Quote:
Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS
A black African and black American can have tension if they act is if being on different continents constitutes huge differences in the "type of black" that they are rather than seeing themselves as part of the African diaspora. And if this is fueled by ignorance of black African and black American experiences and culture, it can be intrusive.
I assume you are a "white Latino" (in layperson's terms  ) so it makes sense that this would translate into "racial" differences (rather that just cultural and ethnic) in your family's eyes. In this country and in Latin American countries, there is a great social divide between groups of people based on the color of their skin, features, and hair texture. So things like attractiveness and social status (i.e. the white privilege that people of European background receive all over the world) will be based on that. If you date someone of the African diaspora, familiarity with each other's "culture" would have to include acknowledging and discussing this without being too consumed with it.
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This is so true. My husband (who's from Ghana) and I used to bump heads all the time when we first got married because of our perceived differences but we've since gotten over that. Now we embrace our likenesses and we can't believe how very alike we are despite our different upbringing. As for his family, they embraced me right away and have never had a problem with me being American although they did warn my husband that they would not be happy if he married a White woman, no matter where she was from.