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Seen it all....
>>>>To thicken the plot, whereas being "Black" as a race is a socially constructed idea, being "Latino" is not. Many Latinos are also "Black".
Depending on your geographic situation, relations may differ.
So, as Blacks and Latinos, where do we stand with each other? Do we have the same interests? Will we achieve them through a mutual effort or concentrating our own resources?
I was born and raised for the most part in the Bronx (New York) and as a teenager I dated guys who were mostly Caribbean and that included Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. In NY it was one in the same. I moved to the DC/MD area and its totally different. At my undergrad and in my law school all of the students I met of Latino decent gravitated towards whites and made no efforts in "minority" (groups like BLSA, etc.) activities, even the native New Yorkers, which was so odd to me and still is.
Just a different flavor down here is all I can say! I have a number of friends from Jr. high school who are Latino and dated like I did (cross culturally) in fact one of my best friends for over a decade is Puerto Rican, she's an AKA, and dated guys of all races and cultures (she recently married and he is also Puerto Rican.)
And we talk about this issue from time to time b/c as people of color we should pull together but at the same time the differences between us all be they important I feel they get in the way of the big picture we all need to see.
I think as the next generation coming along there will be the product of a lot of interracial marrying/dating/ procreating therefore the walls will be forced to come down...for better or worst....
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