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Hello, I am Black and Dominican. I have been recently tapping into my Dominicans roots because I've been in Black culture all my life and never in Dominican culture. I'm living in Indiana, PA and I will be working in Pittsburgh next year. I'm looking meet people who are Latino specifically Dominicans and Puerto Ricans and I looking to settle down to get into a relationship too. So are there any Dominicans and Puerto Ricans in Pittsburgh and if not what Latin groups are there?
Philadelphia (Philly) definitely has many Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.
As for Pittsburgh, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans and other Latinos are there but they are scattered out.
Pot meet kettle. I addressed the OP as well as other comments in the thread.
Did YOU answer or address the OP's question to his/her satisfaction? Ah... Umm hmm.
Not to his satisfaction (because there isn't a satisfying answer to his question), but I DIRECTLY responded with a suggestion on how he might find what he's looking for. I also shared I would ask my neighbor for him.
None of your posts addressed the OP's question AT ALL. Go back and read the thread for yourself. You posted nothing about how he can find other Dominicans or Puerto Ricans in Pittsburgh. That's what the OP is about. It's not about percentages of ethnicities or how ethnic and racial groups are viewed by different population demographics.
Not to his satisfaction (because there isn't a satisfying answer to his question), but I DIRECTLY responded with a suggestion on how he might find what he's looking for. I also shared I would ask my neighbor for him.
None of your posts addressed the OP's question AT ALL. Go back and read the thread for yourself. You posted nothing about how he can find other Dominicans or Puerto Ricans in Pittsburgh. That's what the OP is about. It's not about percentages of ethnicities or how ethnic and racial groups are viewed by different population demographics.
I responded DIRECTLY actually, however my comment was removed (I don't know how it got removed, or if the post connection didn't go through), and that was actually my very first comment on this thread here before I addressed other peoples comments and other related topics injected into this thread.
It was others that commented such.
Re read the thread.
I shared some thoughts and suggestions of what I know and my experiences in the area.
Hopefully some others can chime in and give greater detail and answer the OP perhaps to and even beyond his/her satisfaction.
You want Puerto Rican/Dominican culture, youre going to have to go to Eastern PA. Places like Philadelphia(especially North Philly), Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and York. These places have huge Puerto Rican populations, as well as significant Dominican populations. Eastern PA has many majority Puerto Rican neighborhoods(most Hispanics in PA are Puerto Rican) and many Hispanic events. Western PA has nothing compared to Eastern PA in terms of Hispanic influence. Tho, Pittsburgh does a growing Hispanic populations, mainly Puerto Ricans and mexicans, tho its still very very small. Even the nearby cities of Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, DC, and Baltimore have larger Hispanic populations.
If you can point out where I said Farrakhan is AA, I'll give you a thousand dollars. Biologically, of course he is of a mixed racial background, but get real, in America, he is considered, and considers himself to be black. As for the one drop rule, it's no longer in any law, but many Americans, including most who consider themselves black, still go by it. I know some very light skinned folks who would give you a serious whipping if you tried to tell them they weren't black.
One group’s perception of what is “White”, “Black”, “Asian”, “Mixed” whatever might not be anothers. In one culture you might be seen as Black, in another you wouldn’t. The Masses vary by region
Ultimately, the dichotomy of Black and White introduced in Jim Crow (believe it or not, one droppism and what not was not a part of slavery) has caused a lot of these antagonisms. Forcing people to pick sides.
Yep, no reading comprehension. I told you you had a choice, but that African American choice was influenced by what its cultural parameters for Black are. Jim Crow created a much larger community that identifies as Black as it fused in mixed groups as well. So your choice is still affected by what you see growing up. And again, it is not just you the individual, it is about general trends.
You have to remember, that in most of Latin America, black is defined the same way white is in the US. In other words, as you must be close to 100% European, or from certain parts of western Asia to qualify as white in the US, in Latin America, a person needs to be very African in order to be considered black. By Latin American standards, probably 2/3 of American blacks would not be considered black. People who look like Denzel Washington, or Muhammad Ali would not be seen as black in the DR, and the idea of people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and especially Louis Farrakhan as blacks would be seen as ludicrous. In the US, the "one drop rule" not only makes them black, but also people like Mariah Carey, Halle Berry, and Vin Diesel.
You're overgeneralizing and viewing things in a myopic lens on this particular matter when it comes to Latin America and the USA. In addition, so called Latin America is comprised of different nations with all different and unique cultures and histories. Even within one nation perceptions will vary. The same holds true for diversity and differences and mixture of the USA. None can be shoved into a box.
You overlook the fact that more than 1/3 of U.S. White Americans have detectable black African ancestry. In addition there have always been substantial populations of groups and peoples that lived isolated or in seclusion or were not affected by the one drop rule.
One drop rule was legally practiced in most southern states between 1931 and 1967. Not before or after these years or dates. Mulatto and other multiracial designations were widely and officially used on censuses and document records throughout much of USA's history. It wad only after 1930 that mulatto and mixed race categories were eliminated from the Census. It was the 1967 triumphant case of Loving vs Virginia which dismantled it along with the anti one droppist Civil Rights movement that helped restore USA's mixed race consciousness and integrity.
Notice how racial perceptions change by perception and by night and day and by trends and certain time periods.
About 100 years ago in states like Ohio and Oklahoma, someone like Barack Obama would have been legally declared as and embraced as and considered and treated as a WHITE man and embraced as a fellow white man of and by the white communities.
African American and black do NOT mean the same thing. African American (AA) is an ETHNIC group. Not a racial group.
As for Latin America each nation varies. Someone like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton may be viewed as black or at least Afrodescent (which does not automatically mean the same thing as black) if they were in Bolivia or Argentina since those are nations that are ignorant of the existence of the substantial black populations that have always lived in their respective nations. Also it depends on what part of a nation one is in. If one went to a historic white area of a Latin American nation in that area they may be considered as black in relation to the lighter people in that area but they might be something else when in areas where there are people darker than them.
In addition you can't confuse skin color and phenotypical descriptor terms with actual strict rigid racial terms. While in some cases they can be related they are not necessarily the same.
In addition, in Latin America, if a person of mixed ancestry has lived in and among black relatives or was raised in and among the black community and black culture and raised in such then by all means that person is black especially of they identify that way. There are plenty of towns, villages, and cities that have strong black and African identities that have survived and embraced and taken in people that have collectively and multigenerationally lived on and passed down black identity to their descendants and in specific areas so those areas and peoples from those areas will always maintain strong black identities and Afrodiasporic ethnic identity and sense of ethnic communities and culture.
In another aspect, there are many Afromestizo (or EuroZambo) peoples that identify with the general mainstream culture and don't relate at all with those that are black etc due possibly to class or individual lifestyle or life setting. So that's something to consider.
So there are people in Latin America that do identify as black that have mixed race phenotypes.
It's also possible for people to simaltaneously identify as mixed race and black and/or as mixed race and white.
Mariah Carey identifies as a mixed race woman. Vin Diesel identifies as mixed also. Also people vary in how they perceive people in the USA just as in Latin American nations. I've come across many who still think Mariah Carey is just only WHITE. So it varies. It all comes down to self identity and one's choice. There are also many blacks that don't accept mixed race people as black so that is something to consider.
Many of the same people that judge a mixed race person by a one drop rule standard in terms of identity perception may often be the same people that would never view a Middle Eastern or Latin American person as black even though they mostly often have black African ancestry in varying degrees.
So in essence it all goes to show that race is a sociopolitical construct that contradicts itself and it's based merely on ones own cultural surroundings or one's own individual mutual perceptions. It also varies by generation or by sensibilities of the day.
It's just like how whiteness is expanding in terms of who is and who isn't white. Hell, at one time British and Irish marrying each other was considered interracial.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 01:34 PM..
Not to his satisfaction (because there isn't a satisfying answer to his question), but I DIRECTLY responded with a suggestion on how he might find what he's looking for. I also shared I would ask my neighbor for him.
None of your posts addressed the OP's question AT ALL. Go back and read the thread for yourself. You posted nothing about how he can find other Dominicans or Puerto Ricans in Pittsburgh. That's what the OP is about. It's not about percentages of ethnicities or how ethnic and racial groups are viewed by different population demographics.
It was others that didn't address the OPs question directly and went on a tagent of other topics, so you need to direct and address your comment directly to those others. IJS.
Anyway moving along.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 01:40 PM..
If you can point out where I said Farrakhan is AA, I'll give you a thousand dollars. Biologically, of course he is of a mixed racial background, but get real, in America, he is considered, and considers himself to be black. As for the one drop rule, it's no longer in any law, but many Americans, including most who consider themselves black, still go by it. I know some very light skinned folks who would give you a serious whipping if you tried to tell them they weren't black.
Latin Americans are just as racist as the USA is. Although each nation has it's own unique cultures and histories. However there is much more percieved racial tension in the USA, even though race is really just a crutch and barrier taking the guise of class.
Latin Americans tend to stress class more than race and racism. Latin America has a great deal of colorism though.
And there is no one drop rule. The USA is just as mixed race if not more, than all of the Latin American nations combined. USA is also racially diverse while at the same time mixed race.
As for the misnomers and terms of African American (AA) and Black, people need to keep in mind that AA and black do NOT mean the same thing.
AAs are an ETHNIC group comprised of mostly multiracially mixed race peoples. AAs can be of any race. Black is more so a sociopolitical term that corresponds to an ethnic like usage in it's semantics. A person is either a member of an ethnicity/ethnic group or NOT. So therefore, one's ethnicity can not be diluted or broken down into fractions. A person never loses membership from an/their ethnic group or ethnicity. You can belong to more than one ethnicity or ethnic group. A person's race or racial admixtures can be broken down into factions or or degrees. So technically most AAs are NOT racially black people. They are all mostly mixed race. Some AAs are racially black, but they make up a minority of the AA ethnic community. And in some cases AAs are and can be white. In fact about 5% of AAs have been found to have absolutely little or NO African ancestry at all. That's because being AA is about a shared experience, having gone through surviving chattel slavery, and surviving Jim Crow and later on the imposition of racist segrationist one droppism and of course the positive uplifting and unifying Civil Rights movement, and thus a unique AA experience.
As for Latin America, if a person is raised in the black community or black culture and is mixed, then they are in fact black and often by choice identify as black because it's what they are raised in or as.
In addition, Afrodescendant and black do NOT mean the same thing.
Here is a controversial topic. Afro-Latinos. Many equate it to Black Latinos. Others see it as Latino Afrodescendientes of all looks. For me, as Latino is an ethnic term, Afro-Latino is such as well. A Latino who has strong African ties in his culture/heritage. Not all Latino Afrodescendientes are Afro-Latino. Many have been completely absorbed by the mainstream. But here is a consideration, many Latinos that are not Afrodescendientes, especially in places like Cuba, adopted African practices, like Santeria, or joining societies like Abakuá and Ékpè. We could argue that many are Afro-Latinos as well. Their culture and identity is definitely Latino with heavy African overtones.
Louis Farrakhan is NOT African American for example. He is mixed race Caribbean American or West Indian American.
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