Are Puerto Ricans the only Latinos that UNDERSTAND the African American struggle?

[Off the Onion]

Does Jose Lopez who may be PR/DR from the South Bronx understand the "struggle" if he were Jose Lopez who may be Mexcian or Central American from Houston or New Orleans? I've always felt the Puerto Rican acceptance in Hip Hop is rooted by New Yorkers, and it's more to do with Nuyorican culture since their Florida and Chicago cousins tend to be overlooked.

How are Puerto in Chicago different from the one in NY?

The PRS in Florida are fairly new to the mainland

 

[Oceanicpuppy]

No. Haiti was never wholesale colonized by the US like Puerto Rico was. They just been discriminated against by all their neighbors the US and France.

Puerto Ricans are in a similar economic position to that of Black Americans

We don't have conclusive populations status on Hispanics let alone Puerto Rican's.
Some are counted as white, some are counted as black.

They didn't entire code switch episode on Afro Latinos and race.

What you are saying is being found not be true. The reality is coming to light.

DEMBY: Right. I mean, y'all might remember, we talked about weathering on the show a couple months ago. And that term was coined by a public health researcher named Arline Geronimus, and she coined that term to talk about sort of the effects of everyday racism, that, like, background radiation of racism and how it erodes the health and well-being of black Americans.

MERAJI: Now, the Centers for Disease Control published findings that show Latinx folks in the U.S. are actually generally healthier than white Americans despite risk factors like higher poverty and less access to health care. But - and this is a big but - very few studies have been done on Afro-Latinx folks specifically, because we tend to, you know, lump all Latinx people into the same category, despite race.

DEMBY: So we don't know. We don't have a good sense of what the particular challenges are for Afro-Latino people.

MERAJI: Right. And, you know, before anyone says, there's a box on the census that you can check for your race after you check that you're Hispanic or Latino or of Spanish origin, yes, that's true, but, for Afro-Latinx people, that doesn't work very well because, you know, in Latin America, there are various categories for color. But those don't exist in the U.S., and black is often synonymous with African-American. So it's really tricky. And people don't check those boxes the way you think they might.

DEMBY: Right. So there was this Pew study where Afro-Latinos were asked directly about their race. And 18 percent said they were black, 39 percent said they were white alone or white in combination with another race, and 24 percent said their race was just Hispanic or Latino.

MERAJI: Which we know is not actually considered a race.

DEMBY: Right.

MERAJI: It's an ethnicity. All that to say, like, you said, it's really hard to do targeted research and disaggregate data for the Afro-Latinx community. I called up a social scientist who works in the Department of Community Health at Tufts University to talk about this. His name is Dr. Adolfo Cuevas. He's Afro-Dominican. He grew up in Washington Heights in New York City, and he studies race and Latinx health outcomes. And he calls those findings about, you know, Latinx folks being healthier than white Americans despite so many obstacles, he calls that the Latino paradox. And he's trying to find out if the Latino paradox is actually a thing if you're Afro-Latinx.

Are you familiar with Amara La Negra?

ADOLFO CUEVAS: You know, I am because there was a Power 105...

MERAJI: "The Breakfast Club" thing.

CUEVAS: Yes. Yes. And I was rooting for her when I listened to her really stick up, not just stick up but also have this really strong argument for why we have to acknowledge Afro-Latinas and Afro-Latinos in the discourse of blackness. And I'm sure you've heard this before, you know, things like good hair, bad hair, within the Latino community and how the darker skin are often called ugly or not good looking or as attractive as their white counterparts or lighter-skinned counterparts. And it's something that people walk with them. It's embodied in their day-to-day lives, and it's not something that you can let go easily.

MERAJI: Is there data around that? How is this affecting Afro-Latinos who are living - I don't know - in Latin America or in the United States?

CUEVAS: There's emerging research - so when we started doing this kind of research, not surprisingly there was very few studies kind of examining this issue of race and skin color among Latinos and Latinas. But the few that we found kind of shows that race plays a significant influence on Latino-Latina health. For example, black Latinos are much more likely to have hypertension. They have greater odds of reporting poor health. They have greater body mass index. They have higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to their white counterparts.

And one study actually shows that Afro-Latinos actually may engage in more menthol cigarette consumption compared to their white counterparts. We know that darker-skinned Latinos in Latin America have poorer health compared to lighter-skinned Latinos. And when they immigrate to the United States and experience new forms of discrimination both interpersonally and institutionally, how is their health profile different from white Latinos within the context of the Latino paradox is a question that remains to be explored.

MERAJI: So you're going to figure that out (laughter).

CUEVAS: That's our goal. (Laughter) We're doing - we're doing quite a bit of research in New York City. So this is kind of, like, coming full circle here. I am now doing research in Washington Heights where we're interviewing Dominican - Dominican-Americans and asking them questions about skin color, socially assigned race, discrimination and health outcomes. A quick teaser - what we're finding is that a lot of Dominicans, darker skinned - when I interview them, they're darker skinned than me. I would say I am dark brown, but they would rate their skin color lighter than what I would rate it. And they're less likely to identify as black, more likely to identify as Afro-Latino. And - but those who identify as black have poorer health compared to those who identify as Afro-Latino. It's a very complex question that we're still trying to grapple with.

MERAJI: Are you also finding that those who identify as black are maybe second generation and that those who identify as Afro-Latino are either immigrants themselves or maybe first generation?

CUEVAS: Latinos who are more likely to identify as black are those who are younger than the age of 25. Their identity, their racial identity, is being shaped in such an early age, and this movement of, you know, appreciating your black identity and your Africanness is really shaping a younger generation of Dominicans.

MERAJI: But yet, you're saying that the health outcomes are worse if they identify with being black.

CUEVAS: Right because perhaps they're more likely to, you know, perceive now more discrimination. You know, it's kind of like biting the apple. Now that you identify strongly or just simply identify as black, you're beginning to look around you and identify some of the injustice that not only Latinos but Afro-Latinos experience in the United States.

MERAJI: Big, big thanks to Adolfo Cuevas for talking about his work with us. Obviously, Gene, there's so much more research that needs to happen to determine the physical and psychological effects of racism on the health of the Afro-Latinx people in the United States.

DEMBY: Right. And it'll be interesting to see, like, what the long-term economic outlooks are for people who identify as Afro-Latinx.

MERAJI: I agree. Social scientists, get to work.

DEMBY: Yeah.

MERAJI: Economists.

DEMBY: Dr. Cuevas, we're going to be following you at the soca (ph) - Psychosocial Determinants of Health Lab at Tufts.

MERAJI: (Laughter) Say that again.

DEMBY: Psychosocial Determinants of Health Lab at Tufts. Psychosocial Determinants of Health Lab at Tufts. Psychosocial Determinants of Health Lab at Tufts.

MERAJI: All right. All right.

DEMBY: All right, sorry.

MERAJI: Back to Amara La Negra. She definitely thinks more positive media representation can help with all this. She just signed a big record deal. She's got a doll collection in the works. She told me she's working on some TV and film projects, and she just dropped her new crossover single, "Insecure."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INSECURE")

Y'all are slowing down Black progress with your BS.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Outside of NYC I don't see why this would even be an issue.

Lived in ATL for 17 years. Never met a Latino that anyone would consider black

 

[Oceanicpuppy]

How are Puerto in Chicago different from the one in NY?

The PRS in Florida are fairly new to the mainland

Naw they Northeast transplants in Florida.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

They are NOT Latino. They are francophone

Again look up the term of "Latino" before you try and lecture. You are confusing it with "Hispanic."

 

[Off the Onion]

Naw they Northeast transplants in Florida.

Lol you're from Georgia or Mississippi somewhere. You don't live in Florida and never lived in Northeast. The only thing you know about this situation is what we tell you or what you read online.

 

[Oceanicpuppy]

No. Haiti was never wholesale colonized by the US like Puerto Rico was. They just been discriminated against by all their neighbors the US and France.

Puerto Ricans are in a similar economic position to that of Black Americans

Puerto Ricans Have NEVER and I mean Never had the history of economic segregation and redlining like African Americans. Never! Not even in the northeast.

You clearly don't understand or know the lengths in which the American government segregated African Americans.

This book ( I always suggest it)
Basically ethers your entire Puerto Rican = African American comparisons.

Tell me what Puerto Rican community was treated like this?


None......

 

[Off the Onion]

Puerto Ricans Have NEVER and I mean Never had the history of economic segregation and redlining like African Americans. Never! Not even in the northeast.

You don't clearly don't understand or know the lengths in which the American government segregated African Americans.

I said SIMULAR. I Didn't say the same but it was very similar

 

[Oceanicpuppy]

Lol you're from Georgia or Mississippi somewhere. You don't live in Florida and never lived in Northeast. The only thing you know about this situation is what we tell you or what you read online.

I said SIMULAR. I Didn't say the same but it was very similar

Not similar at all. Not even close.
Go back and read that book I suggest in the edited post.

Your going to come back feeling like a fool after that book. How much you wanna bet?

 

[Off the Onion]

Not similar at all. Not even close.
Go back and read that book I suggest in the edited post.

Your going come back feeling like a fool after that book. How much you wanna bet?

So United States government didn't force sterilize tens of thousands of Puerto Rican women mainly dark ones?

 

[Bobby Lashleys eyebrows]

Yes.

 

[Oceanicpuppy]

Lol you're from Georgia or Mississippi somewhere. You don't live in Florida and never lived in Northeast. The only thing you know about this situation is what we tell you or what you read online.

So United States government didn't force sterilize tens of thousands of Puerto Rican women mainly dark ones?

Answer the post you are conviently ignoring.



Native American communities were heavily sterilized. So no Puerto Rican's were not the only ones.

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/centers/crrj/zotero/loadfile.php?entity_key=QFDB5MW3

 

[Scientific]

How are Puerto in Chicago different from the one in NY?

The PRS in Florida are fairly new to the mainland

I'm not PR, but I have noticed some naunced differences, and thats mostly the Chi vs NY ones.

And I'll also add this. That to my knowledge, Texas was the only state in the South where Jim Crow laws applied to Latinos/Hispanics. Before the massive wave of immigrants during the 80s, the majority of Mexicans in Texas were third generation and beyond, from the time of Texas Independance. It is a forgotten history in Texas and the South. Second Ward in Houston was one of the first major Latino areas of a Southern city. And it was segregated for a long time due to the racial boundires of the wards.

I'm jussayin. Nuyoricans aren't the only ones. Mexcians in TX back then went through similar struggles.

Houston's Second Ward: A History Lesson - Just Vibe Houston

 

[Pit Bull]

Bum ass nikkas always lookin to shake hands with another muthafukka, whole time home team ain't right

 

[Yehuda]

They are NOT Latino. They are francophone

Noun 1. Latino - a native of Latin America

Latin America - the parts of North America and South America to the south of the United States where Romance languages are spoken

Latino

Romance - of, relating to, or being any of the languages that developed from Latin, including Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish.

Romance

The two official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole. [ . . . ] Haiti is one of two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an official language [ . . . ]

Haiti