Who Am I?

 I am a black man who happens to have been born in Latin America. This makes me a black Hispanic or is it a Hispanic black? Whatever. Anyway, it does make me somewhat “schizophrenic.” Especially when I am caught speaking Spanish and people, including Hispanics, give me an incredulous look; or when I am classified as black and Hispanic to help some employer augment affirmative action figures. Now, if I could only qualify for two full-time salaries my “schizophrenia” would be cured or at least rendered useful.

There was a time when I lived in Chicago and became friends with a man from Ecuador. He was a Chinese Ecuadorian, or was he an Ecuadorian Chinese? In any event, people literally stopped and stared at us as we spoke Spanish on the streets of the “windy city.” They seemed surprised to see what they thought was someone from “China” and someone from “Mississippi,” as some brothers kidded me, speaking Spanish. I remained convinced that they were oblivious to the concept of Pan-Africanism.

My father was born in Barbados, West Indies, and my mother in the Republic of Panama where I was born and grew up. Though I experienced discrimination in Panama, especially in the Canal Zone, I did not become intimately acquainted with racism until I came to the United States in 1966.

What I Learned about Racism

I first learned about slavery in Panama when I was a senior in high school. This information was shared by a white Panamanian teacher who for ten brief minutes talked about “Africans being brought to Panama to work the fields because our native Indians refused to do the work.” This information left me with a bitter feeling which was not resolved until I began graduate school in the United States in the late sixties. I discovered that not only was there slavery in every Latin American country, but more amazingly, the town of Portobelo in Panama was a key port through which much of the Latin American slavery activity occurred. This realization of my common background with black Americans forced me to embrace the “cause” with the Reverend Jessie Jackson and others in Chicago and elsewhere. I guess I always did feel discriminated against even in my hometown of Colon. Somehow I felt a bit inferior to my white or straight-haired compatriot. It seems I have been fighting discrimination all my life.

My first full encounter with racism U.S. style was experienced during the time I sought an apartment, in what was unbeknownst to me at the time, an all white Evanston, Illinois development, and was turned down. I later found out that a white applicant with inferior qualifications was accepted for the apartment. I litigated and won the case after four years, thus, desegregating the apartment development; yet, the reality of racism in the U.S. was carved into my soul. The experiences related to this incident are chronicled in my book I Might As Well Move to the Moon (1974) for those of you who may need convincing that housing discrimination is still alive and well and living in the U.S.A.

Recommendations for Improving Black American and Hispanic Relations

If black Americans and Hispanics are to enjoy better relationships, it is imperative for both groups to discuss and understand the following issues.

A. Hispanics must realize that the United States’ culture historically operates on a two color (black/white) discriminatory basis as opposed to Latin America’s variables of hair texture, fluency in Spanish, complexion, education, and money. These variables are not as significant in U.S. culture. By so doing, Hispanics will understand how others see them – black or white.

B. Black Americans should understand that the major stresses in the life of Hispanics (black and white) are not necessarily color. Many who live in a tri-ethnic (black, white and Hispanic) existence, are not even aware of the discriminatory forces acting against them. The major stresses are often issues of assimilation (or culture shock), their identity in a predominantly black and white society, language (Spanish vs. English), poverty and communication (or lack of) among the various Hispanic groups represented in a given area. These groups, with their unique idiosyncratic differences, include Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, and at least a dozen others. The term Hispanic, incidentally is an American concept designed to label several distinct groups of people.

C. Hispanics must recognize the racist factor which not only oppresses them but pits them against black Americans and vice-versa. The wisdom of uniting for a common cause – to fight racism wherever it exists – should be the agenda of all people of color.

D. Black Americans must become aware of the fact that because one is black in color it does not necessarily mean that there is a common culture. It often takes a major part of a lifetime for Hispanics to assimilate. Black Americans should not expect black Hispanics, Haitians, Jamaicans, and others of color to instantly embrace the “cause”; for these groups must be allowed to “settle in” before they are patiently educated about the realities of discrimination and racism in this culture. Clearly, the United States’ variety of racism is more severe than Latin America’s and has to be experienced and or learned.

E. Hispanics must study and learn the English language well enough to interact with black Americans on the racial issues of the day including affirmative action, systemic racism, and the new racism or so-called “color-blind” civil rights.

F. Black Americans must realize that when Hispanics stick together it is not because of racial reasons; it is instead because of similar reasons why black Americans stick together – familiarity, and commonality in culture and language. Further, it is important to note that the term Hispanic is not a racial category, it is an ethnic category which includes race but is broader. Let me illustrate this further. If a black American were visiting Brazil, he/she would be more apt to make friends with another American visitor, even if he/she were white, than with a black Brazilian stranger who speaks only Portuguese. The similarity here is ethnicity – culture (e.g., language) etc. – rather than color. Most of the world is non-white, but this apparent similarity is lost unless there is communication.

G. Hispanics and black Americans should make a better attempt to trust and welcome those whites who are sincerely committed to the “cause.” Their help can invaluable in a hostile society. 

In sum, it would appear that there is a lack of trust and awareness on both sides; and things will remain the same until dialogue and understanding begin, on racial and related issues, between Hispanics and black Americans. For it is clear that an informed and equitable united front is the true solution to the inequity that is common to both groups