Stuck In Limbo: "Black or Latino?"

     Last Wednesday I attended an information session about inconsistencies and insecurities regarding self identification. What the information taught us, through a documentary titled, "Mirror's of the Heart" was that the notion of considering yourself "black" is not the same as identifying oneself as "white" or "asian" (two frequently used terms in the United States and at the University of Southern California). What many do not know, including Latin Americans as well as those who consider themselves "black" is that most Latin American nations are populated with millions of African diaspora. Their cultures and people have been mixed throughout the years not only with Spanish culture but with the indigenous cultures that preceded the arrival of the Spaniards. When many black latinos, or Afrolatinos, are asked in the United States the question "what are you?" they must face multiple conflicts.
     To my surprise, this question is actually quite controversial and offensive in the eyes of many Afrolatinos. In the meeting they expressed the question as part of the American habit of classifying all types of races and people into terms. This classification, I came to realize, is a failure of our society to realize the repercussions of such habits. Classifying each human, either mixed race or not, extremely limits the understanding of that person. Rather than trying to understand who the person is on an individual basis it is easier to fit them into our perspective of what we think the rest of "latinos", "blacks", "whites" or "asians" are like. Afrolatinos at the information session discussed that at some point they do not feel like they must educate every person on the fact that latinos can be black (personally I believe it is their obligation to educate). What I got out of this session was not just some new friends but realizing that all the terms we use to talk about groups of people, especially in the US with its diversity, is the direct cause of stereotypes and misunderstandings. Since more and more Americans are mixed with a multitude of backgrounds does it still make sense to limit our understanding of the people around us to 5, 6 or even 100 different terms of categorization?
     Overall the meeting and the food was enjoyable and turned into a discussion that became the headline of the meeting: conflicts between the two groups who must deem themselves either "black" or "latino". In the United States, especially in Los Angeles, the terms black and latino are used frequently to describe those of different skin color. The University of Southern California, located in downtown Los Angeles, reflects the categorization of Blacks and Latinos into two separate categories. Students complained over the fact that black graduation and latino graduation are held on the same day at the same time. (What struck me as even more surprising, in retrospect, was the fact that these graduations even exist, they seem to promote the categorization many Afrolatinos dislike). There were also comments about how Afrolatinos must decide about living in the "latino floors" or the "black floors" (the latter better known as Somerville; Again I reiterate that although these floors provide a place where students can feel at "home", they promote a division from non-blacks and non-latinos that is counter-productive). What many attendees, as myself, promoted was the unification of the two separate groups. Maybe not as a group turned into one but instead of individual events, hold events where both the latino organizations and the black organizations will attend. The meeting ended on a positive note when students actively decided to set a date for a new event in order to reach out to more students.