"Being Latino means not talking about race."
"Latinos don't speak about race."
"If you talk about race you are creating a problem that doesn't exist."
"When Latinos come to the U.S they talk about culture, not race."
These where the things saying by Miriam Roman that keep resonating in my head. Being from Latin America I could really relate to what she was saying and it made me think that I had never considered race a problem where I'm from. Now that I think about it, I come from a school with about 1,500 students. I only remember seeing two dark-skinned color students. And the ones I knew were children from the school's employees. There is a white supremacy, even though we all claim to be equal, to be mestizos. We notice the color of our skin, how some of us are more light than others.
She made a point about how we all 'recognize' the existence of Indians and the presence of the Spaniards but we seem to forget that there were hundreds of Africans brought over to work as slaves. They are part of our history, and even if down our blood line there is no presence of Africans, they are still there, and they are part of our story as a continent.
She also said: "Complaining means that you have a problem." The person that talks about race in Latin America is the odd one out, stands out, its not the rule. I do believe up to some extent, Latinos have an issue with identity and its hard for them to relate, to find meaning. I also think we sometimes relate race to the colour of our skin. Why when I'm asked what race I am, can't I put white? When I look in the mirror I see white, when I stand next to an American friend I don't see much of a difference. Where I'm from I would be considered white. I'm more lighter skinned that many.
I really enjoyed today's presentation. They made very interesting points and I think it was a nice way to conclude the Alvarez seminars. I really hope Trinity keeps supporting these sort of things and keeps bringing speakers that relate to Latin culture and history.
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