as well as governments, lie. These figures mean nothing. According to these, Argentina doesn't have any blacks. These have been "lightened," co-opted, assimilated into the general population. In addition, the indigenous population has been annihilated, leaving few original peoples in the hinterlands.
How is it people and governments are having to lie about social and political facts and figures, if Latin America has reached La Raza?
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 19:03 Post subject: Re: First Contact
Altertude wrote:
Mimi Guzman wrote:
I despise comments which imply that racial mixture in Latin America was the result of rapes and conquest. I do not mean to deny the reality of what occurred, but I regret that voluntary mestizaje (racial mixing) is often left out of the equation and rarely acknowledged.
Is there any proof that racial mixture didn’t occur by rape and conquest?
There was some abusses, for certain, and extreme cruelty as well, like in the Far West of the United States. But the crazy idea that the admixture happened only because of rape is something only people of the U.S. can imagine
Nope. Since the beginning there were interracial marryages in the Americas, and not only between poors but also between rich people (where do you think the upper classes of the Inca and Aztec empires ended up? Well, in the upper classes of the Spanish colonies)
If you doubt it, why don't you seach for the church records. They used to describe the races of the people that got married.
Code:
What do we hear more news reports of when a nation is away at war: volunatary hook-ups or murders and rapes?
The idea that the Spanish Empire was always at war is absurd. The conquest lasted no more that five years in each country. In the rest people has to live in a more serious manner. Don't you think?
Quote:
Isn’t this sort of identifying with the oppressor? How can whiteness be exalted if Latins are the La Raza?
The oppressors were the Spaniards. We beat them in battle and expulsed them from these lands. And that was it.
Quote:
How is it people and governments are having to lie about social and political facts and figures, if Latin America has reached La Raza?
Lie about what?
Do you tell you a secret? Nobody cares about "whiteness" in Latin America. People care about possition and money. People care about national heritages. People cares about universal culture. Not about "whiteness" and less about the destiny of the germanic peoples of Northern Europe. They are not us and we are not them. Not in the past and not in the future.
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 {Posts: 282 } Location: 51st State
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 19:56 Post subject: Re: First Contact
oevega wrote:
Altertude wrote:
What do we hear more news reports of when a nation is away at war: volunatary hook-ups or murders and rapes?
The idea that the Spanish Empire was always at war is absurd. The conquest lasted no more that five years in each country. In the rest people has to live in a more serious manner. Don't you think?
Are you saying the Spanish Empire went to war with the "New World"?
I think you should try to read carefully, and the way you describe Spanish conquest sounds like an 18-30, or maybe Club Med holiday.
oevega wrote:
Altertude wrote:
How is it people and governments are having to lie about social and political facts and figures, if Latin America has reached La Raza?
Lie about what?
Do you tell you a secret? Nobody cares about "whiteness" in Latin America. People care about possition and money. People care about national heritages. People cares about universal culture. Not about "whiteness" and less about the destiny of the germanic peoples of Northern Europe. They are not us and we are not them. Not in the past and not in the future.
I believe you, millions wouldn't. It's in the article, read it, you said it was good, now your implying the author is lying.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Tue 11 Jul 2006 21:55 Post subject: Re: First Contact
Altertude wrote:
..Are you saying the Spanish Empire went to war with the "New World"?
Yes. Did not you know it? Spanish colonies rebeled against the Metropolis. That's fourth degree primary school stuff.
Quote:
I think you should try to read carefully, and the way you describe Spanish conquest sounds like an 18-30, or maybe Club Med holiday.
Not really. It is just that I don't follow the "Black legend" of the Spanish Empire invented by the Dutch and promoted by the Brits. Spaniards soldiers were cruel, like any soldier. But people is people, and in the Spanish lands there was more respect for people that in the Dutch, French or British Caribbean, and that in the U.S. too. Crimes existed, but that is not the whole story of the Spanish Empire.
Quote:
I believe you, millions wouldn't. It's in the article, read it, you said it was good, now your implying the author is lying.
The concept of whiteness is different. For you guys means the ethnic group of the WASP. For us is just a phenotype.
It is entertaining to see two extremes debate. Both of you have valid points, but you close yourself off in your attempt to prove your point. The one i am most impresed with is Olorun. Again, I like the new leaf.
Omar, you will ignore evidence right in your face just to claim there arent Afrodescent and Indigenous experiences that are opressive and that somehow this cosmic race exists. On the other side, we have those who would deny that in many people this mentality can exist. For many the mentality of the cosmic race is a reality. unfortunately it is not all, and the most powerful are still very racist over all.
Joined: 04 May 2005 {Posts: 2021 } Location: santiago, chile
Posted: Wed 12 Jul 2006 02:57 Post subject: Cosmic race
Salsassin wrote:
... For many the mentality of the cosmic race is a reality. unfortunately it is not all, and the most powerful are still very racist over all.
Hi Salssasin,
You are right!
The powerful are the vampires people and the s..t of the world. No surprise they don't feel part of the Cosmic Race. The powerful don't work for the country they live, they race they are, or the believes they have.
All over the world. The real powerful people only work for themselves. The only thing they care is about making money and become even more powerful. They don't care even about their families, less they care about mankind.
The Cosmic Race is for the race of standard people, the common ones like you, me and everyone in here.
However, "the poor will inherit the earth". Let's hope that time is near.
'
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