Latino Ain’t a Race — Here’s Why That Mix-Up’s a Problem - Good Men

Posted September 1Sep 1

Alright, let’s clear something up: ‘Latino’ isn’t a race, it’s a whole cultural playlist, and it doesn’t come with a single skin tone. You can’t just lump them all in one box, no matter how much you think you know about tacos, salsa, or the word ‘si!’”

When My Mom Said a Brazilian Man “Looked Black” But He Was Black ..

So, my mom was dating this Brazilian guy from Rio de Janeiro, shout out to the cariocas… I lived in Rio for three years. Anyway, this guy was a black Brazilian guy. And one day, my mom commented describing what he looks like to me when I asked, and she said, “he looks black, but he’s Brazilian”, something along those lines. I had to educate her.

But anyway, this brings into an important distinction… Latinos, including Brazilians, are NOT a race but rather an ethnicity. Latinos refer to an ancestral heritage from people of Latin American origin, where, for the most part, people speak Spanish. Still, some speak Portuguese, French, English, Dutch, as well as some indigenous languages. This is due to colonization.

But also, Latinos can be of many races, just like weAmericans can. There are many indigenous/native/indian people throughout the Americas, with some countries, such as Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico, having a more substantial presence. Despite this, many of these groups have faced significant erasure throughout those countries and the Americas in general. There are white Latinos or very light-skinned Latinos due to European ancestry from mainly Spain and Portugal, but also the Netherlands, France, Italy, and other countries. You can find countries with large white populations in places like Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. I‘ve seen countless white, blue-eyed Latina women who look just like my non-Hispanic white American mother when I lived in Argentina and Brazil. Slavery wasn’t just an American thing; those boats were making stops all over the Americas, from the U.S. to the tip of South America, making sure Black Latinos are just as much a part of the story, on top of some African immigration to South America. A small fact, Brazil has more black people than the United States and has the second largest black population in the world, second only to Nigeria. Latinos can be shocker…. asian… The second largest population of Japanese people is in Brazil. Countries like Peru and Argentina have thriving Chinese and Korean communities. So, yeah, Latino identity isn’t just about tacos and salsa; it’s a global mix of cultures, histories, and races. Unlike the United States, where segregation was once the law and still exists today, South America is a predominantly mixed continent, but still with monoracial or mostly monoracial populations present in Latin America.

So, let’s stop pretending Latinos are some homogenous group, y’all. Latinos come in all shades, shapes, and sizes, just like Americans do, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can stop reducing an entire ETHNICITY/culture to just one race. So next time someone tells you, “Oh, he doesn’t look Latino or… I knew it, he totally does look latino” …. give them a quick history lesson, and remind ’em it’s a whole damn spectrum, not a monolith.

When Privilege Meets Misunderstanding: The N-Word and the ‘I’m Not Racist’ Card

I’m going to tell two quick stories before I get into why privilege meets common misunderstandings.

One from last year, where I was watching…. with my head down… my guilty pleasure BADDIES, specifically Baddies Caribbean. And a light-skinned, practically white Puerto Rican woman was attacked for saying the N word. Her excuse was “She’s Puerto Rican”. I’m not going to go into Baddies and all the toxicity that occurred on the show. But within the comment section, it popped off. Many people made comments about why this white Puerto Rican named Gretchen could NOT say the N word when other brown/black Latinas could….

The second story, which is similar, but I can still remember, is the story of SOHO Karen, who virally accused a black teenager of stealing her phone, despite him being the culprit. But later in an interview with Gayle King, she defended herself and said she can’t be racist because she’s a person of color….. Girl, if you don’t get your ‘I’m not racist, I have a Black friend’ energy outta here… Racism doesn’t care about your skin tone, honey, it cares about your actions, biases, and the mess you make when you assume the worst about people.

But what these two stories highlight is the confusion of privilege despite being a person of color. There’s the confusion of racial identity. There’s a confusion that racism isn’t just about skin color.

Latinos and people of color can absolutely have privilege while still being a person of color. I’m biracial, Black and white, but I’ve experienced privilege thanks to my lighter skin and the proximity I’ve had to whiteness growing up. I’m not alone in this; plenty of people of color benefit from certain privileges. Take, for example, lighter-skinned Latinos who get treated differently than their darker-skinned counterparts, or the Asian Americans who ‘pass’ as white and experience less racial profiling. And don’t even get me started on the whole ‘token POC’ thing, just because you’re the only brown face in the room doesn’t mean you’re not getting special treatment.

The white Latina who thinks she can use the N-word because of her “Puerto Rican blood” is exercising privilege without understanding black history and culture, including Afro-Latino history & culture. Similarly, the light-skinned Latina who claims she can’t be racist because of her “brown-ish” complexion ignores the nuances of how racism operates within and outside her community.

So, let’s be real: just because you’re a person of color doesn’t mean you can’t walk around with a little privilege. Don’t let the ‘I’m POC, therefore I’m oppressed’ narrative fool you. Just because you’re brown doesn’t mean you’re immune to the same biases and privileges others get. You might wanna rethink that ‘I’m one of the good ones’ mentality before it bites you in the ass.

Racism Isn’t Just About Skin Color

Racism goes beyond skin tone. The light-skinned Latina’s claim that she isn’t racist simply because she’s Puerto Rican highlights how racism is more about actions, biases, and supporting or perpetuating systemic inequalities. Similarly, the white Latina using racial slurs undermines the fact that her white privilege doesn’t erase racial oppression faced by others. There’s a lot of antiblackness within the Latino communities. A lot of history of blanqueamiento within Latin America, where the governments of some of these countries intentionally tried to whiten their population through immigration and other tactics. There are many stories where abuelos y abuelas were hoping and praying their grandchildren would be whiter/lighter to better the race “mejorar la raza”. The Brazilian country has had its own Black Lives Matter movement due to racism, poverty, classism, and police brutality within that country. And outside of the Latin context, asian cultures and African cultures have had a lot of colorism too, where light-skinned is the preferred, and promoted through skin bleaching creams and makeup, or using umbrellas at a damn beach so they don’t get too dark. India has a whole caste system that isn’t just about skin color, but a bunch of other nuanced and complex issues, and it has some relevance to skin color.

Latinos Aren’t a Monolith, And Neither Is Privilege

Alright, y’all, let’s keep it 100: just because you’re a person of color doesn’t mean you’re immune to privilege. Whether you’re light-skinned, ‘passing’ in certain spaces, or using your ‘Puerto Rican blood’ as an excuse to drop the N-word, it’s time to recognize the privileges that come with your identity. Latin America, for example, isn’t a monolith; it’s a vibrant mix of cultures, histories, and races. From Indigenous to Afro-Latino to European to Asian ancestry, the Latinx community spans a whole damn spectrum of identities. So, stop pretending like they’re all one thing or another, and start realizing that racism isn’t just about skin color, it’s about the biases, systems, and privileges you get, whether you know it or not. So, check your privilege, or trust me, it’ll check you back!

If you’re still here, you’re either learning something new or about to drop some knowledge in the comments. Either way, hit that clap button, share this with your people, and let’s keep this convo going. Don’t just read, spread the truth! And hey, if you think this deserves more ears, help an hermano out and drop some love in the comments. More interactions = more eyes on this story.

And speaking of systems of oppression, if you’re feeling the weight of these intersecting issues, check out my article Blood on the Floor, Borders at the Door, where I dive into how America’s meat industry exploits not just immigrants but animals too. It’s all connected, whether we’re talking race, privilege, or the violence inflicted on marginalized communities. If you care about the truth, you’ll want to give that a read.”

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This post was previously published on medium.com.