Hispanics: No, We are Not All Alike
by Have you ever shopped at Wal-mart, Food Lion or the Piggly Wiggly and found yourself on a mission to locate the Spanish aisle? When you ask an employee to lead you to the “Spanish” aisle, immediately, you find yourself on aisle six with the Mexican food products.
Dominicans like Boricuas and Cubanos were born of a Taino, Arawak and Spanish fusion that make us so colorful and passionate.
Mexico’s lengthy, beautiful history has been in existence for hundreds of centuries and many Mexicans have had a direct hand in helping build the United States. Much of their ancestral fusion is derived of Aztec and Spanish blood.
Hondurans like Nicaraguans have a high Mestizo population, Honduras topping out at ninety percent.
About nine percent of Nicaraguans are Afro-Nicaragüense and like Afro-Colombianos, they reside on the country’s sparsely populated Caribbean or Atlantic coast. About 17% are of Spanish and French descent.
We share much of the same blood and our skintomes range from Brown (Morena), Cinnamon/Brown (Canela), Olive (Trigueño) and Dark White (Blanca Oscura). So, indeed, we are a colorful, spicy people, but we’re still different.
The best comparison I can make to this is people in England, Australian and even Jamaica speak English but in different dialects. Jamaicans speak Patios. The British speak proper English as do people in Australia. This doesn’t mean they are all-alike or eat the same exact foods or share the same cultures. The UK, Australia and Jamaica are worlds apart in how they live.
One night, I met a man who assumed I was Dominican because of my Canela complexion and said, “All you Dominicans are on the wild side…I met this one Dominican….” I politely stopped him with my “Yo soy Boricua, pa’que tu lo sepas!” Line, and informed him of the different shades of “us” for future reference. He gave me that all too familiar shoulder shrug-off and “Aren’t all you dark-skinned Latinos Dominican or almost Dominican?”
I wanted to know what “Almost Dominican” meant but he had no explanation. He was embarrassed and apologized profusely after I displayed some irritability, but the damage had been done. In his defense, I didn’t detect any malicious bigotry on his part…just a lack of knowledge. Curious, he asked me about the differences in our cultures and I explained. He walked away from that experience enlightened and educated. Hopefully, it’ll rub off, as each one will teach one.
Yes, we do speak Spanish but we are a diverse make-up of people, with different cultures, traditions and foods that clearly distinguish us from one another. Once the manager at Food Lion understood this, he had me make out a list of the items customary to my Hispanic culture and ordered them to stock his shelves. Many of us were pleased!
All across America, Hispanics from all over Central America, South America, as well as the Caribbean are co-existing in marrying and pro-creating. And though the times have brought us closer, there is still a difference amongst us. There is no hatred for other Hispanic cultures, just a difference which we respect while we try to know one another. Our different cuisines separate us about as much as our different enunciations, accents and countries. The different cuisines that make us who we are, like Arroz con Pollo, Burritos, Empanadas, Chorizo, Arepas, Cassavas, Mofongo, Salchichas, Quenepas, Alcapurrias, Enchiladas, Gallo Pinto, Pollo encebollado, Nacatamales and Ceviche.
Our flags may look similar. Our enunciation of certain words may match, but we’re different and we celebrate the difference that makes us who we are. To us, it’s obvious. To you, there may be slight confusion. So know that it’s polite and okay to ask.
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