Latinos in the Dirty South

hello, my name is neyda and i live in central florida. my mom is from nicaragua and my dad is from the netherlands [what a combination].

i never completely believed my mom when she told me that racism was that bad where i lived. that was until i unfortunately took agriscience at my high school last year. i was amazed at the teacher's own ignorance. wow.

anyway, i'm attending a health academy and the director of it suggested a summer camp to me that's being held in washington d.c. ...national hispanic youth initiative in health. the deadline to turn this application in is coming up pretty soon. you know it's something special when they're talking about partial and full scholarships. hmm.

( something to remember me byCollapse )

I thought you would find this interesting...

January 17, 2004

Blacks and Latinos Try to Find Balance in Touchy New Math
By MIREYA NAVARRO

The Web site for Black Entertainment Television put the question bluntly:
"Does it bother you that Hispanics now outnumber African-Americans in the
U.S.?"

The response has been torrential. One visitor to the site wrote, "Blacks are
beginning to experience another wave of racial bias and favoritism not in
our favor." The writer complained that employers now have a preference for
bilingual applicants, and bemoaned "attempts to replace our threatening
stance against discrimination with a Hispanic vote."

But another cautioned: "Sounds like the same old trick to me. `Divide and
conquer.' Are we really going to let some numbers dictate how we treat one
another?"
( Read more...Collapse )

hey im *new*
name is cristina
( Go Crzy For More Info bout me:)Collapse )

!por fin, fuimos a cuba!

and it's tomato season.
every meal included a simple salad
of sliced red and green tomatoes.

i told my cousins how
in the south
we fry them green tomatos.

they said
that
they are taught
that
it is best to eat vegetables as clean as possible
that
frying foods is unhealthly.

ummm.
yeah, sure, so are we,
but that ain't stopping no one.

today a man overheard me saying that i was going to cuba for the holidays.
he asked, "so you're a cuban from cuba?"

i replied,
"no, my dad is the cuban from cuba.
i am a georgia peach from atlanta"

what i find funny here is that folks not from GA think that is a really corny thing to say, and yet, i find such pleasure and amusement in declaring my southern belle background...

even though, i think, many might call me more of a Cracker, than a Peach.

hey everybody, im new here.
wowww. this place seems cool, i got such a long story and its so complicated but im gonna tell it anyhow.

my mom was born and raised in south carolina in a really really little town in the 60s. her dad was mexican and her mom is afrolatina (from puerto rico, cuba or dominican republic - im not sure which, you will understand why as you read the story). because it was a little town and in the 60s they didnt want people to be racist to them so they said they were black. and they raised their kids telling them they were black. only black and not latino at all. my dad also is from the south where he was raised as "just black" even though he had ancestors who were hispanic, native american & italian. so both my mother and father have it ingrained in their heads now that no matter what other races came together to create their beings, they are only black and nothing else.
they raised me as "black" too and i didnt question it until i turned into a teenager and realized that i didnt even look much like a "light skinned" or mixed black person. then i thought about how i couldnt really relate to "black culture". then i thought about how other latinos that i didnt know would always speak spanish to me and how when id seen pictures of my granddad he didn't look very black at all. and i started asking my parents about their culture. they told me everything i know now but yet still continue to consider themselves only black. its really frustrating to me because i dont believe in people denying their culture and ALSO trying to get me to deny mine (like my mom tells me and my boyfriend shouldnt be together cus he's "outside of my race", but hes cuban). so altogether its just a bunch of ridiculous bullshit, but a real good example of what the south can do to the latino experience. but yeah.. hey everyone.

I spoke with a young Mexican-American woman about this group,
she exclaimed, "i love halfies!"

Supposedly, many of her close friends are half-latino, half-asian, half-black...

Togetherm they noted the flexibility and understanding that comes from standing between cultures.

Hola chicas y chicos. Marie here from Dallas, Texas. Yeah, I know it's the southwest and not the southeast but what's a little distance between friends, yes? Can't wait to read all the posts.

And now here's one I got in my email (X-posted from my personal journal)


ONLY A LATINA

Can cuss a man out, make him feel like crap then, make love to him the same night and make him feel like a king.

ONLY A LATINA

Wears a burgundy French roll, 3 inch heels and a split up her thigh to work and makes it look professional.

ONLY A LATINA

Can wear the hell out of spandex.

ONLY A LATINA

Can raise a doctor, a world class athlete and an A+ student in an environment deemed by society as dysfunctional, broken, underprivileged and disenfranchised.

ONLY A LATINA

Can heat a whole house in the winter without help from the gas company.

ONLY A LATINA

Can go from the boardroom to the barrio and "keep it real" in both places.

ONLY A LATINA

Can slap the taste out of your mouth.

ONLY A LATINA

Can put a LATINO and his non-LATINA date on pins and needles just by walking into the room.

ONLY A LATINA

Can live below poverty level and yet set fashion trends.

ONLY A LATINA

Can fight two struggles everyday, then come home and make tortillas and make it look easy.

ONLY A LATINA

Can make a child happy on Christmas Day even if he didn't get a damn thing.

ONLY A LATINA

Can be admired and fantasized about by men of other races and know that when she dates out of her race its done out of sincerity not politics

ONLY A LATINA

Can be 75 years old and look 45.

ONLY A LATINA

Can make other women want to pay plastic surgeons top $$$ for physical features she was already born with.

ONLY A LATINA...

Can be the mother of civilization... Did Ya Hear me?

ok, y'all. community started. now encourage all to join. also, can folks check the community profile and let me know if i should add/edit profile and interests? thanks.

quick description of me, the moderator:

born in atlanta, ga
to a cuban dad who came over in '61
to a mom who is a quarter syrian, italian, british, and old-style southern sheriff

i majored in spanish so i could talk to my grandmother who has lived in Miami for 30+ years and speaks maybe ten words of English.

i am a total gringa, according to her.