Biracial (Black & White), Caribbean Colombian person
Hi! I’m making this post because I’d like to see better representation for Latin American Caribbean people in the media! The media and books usually have a very specific concept for Latine characters and I’d like to give you more options. I’m from the Caribbean region of Colombia, I’m half-Black and I immigrated to continental Mexico when I was a child.
Race
My mom is Black and my dad is a white mestizo. That means that he looks white but has heavy Indigenous ancestry. I have light brown skin, Black features and curly hair. In Latin America, race works a bit different than in the US. There’s three groups, white, indigenous and Black people, and people can be categorized in either of those categories and people who are mixed also get categorized depending on what you’re mixed with and how close to whiteness you look like. These are the vestiges of the racial caste system that was imposed on us during the days of the colony.
All Latin American people still live and have the privileges or oppression within those terms, and live within them, though a lot of us (mostly the privileged ones) don’t give it too much thought. Also! We don’t really connect race and culture the same way USA people do, because of politics within our governments that tried to gaslight us into believing that race and culture are not connected at all.
Therefore, the conflicts mixed people with two Latin American parents have are a bit different. I don’t have to pick between my Black side and my white side because I’ve always been perceived as a half-Black person, people perceive me through my closeness to Blackness.
I have a sister, and she looks like a white-mestizo, and she never has to pick between her Black and her white side because people will always perceive her as a white-mestizo person. It’s not about picking sides or identifying with a side more, it’s about the way you look and the experiences you will be bound to have because of the way you look.
With that in mind, I’ll need you know that mixed race people can look like whatever both of our parents look like! I know mixed race people that look unambiguously one race, but people prefer to portray us as ambiguous looking people and that gives way to the prevalence of white supremacy in the media and fetishization of mixed people. There’s a lot of people here in Latin America that get into interracial relationships because they want ambiguous looking children and then make the child go through hell if they end up looking completely like a person of color. That’s fucked up, and I think portraying non ambiguous looking mixed race characters would help with that. Specially if you make them look completely like a person of color!
Micro-aggressions, Racism
I moved from a mainly Black area of Caribbean Colombia to a mainly white/mestizo area in Mexico. When you’re the only person that looks Black in a mainly white area prejudice and racism is something you probably will have to endure. Latin America is blatantly anti-Black. And non-Black people are usually blind to their own anti-blackness. Every time I’ve had disagreements, or when non-Black people don’t like me, they spit out the most anti-Black stuff, and slurs.
People give me a lot of shit because of my features and my skin, people always tried to convince me that because of them I was uglier, I was less. Even people that are mixed with indigenous try to make sure that you know that you and them are not the same because you are mixed with Black. Keep in mind that I also have privilege because I look like a light skin Black person. I’m lucky I’ve never been constantly bullied or physically assaulted.
Also! Caribbean culture is usually despised or seen as less in Latin America because of its closeness to Blackness, continental Colombians usually see Caribbean Colombians as:
Lazy.
Violent
Ignorant.
Vulgar, poor, uneducated, “hood"
Overly loud people (yes a lot of us talk loud! And fast! And we’re joyful! But white and continental Latines usually see that as distasteful)
They relate us to zoofilia and bestiality for some reason?
Caribbean men are seen as predatory.
Caribbean women are seen as overly sexual, insatiable.
They see our culture as class-less.
They see our accents, dialects as primitive and improper.
A lot of these are prejudices that are perpetuated by white people in the US too. Anti-Blackness is global.
A big part of my experience too was that people use to give me a lot of shit because of my accent, they tried to deem me as ignorant because of it and teachers and coaches used to spend hours when I was a child trying to “correct it”, even my white, Mexican dad at home said that my accent made me less than my white and indigenous Mexican peers. Caribbean Spanish dialects are heavily influenced by African tongues, the prejudice non-Caribbean have against it is, again, its closeness to Blackness. The fact that I was so pushed into correcting it both by adults and kids made me develop a stutter when I was a child, and overall messed with my ability to express my thoughts out loud. I think that’s a thing that other immigrants can relate to.
People will try to strip you from anything that makes you you, even your own family. My customs were diminished too, Caribbean music, Caribbean ways of styling ourselves were diminished too. It’s a huge reason why I’m even closer to them.
Fetishization
Caribbean women are usually sexualized a lot. Like- a lot. I’m AFAB so I gotta go through that. People see our culture as something exotic, they see the way we look as something inherently more sexual than other cultures. Caribbean culture is heavily influenced by African culture, Caribbean regions are usually 80% Black and mulato areas in Latin America, so this is intertwined with anti-Blackness. Be careful with that stereotype please.
Things that I’d like to see more.
BLACK CARIBBEAN LATINXS!!! There’s a lot of cultures within us, you can write someone from the islands (PR, DR, Haiti!!!!, Cuba) or people from the Caribbean region of Latin Countries ( Like Colombia, Venezuela, Panama!!)
Immigrant Black and half-Black Caribbean Latinx people that love their culture and try to stay close to it.
Smart, very smart Black Latinxs that are also bubbly and happy and joyful.
Black and half-Black Caribbean Latinx people with close relationships to our family! We all are usually very very close to our family, even family that we don’t live close to. We take time to talk to them every day.
Musical Black Caribbean Latinx people!! In our culture music is so intertwined with who we are, I’d love to see us portrayed as loving music, and loving Black Caribbean genres. Most of us looooove music and it’s a part of our daily lives, even if we’re not singers or musicians.
MAIN CHARACTERS!!! You know how interesting we are??? Just talk to any Black Caribbean Latinx, you’ll see what I mean. Our culture is so full of joy and magic and color and full of anecdotes that I’d love to see portrayed more. Fantasy/ Black Caribbean Latinx people??? HELL YES.
BLACK CARIBBEAN LGBT LATINX PEOPLE!!
Please prioritize non-ambiguous Black people plEASE. Enough light skin people with no black features and slightly curly hair. There’s too much of that already.
Superstitious Black Caribbean Latinx mothers and grandmothers. It’s really cute, it’s common in our culture and it’s not harmful! Just keep in mind that your characters are HUMAN, not just one cute little trait.
Things that I’d like to see less.
Read the bullet points in the micro-aggression/ racism section.
Names
Caribbean Latinx names are not the same as continental Latinx names! We have completely different culture to be honest. Here’s a cute little list that has common names.
Love you, hit me up and follow me if you wanna hear more about my experience (for I am talking from MYY experience only, please don’t generalize everything that I say)
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