The Miami Herald ran a series of articles over the summer on the emerging Afro-Latino population in the United States. The article that I found to be most enlightening was the one that was titled: "Black Denial". Focusing on the Dominican Republic, the article was refreshingly real, depressingly sad and shockingly uncomfortable, all at the same time. The piece addressed the gamut of racial issues in the Dominican Republic, from the myth of "pelo malo" (bad hair which was also described as "barrio looking" hair), to elegant hair(straight hair), to skin tone, etc. Catherine de la Rosa, a US born student of Dominican ancestry studying in the Dominican Republic, was quoted in the article as saying: " I always associated black with ugly. I was too dark and didn't have nice hair...with time passing, I see I'm not black. I'm Latina". Wow, what a shame that she doesn't know that the terms "Black" and "Latina" aren't mutually exclusive. But wait, there's more.
Dominicans interviewed for the article said that people shout insults at women who dare to wear natural hairstyles in public. Xiomara Fortuna said: "I can not take the bus because people pull my hair and stick combs in it... they ask me if just got out of prison. People just don't want that image to be seen." Dawn Stinchcomb, a Black researcher from the US, reported that people would shout insults at her in the street and that waiters at restaurants refused to serve her. She was quoted as saying:"I had people on the streets...yell at me to get out of the sun because I was already Black enough...I don't have a problem when people who don't look like me say hurtful things, but when its people who looked just like me?" Unbelievable. Maria Elena Polanca went on to add: "Look we have bad hair, bad. Nobody says 'curly'. It's bad... You can't go out like that. People will say 'Look at that nest! Someone light a match.'"
The efforts of Dominicans to rid their society of the blight of "bad hair" pervading the country is justified, some say, as a "necessary" step toward defending Dominican nationalism. Ginetta Candelario, a student at Smith College in Massachusetts was quoted as having said, in defending the cultural mandate that Dominican women possessing African spiraled hair alter their hair to make it "straight": "It's not self hate...Going through that is to love yourself a lot. That's someone saying, 'I am going to take care of me.' It's nationalist, it's affirmative and celebrating self." The article says that Ms. Candelario studies "the compexities of Dominican race and beauty." Apparently, Ms. Candelario has more studying to do, as she is clearly oblivious to the fact that if one has to alter who one is naturally to become more "acceptable" to others, one is too preoccupied with pleasing other people to be really focused on loving one's self. Are these Dominicans really comfortable with themselves? Or, are they in denial? It's interesting that Ms. Candelario believes that having African spiraled hair is an indication that Afro-Dominican women don't care for themselves. Now THAT is news.
Given the historical fact of Haitian rule of the Dominican side of the island of Hispanola in prior generations, it is somewhat understandable that some residue of Dominican animosity toward Haitians for abuses that may have occurred during Haitian rule remains in Dominican society. A smart and highly educated woman like Ms. Candelario should understand, however, the absurdity of attempting to cast anti-Black
racism in the Dominican Republic as necessary for the expression of "nationalistic" pride, all the while denying that self hate is at the root of the movement for Dominican nationalism. The Miami Herald did not buy it, and neither do I.
Why is it that the English and the French, who have a long history of national rivalry, never used their mutual whiteness as grounds for hating the other so as to prove their respective national pride? Similarly, why is it that the Japanese didn't justify attacks on the Chinese because the Chinese had the same eye lid folds that the Japanese themselves possessed, so as to assert national pride? And why is it that the neither the Indians nor the Pakistanis justified attacks on each other based on the Brown skin and straight black hair that they each possess? Frankly, I can't think of any ethnic group, other than those of African descent, that encourages its members to mock physical characteristics that they share with their enemies, when those enemies are also Black, as a way of showing "pride".
Other groups would never think to employ such ridiculous and non-sensical "logic" precisely because they DO have self pride. Moreover, they, as autonomous people, understand that by cannibalizing the physical characteristics inherent in their ethnic identity, they reveal a mental weakness that can be exploited by their enemies. Such weaknesses are easily identified by those who possess a great deal of self pride and will, utlimately, result in the defeat of the weak. Until this point is understood and embraced, the Black world will continue to sit at the feet of those who have and continue to exploit us. Is it really any surprise that the Chinese have descended upon Africa in the past decade? They are there because they have observed that much of Africa is weak and rutterless and therefore Africa's resources are ripe for their taking and exploitation. In my opinion the weakness sensed by the Chinese stems from the lack of self pride that resides in the being of many African leaders due to their having drunk the kool-aid filtered through the prism of colonial propaganda. Africa will only benefit from the bounty of the continent when its leaders learn this lesson. Afro-Latinos and Afro-descendants must learn this same lesson. We will only advance and prosper when we act out of pride rather than self hate and shame.
Obviously, Dominicans could, just as other nationalities have, find other grounds upon which to distinguish themselves from Haitians as a means of showing national pride, other than their mutual Blackness, IF they really wanted to. They haven't done so precisely because of anti-Black self hate among many Dominicans. I'm sorry Ms. Candelario, this is the reality, no matter how vehemently you deny it.
The calendar says 2007, but maybe its really only 1807.
Ok, strike one for any thought that Afro-Latinas can be beautiful, as we, according to the apparent consensus of the Dominican people, have "bad" hair.
The next allegation against the possibility of Afro-Latina beauty is that we, allegedly, ALL have big asses. According to a Dominican New Yorker named Ramona Hernandez, a big ass renders Afro-Latinas inherently "ugly". When asked by the Miami Herald if Black Dominican women are considered beautiful in Dominican culture, Ms. Hernandez is reported to have mocked the way Black Dominican women allegedly walk, by shuffling her feet accross her office floor, with her bent arms extended behind her back, in an attempt to mock Black women with large rear ends. She then is quoted in the article as having said: "You should see how they come in here with their big asses! They come in here thinking they are all that, and I think,'doesn't she know she's not really pretty?'"
Amazingly, Ms. Hernandez, pictured above (courtesy of the New York Times), continues to serve as the Director of the Dominican Studies Institute at City College of New York, despite numerous calls for her ouster following the publication of her comments, as alleged in the Miami Herald series. Ms. Hernandez, for her part, denies the charge that she is an anti-Black racist and claims that she was quoted out of context. Maybe she was quoted out of context, or maybe the Miami Herald got it right, I don't know, but I think her admission in the article that she would "never, never, never" attend a meeting at City College without first blow drying her naturally curly hair straight because she's "... a woman trying to look cute", speaks volumes. Upon observing Ms. Hernandez's picture, it is abundantly clear that she has absolutely NO African ancestry and does NOT "suffer" from pelo malo. I'm also sure that if we had a full length picture of her, she absolutely would NOT have a big ass.
Curiously, though, Jennifer Lopez, widely noted for having a large rear end, has not been deemed "ugly" because of the size of her posterior. As a matter of fact, irrespective of her big butt, Ms. Lopez is frequently noted for her beauty, both in the mainstream press and by the general public. I wonder if Ms. Hernandez considers Jennifer Lopez to be ugly? I Doubt it. Further, many rich and famous women flock to plastic surgeons to get butt implants. Apparently it's socially acceptable and beautiful for women to have big butts ONLY if they buy them AND ONLY if they are not Black. Once again, Black women are mocked for naturally possessing a physical characteristic that other women are willing to spend money to obtain. The Black woman's natural characteristic is "ugly", but the artificial imitation of that very characteristic, when co-opted by non-Blacks, is deemed beautiful in the non Black body. It's not just butts though, it's lips too. Full lips in Black women are ugly, but collagen injected lips on non-Black women are all the rage. Hairbraiding on Black women is "ghettoish", but on Bo Derek it magically morphed into beauty. Do you get it now Ms. Candelario?
Ok, strike two. Afro-Latinas can't be beautiful because we have big asses.
The next accusation against the idea of Afro-Latina beauty is that we have Black skin. According to Dominican Sergia Galvan, who was interviewed by the Miami Herald for the article: "There's tremendous resistance to blackness--black is something bad....Black is associated with dark, illegal, ugly, clandestine things. There is a prototype of beauty here and a lot of social pressure. There are schools where braids and natural hair are prohibited."
In the Miami Herald article, Ms. Galvan went on to note that though there were more Black complected Dominican women entering beauty contests, they never win. More and more Afro-Latinas are participating in beauty contests and not just in the Dominican Republic. Irrespective of whether you support the idea of women participating in beauty contests or not, the reality is that we do. In the past 30 years, several Latin American countries have even crowned Black complected women as their national representatives in international beauty pagents. In 1986 Deise Nunes was crowned Miss Brasil; in 1996, Monica Chala was crowned Miss Ecuador; in 1998, Carolina Indriago was crowned Miss Venezuela; in 2002, Vanessa Alexander Mendoza was crowned as Miss Colombia. 2002 also saw Black women crowned as Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Mexico, and that year, Erika Lizet Ramirez was crowned as Miss Honduras. In 1997, Italy named Dominican-Italian Denny Mendez as Miss Italy. Unfortunately, none of these women won the Miss Universe title, BUT they were visible as Black women from the Latin world. Apparently, the slander that Afro-Latinas aren't beautiful hasn't been embraced by all.
So, I guess, for some, that's strike three, Afro-Latinas can't be beautiful because we have Black skin. According to the Black haters, we as Afro-Latinas have completely struck out. They think we're beyond redemption.
All kidding aside, those who chose to believe the slander that Afro-Latinas are ugly, will never view us as beautiful, under any circumstance. Their ignorance does not, however, require that we, as Afro-Latinas, have to accept the lowly position they've designated for us at the back of the line, full of shame about our hair, our bodies and our skin color. We are beautiful because we value who we are. We are beautiful because we don't allow ourselves to be defined by those who despise us. And, we are beautiful because we walk with pride, with our backs straight and our heads held high. Too bad that many Afro-Dominicans,other Afro-Latinos, and many in the general public still haven't figured it out yet. Well, that's their loss.
Alessandra
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