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I've definitely noticed the "Eurocentric" (is that the right word?) attitude in much of the Hispanic Community as well.
I'm half Puerto Rican and I have PR relatives who look 1/2 black with Native mixed in, yet still want to be considered as "white" and some even choose that in the census and other forms. I myself am even guilty of trying to pass as southern European or middle east white in the real world (didn't work out too well) and on the net, but I quit doing that because I embrace who I am now and people can take it any way they want. The odd thing is in the cities many Hispanics grow up in the "hood/barrio" next door to blacks so they'll act nearly the same since they grew up similar, but when it comes to moving forward outside of the hood many will want to be considered "white". Many see white/european as superior and would never want to be considered black/african, this may be a way of adapting to the world as it is. It's pretty common in most Latin countries.
This is nothing new. We live in the western hemisphere. The western hemisphere is in aggregate euro-centric. It is a social currency of value to be white. As such, these descriptors are highly sought after. Anybody who says otherwise, particularly in the good ol US of A, is drinking the koombaya koolaid...
And yes, the majority of the world does not abide by the " one drop rule" . The world is collectively " you are what you look like". It is what it is, no pun intended...
You look like what you look like and that's true--but seriously, as a black person from the U.S. who went to college in Puerto Rico--PR has a complex! A lot of Puerto Ricans I know do not look white in the traditional European sense of white, even those who claim they are. I'm always like, "You ain't white"! Mixed or multiracial probably describe it best. There's nothing wrong with that!
In much of Latin America when people refer to skin color, they actually mean skin color, not race. Plus, there are no real identities along racial lines.
So, when you see a Puerto Rican claiming to be white, even when his features clearly show admixture, don't be shocked. His skin color probably is light enough to be considered white and that's what he sees and chooses to identify as. It has little to do with actual race but everything to do with actual skin color.
It's very much different in the U.S. where claiming to be white (or black or whatever) is not just a color issue. In fact, color has nothing to do with it even though everyone claims that "this or that happened to me due to the color of my skin", in reality Americans focus on features. To top this off, Americans also have entrenched deep in their psyche that your appearance should dictate the way you act and/or your preferences in life, and this has lead to several sub-cultures that have developed along the various racial lines.
This difference between the U.S. way of seeing the world vs. the Latin way is quite clear with the hyphenating. By this I mean that in the U.S. its quite common for people to think of themselves along hyphenated identities (African-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, Hispanic-American, etc) while in much of Latin America (Puerto Rico included) there is no such thing as a hyphenated identity. In Puerto Rico's case, everyone is simply Puerto Rican, and everyone shares more or less the same culture. The divisions are more along socioeconomic class with upper class Puerto Ricans having a sub-culture that is different from those of the other classes and vice versa, but the differences in culture between black Puerto Ricans and white Puerto Ricans are negligible.
Neither of the two ways of seeing the world is right or wrong, they are simply different. People should make an effort to truly try to understand the different ways different societies work and not try to judge everything from an American point of view. It's also important for everyone to not think that just because you are used to your way of seeing and interpreting the world, that it's the better or more correct way. It's simply different, even though many people tend to look down on perspectives that contradict what they've known their entire lives.
You get it from the wrong sources. Taino People were not virtually wiped out. The worst part of this thread is that a person claiming to be Puerto Rican started it. You're continuing the lies that have been drilled into our minds as "history".
The Taino are and will always be present in this world. We trace our ancestry through our Fathers. This is a spiritual blessing passed onto us by our ancestors through our God YAYA. It has nothing to do with "mitochondria" BS.
Our skin color and features do not matter. The amount of people who are Taino does not matter. We have a purposeful existence that was determined by the God of the Heavens, and no rewriting of history is going to prevent us from receiving the glory that awaits us.
So don't spread these lies. This is what is destroying the minds of our people. If we were being taught the TRUTHS of our history and our destiny, our people would not be in the state they are in. We would not be selling drugs to our own kind, or anyone else.. we would not be prostituting our own women and shooting down our own brothers.
The truth will be revealed to the world and everyone will see that the people they looked down on and exploited will be the people who will be glorified along with his other Native Families spread out throughout the Americas.
As a Puerto Rican I laugh when I hear Ricans in the United States claim they are 100% Taino indian, or even a 3rd. It's impossible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by someguyfrompr
All Puerto Ricans are: -fully White or mostly White (MAJORITY) [ricky martn, benicio del toro, Dayanara Torres, Denise Quiñones, Zuleyka Rivera, sonia sotomayor, Daddy Yankee, Baby Rasta y gringo, wisin y yandel, Joaquin Phoenix, marc anthony, mayra matos, jennifer colon, cynthia olavaria, charlotte ayana, noelia, susie castillo, nina sky, ect ect]
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Absolutely none of those people look European to me. Sorry and Benicio is a very talented actor but he actually looks dirty to me.
What's "looking European" mean. Norwegian, German, Swedish or Italian (North or South), French (North or South) Spanish (North or South). Or how about Corsican, Sicilian or Greek. Maybe the real European "look" is much more diverse than the typical Caucasian features, blond hair and blue eyes.
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There's nothing wrong with that!
