Women

So I don't get this whole idea of women being put into categories based off of race/ethnicity.

This false notion that all Spanish women are submissive and docile creatures, who cook and clean to please their men, and have the newspaper waiting at the dinner table and ESPN on the TV. While on the other hand you have Black women who are these teeth sucking, neck rolling, “we don’t play that” women who will cut a man for speaking out of character at any given moment. While for some Spanish and Black women this may be true, it is unfair to have such a blanket statement made about an entire group.

It’s very bias for women of the groups but also for those outside of the groups, like as if to say that White women can't be hardcore and live by a no nonsense approach or that Asian women aren't appeasing to men. It is so wrong to have these generalized ideas and that so many people believe them.

But I guess just as ideas concerning race/ethnicity can be boxed in and labeled, so can idea about gender.

Yet Another… ”Oh You Speak Spanish???” Moment

Frustrated yet again in a Black and Hispanic neighborhood (that is now sprinkled with a few white people, but that’s another story). There I stand in the corner bodega; I asked the man stocking shelves for something in Spanish and he directs me to the front counter.

When I ask the man behind the counter he hands me the can and I pay and leave.

About 5 minutes later I return, again dealing with the attitude of the “I hate my life, or hate my job, or I simply hate any non-Spanish speaking person” man behind the counter. I explain to him that I needed to change the expired can he sold me.  With no apology at all he hands me another can, expired, I hand it back and then another….expired.... I hand it back. And then he hands me my money. Nothing said.

I then see the older, nicer man that helped me earlier and he offers to get me a new can. We speak in Spanish and he apologizes and goes to the back.

When he returns with my new can the man behind the counter rings me up and smiles, saying “I didn’t know you were Latina”.

Yet Another… ”Oh You Speak Spanish???” Moment

Frustrated yet again in a Black and Hispanic neighborhood (that is now sprinkled with a few white people, but that’s another story). There I stand in the corner bodega; I asked the man stocking shelves for something in Spanish and he directs me to the front counter.

When I ask the man behind the counter he hands me the can and I pay and leave.

About 5 minutes later I return, again dealing with the attitude of the “I hate my life, or hate my job, or I simply hate any non-Spanish speaking person” man behind the counter. I explain to him that I needed to change the expired can he sold me.  With no apology at all he hands me another can, expired, I hand it back and then another….expired.... I hand it back. And then he hands me my money. Nothing said.

I then see the older, nicer man that helped me earlier and he offers to get me a new can. We speak in Spanish and he apologizes and goes to the back.

When he returns with my new can the man behind the counter rings me up and smiles, saying “I didn’t know you were Latina”.

It's in your blood

Recently I met someone who unbeknownst to me was a Black Latino but only claimed to only be Black because the relationship they had with their Latino parent was tumultuous, therefore they did not associate themselves with the culture.

I thought what the heck does the culture and ethnicity have to do with the parent. Yes I understand it may be a constant reminder of that parent and whatever was wrong between them but how can you deny your genealogy. My great grandmother (the original black Latina in my family) use to say "el sangre sabes" meaning the blood knows. Referring to it being so embedded in your mind, body and soul that it would just come to you. You would automatically enjoy the food, dance to the rhythms and so on.

Now this isn't the first time I have experienced this. I know of a few people that have denounced a race/ethnicity due to an experience with their parents and upbringing. But I can't help but wonder if there was an opportunity for advancement at a career would they then accept the race/ethnicity selfishly for the betterment of themselves and take advantage of it to their convenience.

Pride and Prejudice

Why do we refer to eachother a colors?
Were we raised that way, did our parents refer to others the same way?
 And how will we teach our children, is this right or wrong?
I sat on the infamous NYC subway the other day and watched two Latinas talk, proudly they spoke bits of spanish but mainly english which lead me to believe they were a later generation. They were young, couldn't have been no more than 23yrs old. They talked about men or are they still called boys @ that age?..anyhow there was one thing in particular that made me think about this color war.
When referring to their black friend they said he's cute for a moreno ( translation he's cute for a black
guy).Now I by no means want to single these latinas out but what did they mean for a black guy. The term moreno is a whole different topic, but since when did black suddenly become the ugly yet again.
I know we refer to other races as colors i.e. White ppl, but this was very interesting to hear on so many levels.