Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
East Coast. The two largest Hispanic groups in the Northeast, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, have African ancestry. With a lot of Dominicans, you won't even know they are Hispanic until they start speaking Spanish.
Plus, Fat Joe and Angie Martinez drop the N-Word regularly and nobody seems to care. A Mexican or Guatemalan couldn't get away with that.
With the West Coast, that depends. In the Bay Area and Northern California, Central Americans throw around the n-bomb all the time. Even ghetto Asians and Samoans in Northern California do that around their black homies and no one bats an eye. But these people actually live in diverse ghetto neighborhoods around blacks in places like East Oakland. Many mind bogglingly diverse inner city areas in Northern California are some of the most racially inclusive places on the planet earth. I grew up in a diverse inner city area in San Francisco and blacks, Asians and Latinos all use the n-bomb in their regular vocabulary. Race means much, much less in many Bay Area hoods because all races live together and are just trying to get money and survive and don't have time to trip off of a meaningless racial hierarchy designed by privileged whites to keep minorities from unifying. And these people are actually in the hood saying this, not on TV like Fat Joe. And there was much controversy over Fat Joe dropping the n-bomb 10+ years ago.
And everybody when they think of black-Latino relations in California always think of the exaggerated racial tensions between blacks and Mexicans in South Central L.A. But blacks and Latinos get along very well in Northern California. "Black and brown" is a common slogan in the streets of Northern California.
And Latinos are not openly accepted in every major East Coast city. Below the Mason Dixon line, there are very few Puerto Ricans or Dominicans in the cities. Mixed looking or Native looking PR's like Fat Joe or J Lo would not fit in highly segregated all black or white neighborhoods in Baltimore and DC; maybe a mostly white area in DC if they were extremely whitewashed with a "professional" career. But a ghetto Nuyorican who doesn't look straight up black would not get a pass in any hood in Baltimore or DC. And the few PR's and DR's in Baltimore and DC tend to be black or mixed race black PR's like Carmelo Anthony who can pass 100% as being straight up American black. Although there is some brotherhood between a select few token Salvadorans deemed as "black enough" and blacks in pockets of DC like along parts of the Georgia Ave corridor, DC blacks tend to keep to themselves, period. Central American immigration in cities like Baltimore is a new phenomena. There has been much violence and tension between recent Central American immigrants and blacks in Baltimore city in recent years and this has been well documented.
I think using Fat Joe using the n-word as an example of East Coast Latinos being accepted nationwide by blacks is preposterous because Fat Joe has a very close minded view of what it is to be black even though he's not black, himself. And there are hundreds of comments on the internet questioning why Fat Joe feels entitled to use a word that was not used to oppress his forefathers. That idiot said he can use the n-word freely because he's "blacker than most black people".
Just because he's from the Bronx does not make him "blacker" than some token black kid in Bethesda, MD who has two black parents. Being black is having black African ancestry, the histories tied to that and how society treats you based on your appearance if you happen to look black. It's not growing up in the hood, rapping and selling crack. Those are side effects of white oppression on a sizable percentage of the black community in the inner cities. I love being from the Bay Area because we prove being hood is not always a black thing. But being hood is not always a black thing anywhere. A whiteboy from Pigtown in Baltimore is probably more hood than a black kid from Ellicott City, MD. But a black kid from Columbia, MD will always be "blacker" than a Puerto Rican from the Bronx. Race does not equal culture. Culture comes from a place, not a race. If you think otherwise, you're probably a little sheltered.
Last edited by LunaticVillage; 02-28-2015 at 08:11 AM..
BajanYankee, down here in Florida, I've heard countless Mexicans use the N Word as a term of endearment. They have a racial slur of their own that describes blacks. You should also remember that a lot of Dominicans on the East Coast are not sympathetic to black identity. They shun it at all costs. Heck, most Dominicans would never claim African ancestry. They see Spain as the "Motherland."
Also, plenty Puerto Ricans and Cubans deny African ancestry.
Yes, it is true that the Spanish Caribbean has race identity issues, which often carry over to the United States. After a while, however, many of them begin to adapt to the American race dynamic out of necessity because the bottom line is that people will categorize you according to the way you look. Laz Alonzo, Melissa De Sousa, Zoe Saldana or even Juan Williams from FOX News can say they're technically "not Black" all they want, but most people aren't going to see them that way. At the end of the day, people are going to get in where they fit in, and that's that.
I don't put much stock in the idea that certain regions have elevated levels of social consciousness and interaction that make different people get along better. I have a much more cynical and pragmatic view, which is that the relationship between Blacks and Hispanics on the East Coast have historically been much better because we have Black Hispanics. And the Hispanics that NYC receives are typically coming from countries that already had a significant Black presence and intermixing.
But, yes, it is true that not ALL people from the Spanish Caribbean get along with or like Black people. But that's sort of beside the point. In my experience, Hispanics in NYC are much like Trinidadians. You have some who are basically identical or at least close in appearance to African Americans and eventually assimilate into AA cultural identity. You have some who are mixed-race or dougla who tend to lean Black but not always. Then you have some who are full Asian, or Lebanese, or Italian or Jewish who immigrate to the U.S. and either remain completely separate from Blacks (such as a lot of Indian Guyanese in Queens) or assimilate into white, mainstream culture. In my experience, your assimilation into Black culture largely depends on how Black, White or "Other" you look as well as what type of relationship you and your family may have had with Blacks in your home country.
Race means much, much less in many Bay Area hoods because all races live together and are just trying to get money and survive and don't have time to trip off of a meaningless racial hierarchy designed by privileged whites to keep minorities from unifying.
I have a much simpler explanation that doesn't involve rap music or Bay Area or Tri-State area exceptionalism (which is essentially what people have been arguing).
Only around 3% of Hispanics in the United States claim to be "Black" and the vast majority of those are on the East Coast, specifically around the NYC and Boston areas. It's not simply that they "get along" with Blacks; they are Black. Even Charlie Rangel, the famed and sometimes controversial African American Congressman from Harlem, is half Puerto Rican. Sammy Davis, Jr., who was born and raised in Harlem, was also the product of an African American-Afro Latino Union. And Arthur Schomburg, the Harlem Renaissance intellectual who founded the Center for Research in Black Culture, was an Afro-Latino migrant from Puerto Rico. So a big part of the reason for more integration on the East Coast is that there's a very long history of Afro-Latinos here.
In the present day, immersion into African American culture (and I mean more than rap music...I'm talking about attending a Black church, going to Urban League meetings, etc.) depends on a variety of factors. It's the same thing with West Indians. The biggest thing, as I noted above, is appearance. There are Puerto Ricans who look very European who either (a) associate with White people or (b) retain an exclusive Puerto Rican identity. Then there are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who have more noticeable African features and (a) retain a strong identity or (b) blend into larger Black society, particularly those with higher levels of education. Those in the middle (e.g., Jennifer Lopez or Rosalyn Sanchez) may lean either way. In J. Lo's case, she went from a Fly Girl on "In Living Color" to dating white guys and white washing her image to eventually marrying a white-looking, Puerto Rican dude from Spanish Harlem.
So I think, like most things in America, this issue revolves largely around race. Those who could "pass" tended to distance themselves from Blacks. That's a lot harder for someone like Lala Vasquez or Christina Milian to do because they have very obvious African ancestry.
Last edited by BajanYankee; 02-28-2015 at 08:59 AM..
So every time you post a video, I'm hoping that you'll eventually get to one that (1) has Black people in it and (2) actually reaches a broad African American audience. Examples of West Coast artists who reach a broad audience are Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Dom Kennedy, anybody else from T.D.E., Snoop, Too $hort, Dre, E-40, etc. What you're showing are Mexican rappers who are mimicking expressive elements of Black youth identity (and only a limited aspect at that). The same could be said of rappers like Iggy Azalea.
It's not a coastal thing as it is a Black Hispanic thing. I mean, when you look at the Hispanics who are prominently featured in Black media (meaning they'll be featured in Jet, Ebony or Essence), they are almost always of Caribbean ancestry.
Gina Torres (I Think L Love My Wife/Cuban)
Lisa Vidal (Being Mary Jane/Puerto Rican)
Melissa De Sousa (The Best Man/Panamanian)
Lauren Velez (New York Undercover/Puerto Rican)
Rosario Dawson (He Got Game/Puerto Rican)
Christina Milian (Love Don't Cost a Thing/Cuban)
Las Alonso (Jumping the Broom/Cuban)
Dania Ramirez (She Hate Me/Dominican)
Zoe Saldana (Drumline/Dominican)
Rosie Perez (Do the Right Thing/Puerto Rican)
Antonio Fargas (Any Spike Lee Joint/Puerto Rican)
It's sort of interesting that you don't have many Hispanic actors/actresses period, but the ones who regularly get parts are typically of Caribbean background, and those parts usually come via shows and movies that target African American audiences.
I have a much simpler explanation that doesn't involve rap music or Bay Area or Tri-State area exceptionalism (which is essentially what people have been arguing).
Only around 3% of Hispanics in the United States claim to be "Black" and the vast majority of those are on the East Coast, specifically around the NYC and Boston areas. It's not simply that they "get along" with Blacks; they are Black. Even Charlie Rangel, the famed and sometimes controversial African American Congressman from Harlem, is half Puerto Rican. Sammy Davis, Jr., who was born and raised in Harlem, was also the product of an African American-Afro Latino Union. And Arthur Schomburg, the Harlem Renaissance intellectual who founded the Center for Research in Black Culture, was an Afro-Latino migrant from Puerto Rico. So a big part of the reason for more integration on the East Coast is that there's a very long history of Afro-Latinos here.
In the present day, immersion into African American culture (and I mean more than rap music...I'm talking about attending a Black church, going to Urban League meetings, etc.) depends on a variety of factors. It's the same thing with West Indians. The biggest thing, as I noted above, is appearance. There are Puerto Ricans who look very European who either (a) associate with White people or (b) retain an exclusive Puerto Rican identity. Then there are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who have more noticeable African features and (a) retain a strong identity or (b) blend into larger Black society, particularly those with higher levels of education. Those in the middle (e.g., Jennifer Lopez or Rosalyn Sanchez) may lean either way. In J. Lo's case, she went from a Fly Girl on "In Living Color" to dating white guys and white washing her image to eventually marrying a white-looking, Puerto Rican dude from Spanish Harlem.
So I think, like most things in America, this issue revolves largely around race. Those who could "pass" tended to distance themselves from Blacks. That's a lot harder for someone like Lala Vasquez or Christina Milian to do because they have very obvious African ancestry.
I have a much simpler explanation that doesn't involve rap music or Bay Area or Tri-State area exceptionalism (which is essentially what people have been arguing).
Only around 3% of Hispanics in the United States claim to be "Black" and the vast majority of those are on the East Coast, specifically around the NYC and Boston areas. It's not simply that they "get along" with Blacks; they are Black. Even Charlie Rangel, the famed and sometimes controversial African American Congressman from Harlem, is half Puerto Rican. Sammy Davis, Jr., who was born and raised in Harlem, was also the product of an African American-Afro Latino Union. And Arthur Schomburg, the Harlem Renaissance intellectual who founded the Center for Research in Black Culture, was an Afro-Latino migrant from Puerto Rico. So a big part of the reason for more integration on the East Coast is that there's a very long history of Afro-Latinos here.
In the present day, immersion into African American culture (and I mean more than rap music...I'm talking about attending a Black church, going to Urban League meetings, etc.) depends on a variety of factors. It's the same thing with West Indians. The biggest thing, as I noted above, is appearance. There are Puerto Ricans who look very European who either (a) associate with White people or (b) retain an exclusive Puerto Rican identity. Then there are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who have more noticeable African features and (a) retain a strong identity or (b) blend into larger Black society, particularly those with higher levels of education. Those in the middle (e.g., Jennifer Lopez or Rosalyn Sanchez) may lean either way. In J. Lo's case, she went from a Fly Girl on "In Living Color" to dating white guys and white washing her image to eventually marrying a white-looking, Puerto Rican dude from Spanish Harlem.
So I think, like most things in America, this issue revolves largely around race. Those who could "pass" tended to distance themselves from Blacks. That's a lot harder for someone like Lala Vasquez or Christina Milian to do because they have very obvious African .
Overall, the Bay Area will never compare to the eastcoast in terms of Black-Latino Unity outside of the scope of hip-hop. I agree with this. Black and Brown Unity in the Bay Area is limited to hip hop culture and recent migration of races to certain neighborhoods. In NYC, Black and Latino people have lived side by side since the 40's, or whatever decade NYC started receiving mass immigration of Puerto Ricans.
O
Overall, the Bay Area will never compare to the eastcoast in terms of Black-Latino Unity outside of the scope of hip-hop. I agree with this. Black and Brown Unity in the Bay Area is limited to hip hop culture and recent migration of races to certain neighborhoods. In NYC, Black and Latino people have lived side by side since the 40's, or whatever decade NYC started receiving mass immigration of Puerto Ricans.
NYC doesn't have the gang culture that LA has which helps, Mexicans and blacks fighting over ghetto parts of South Central nobody wants to live in anyway.
They can and do. Mexicans in Texas say n---- all the time and no one cares. Unbeknownst to most (including themselves), many Mexicans do indeed have some African heritage in their bloodline and culture, it's simply less visible than in other Latin countries with more recent Afro contact.
Though only a small percentage of Mexico's population, there is a very well-established and vibrant Afro-Mexican community in the south part of the country, near Oaxaca.
NYC doesn't have the gang culture that LA has which helps, Mexicans and blacks fighting over ghetto parts of South Central nobody wants to live in anyway.
Also a fight over jobs and political power.
Quote:
“We're being overrun,” says Ted Hayes of Choose Black America, which has led anti-immigration marches in south-central Los Angeles. “The compañeros have taken all the housing. If you don't speak Spanish they turn you down for jobs. Our children are jumped upon in the schools. They are trying to drive us out.” Not, Mr Hayes emphasises, that he has anything against illegal immigrants personally, or against Mexicans who are in America legally. Indeed, he says, in that useful old phrase, he is friendly with many of them.
Quote:
In Compton, an independent city in south Los Angeles, Latinos are now 58% of the population—and rising quickly. Yet the mayor and all the members of the council are black. “They got here first, took over from the whites, and now it's difficult for them to let go,” says Alex Leon, a local pastor. Sensing the future tsunami of Latino political power, Compton's mayor has begun to cultivate Hispanics. It may be too late. In the next-door city of Lynwood, Hispanics were largely kept out of power until they became a majority. After seizing control of the city council in 1997 they demolished the black political machine.
Another thing to account for is that a lot of Nuyoricans and second-generation Dominicans can't even speak Spanish. So language is also less of a barrier.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
