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Sept. 15 marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. Far too frequently Afro-Latinos here in the U.S.—people with both an African heritage and one from Spanish-speaking countries—aren’t prominently portrayed as representative symbols, nor are their contributions to U.S. history common knowledge.
We have communities here with people born or descended from Caribbean island nations where Spanish is the official language such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. There are also people from the Caribbean basin countries on the coasts of South America and Central America from regions of Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Colombia, and Venezuela. Additionally, there are Spanish speakers here from Aruba, Curacao, Belize, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago. Each one of these groups has members who are Black of all or partial African descent.
The U.S. celebrates Black History Month and National Caribbean Heritage Month, and folks who fit into all three of these categories, including Hispanic, often fall through the cracks of all of them. Race, ethnicity, and nationality here in the U.S are often conflated or confused. Plus, the subject of racism within the Latino community is still a topic that many people don’t want to discuss or deny that it exists at all.
Join me today in that exploration and discussion.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
