Abstract
This chapter revealed itself as the title of the author's dissertation because of the binary mentality that thrives throughout our country and in our personal experience. On the author's first days after arriving in the United States, she was asked where she had her tanning done. She had never heard such a thing while she was growing up in Mexico nor did she think that she had dark skin because she had always considered herself Blanca/White. It did not mean that during her early twenties she could not see color, just that appearances did not matter as much as the treatment toward her. She was raised by those whose skin color also caused them to be labeled here in the United States as Moreno/Black. The ones who raised her were a Mexican medical pastor and a Güera/White Mexican, nurse, and housewife, and they referred to her, their precious youngster, simply as Brown or—as she likes to call her skin tone—café con leche/milk with coffee. The participants in the study also related that they have faced microaggressions and—in some instances—their professional tenure was in jeopardy.
TopBeing Brown, Hispanic, Latina, Spanish, And … More
Many people may believe that identifications are simple: Brown is a skin color; the words Hispanic and Latino/a identify individuals whose main language is Spanish; and Spanish is a language spoken in Latin America and Spain (Rumbaut, 2011; Tafoya, 2004). But in reality, these terms come with additional unstated meanings and nuances that change, depending upon the context in which they are used. In addition, these terms are not applied to the wide variety of nationalities, values, and identities of individuals living in the United States, many of whom come from different continents, whose family members immigrated from a variety of places.
Nuestras Voces/Our Voices
Isabel and Carina noted how advantageous it was for them to not have dark skin as a Latina, because having lighter skin actually helped them to “fit in” with the White population. For some, there was an assumption that being Latina meant having darker, or brown, shades of skin.
Isabel ~ I know I have advantages because I don’t look Latina.
Carina ~ Physical appearance may help because it keeps you apart from certain problems that I don’t feel, that I don’t recognize. I don’t look like the stereotype Hispanic. Sadly, people would not label me, at least before they knew me. I was able to mix in... sometimes I felt I was more welcomed than others with darker skin.
Queen ~ White Hispanics like myself, do not want to be recognized or put in the Brown category, especially Argentineans. It took me time to realize how the United States labels you and that you do not have to forget your cultural values. Either way, we come from very diverse countries, still we have more advantages than our darker skin compatriotas [compatriots].
Guadalupe~ My colleagues do not believe me when I tell them how harsh my students treat me. But they are all White. I am Mexican indigenous and have very dark skin. Tenure has been also an issue as the associate provost told me that my Hispanic literature investigation won’t be a relevant subject to teach at this university and that he was considering that it will not be a good idea to give me tenure… he paused and said, plus you have also have dirt skin color. My health has been affected by all these experiences and comments. I was just sleeping 3-4 hours to finish writing to meet journal deadlines. Now, I am a type-2 diabetic, and all, I think, because of my skin color.
Guadalupe’s voice relates to Arriola’s (2012) poem during the Denial
Telephone Message From A Dean
Well
I made the phone call
and I still feel
phoney baloney
This thing called
the hiring process
of looking for a new job
stinks to high heaven
as bad as when my
dogs need a visit
to the groomers
Nothing ZEN about
my attitudes is there?
but wait
Enlightenment is NOW
This is my fucking ZEN
Moment
this chaos
this pissed offness
about the stupidity of
that phone call
with a dean who
doesn’t know me
doesn’t care to know me
see me as all of a resume
a CV and some syrupy
fake interest I conjured
up for that stupid phone call
“Oh yes, I’d love to be
on your f–––– faculty
Those brilliant
idiots savant
annoy the hell
out of your students
or your resident
bigot or arch defender
against the invasion
of the feminazis.”
Good thing I
got to an AA mee…
Ah, shit
the truth is I would love to
get rid of this feeling
A wodka would be vewwy
Vewwy nice wight now
Hey, remember
when you were
surviving in NYC?
things were not easy then
and there’s no reason
for them to be easy now
Ahhh, so sleepy
Very sleepy
from fear
Turn me into
a magicube
and tuck me in your pocket
roll me down a bowling alley
away from
these deans
I’m supposed to
Talk about
getting a job
these guys who have this uncanny
knack for making me
waste all this time
wondering
“did he like me?” (p. 388)
The social perception goes along with expectations about the value of their knowledge and locks them into a specific social status because of the preset binary Black/White mentality of the generic community. Latinas who were classified in their native country as White/Blanca, found that now, because of the social perception in their new home, and without their consent, they were placed in a color category. This is because racial labels, in the United States, are set by shades of skin colors, and known by terms such as White, Brown, or Black (Rinderle & Montoya, 2008). Government, scholars, and the media often confuse racial and ethnic identification and thereby essentially transform “Hispanics into members of a distinct race; they become ‘brown’ Americans” (Etzioni, 2006, p. 64) who are neither Black nor White (Nieto, 2013; Rinderle & Montoya, 2008).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Colorism: Refers to discrimination based on skin color. Colorism disadvantages dark-skinned people while privileging those with lighter skin. Research has linked colorism to smaller incomes, lower marriage rates, longer prison terms, and fewer job prospects for darker-skinned people. Colorism has existed for centuries, in and out of black America (ThoughtCo, 2020).
Color Caste: A system of rigid social stratification characterized by hereditary status, endogamy and social barriers sanctioned by custom, law, or religion where lower castes are of darker skin color (Merriam-Webster, 2020).
Racism: A system of unequal power and privilege where humans are divided into groups or “races” with social rewards unevenly distributed to groups based on their racial classification. Variations of racism include institutionalized racism, scientific racism, and everyday racism. In the United States, racial segregation constitutes a fundamental principle of how racism is organized (Collins, 2009).
Binary Thinking: A conceptualizing realities that divides concepts into two, mutually exclusive categories, e.g., white/black, man/woman, reason/emotion, and heterosexual/homosexual (Collins, 2009).
Rhetoric of Color-Blindness: A view of the world that resist talking of race because to do so is believed to perpetuate racism (Collins, 2009).
Double Discrimination: Is a dual challenge of discrimination against Latinas because they are women and members of an ethnic minority group (Rodriguez, 2000).
Social Constructionism: Is the theory that people develop knowledge of the world in a social context, and that much of what we perceive as reality depends on shared assumptions. From a social constructionist perspective, many things we take for granted and believe are objective reality are actually socially constructed, and thus, can change as society changes (ThoughtCo, 2019).