Quite frankly, I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed.
I write a blog about multicultural marriage, but when I post
photos it may be obvious that I am about one-day-at-the-pool away from the same
general skin tone as him.
Or maybe it crossed your mind, but you are too polite to say
anything. Not everyone is so shy though.
Most recently, Billy was asked where he was from. When he
answered “Guatemala,” the quick response was, “Oh, are your parents
missionaries?” When he said “no,” he received a quizzical look and a follow-up
question. Billy continued to explain. The guy finally closed the conversation
with “There’s something you’re not telling me” and walked away.
Billy and I laughed heartily over “there’s something you’re
not telling me,” but I do imagine he grows weary over the consistent
questioning of his ethnic identity. And he receives questions from everyone... Latino and
otherwise.
One guy painting our apartment in LA was shocked when Billy
began speaking Spanish. When he learned he was Guatemalan, the painter replied,
“Usually when I meet guatemaltecos,
they look like me… Indian.” Billy smiled and simply said, “I’m wearing a mask.”
He’s been asked if he’s a Spanish teacher, a missionary kid,
if he was born there, if his parents were born there… but everyone is really
asking the same thing. Why don’t you
look like what I think a Latino is supposed to look like?
***
I get it. The first time I met light-skinned Latinos was in
college. I was more familiar with the image of the Mexican or Central American
representation of Latinos, and I felt a bit confused.
What I learned through those relationships and the ones
since is that Spanish-speaking ethnic groups identify with several different
racial categories. In Billy’s case, his ancestors hailed from Spain (get it? Spanish…yeah, that didn't occur to me right away...) and were therefore European. Entonces…
light skin.
It’s fascinating to me how descendants of Spain in the US
are “white” and descendants of the same country living in Guatemala are
“Latino.” But it alludes to the complexities of race and ethnicity and language
in our society. My sociology background teaches on the “social construction of
race,” a topic about which I may blog more in the future. It’s really
interesting (says the sociology nerd).
Billy’s racially ambiguity had to be clarified on the 2010 Census, and I was interested to see how it would be addressed. Well, there was
an entire question “Is this person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?”
They offered a couple options, such as Puerto Rican and Cuban. Ultimately, we
filled in the blank: “Guatemalan.”
But there was also a race question: “What is this person’s
race?” The choices were: White, Black (African American or Negro), American
Indian or Alaska Native, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean,
Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, Other Asian, Other
Pacific Islander, or “Some other race.”
So it’s official… my Latino husband is white.
I’d love to hear your thoughts or reflections.
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I had an interesting time thinking about what race I was during the 2010 Census also. It took me as a surprise to think of myself as biracial, that is, a mix of european and Native American descent. I had never seen myself like that.Latin America is astounding in the way all races, well most, have been able to associated themselves with one culture and in many ways decreasing racial discrimination although by no means eliminate it. Everytime I go to Guatemala, I think I have the liberty to disassociate myself with being "Latino," a social marker here in the United States. However, having grown up in the US, being in Guatemala makes me a lot more self-conscious about what Race I am. That is, how white or how dark I look, features that are heightened thanks to racial/class tension I experience in Guatemala between Mestizos/white and Indigenous Guatemalans. It is always an interesting experience being in Guatemala and techinically being white, and priveleged, a fact I always wrestle with when I'm there.
ReplyDeleteHey Andres - Thanks for commenting! You bring a great perspective. And I completely agree with you. The variety of races in Latin America is fascinating, but it does not come without history and tensions of its own.
DeleteI get the same thing...but differently being a light skinned biracial white/black person, but even more with my kids..."i.e. are those *your* kids?" (read: who's white kids are those? the ones your babysitting) Since my hubby is white, they are way lighter than me & I have no hope for them not getting endless "what are you jewish or latino or other?" comments.
ReplyDeletethe census was interesting to me as well. One take I heard on it was that it's set up to create a new "white," since the old/current white is bracing it self for nothingness with Latino's population skyrocketing in the next 15-50 years. By forcing people like your husband into the white category, it creates a surge of numbers for whites, thereby maintaining some sort of heirarchal structure. I'm not sure I agree wtih all of it, but it's what I heard & it makes some sense....either way, race relations in America are JACKED up.
Sorry your hubby has to endure that, trust me, I understand.
My latino husband is white, too. One side of his family tree descends from Spain. For some reason, his family doesn't recognize that they are indeed latino. He hails from Florida, a place where Latinos from all over the Americas and caribbean reside so I don't know if the questions would be the same. My hubby's latina grandmother passed away when he was a child and with her the connection to that part of their heritage, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWhen he and I met in college, I found out he was latino and was fascinated. But he said he was barely Cuban and in no way identified as such. (FYI, grandma had fair skin and red hair but we were in college where I also met very light skinned, blonde haired Italians). I found it odd... at the time I was searching for every angle and asset I could to qualify for more college scholarship money and this guy didn't even utilize his family ethnicity to his advantage.
We now have a child and I don't know what to teach him about that heritage.
Thanks for the blog entry.
I am currently writing a book entitled, "Check One Box: Reflections on Race, Ethnicity, and Color", and would L-O-V-E to include your husband's reflections on how he's dealt with questions of ethnicity (and even YOUR reflections on the topic as well!). Find us on facebook.com/CheckOneBox or twitter.com/checkonebox...please stay in touch! ~Alysia Cosby
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for y'all sharing your stories.
ReplyDeleteGrace, I have never heard that about creating a new "white," but that is a fascinating concept! I may need to research this some more....
Corissa, thank you for sharing your family's experience. I have also met folks who are disconnected from that heritage, and it makes me so sad. We are being so intentional about raising our daughter bilingual and bicultural, but sometimes I wonder if that will carry to our grandchildren. Or will they simply say, "Oh yeah, my grandfather is from Guatemala" and that's the extent?
Alysia, thanks for stopping by! I will check out your book. Sounds very interesting...
Sarah, race and identity and country of origin are such SUCH interesting topics. I feel like we could sit down and talk for hours about this-- I have often wondered if our daughter will be more light skinned or darker? Will she identify more as Guatemalan because we live here? Or will she know she is different? Part estadounidense?
ReplyDeleteSometime I'll write a post about how a well-meaning/horribly assuming neighbor of a friend in Santa Barbara asked Gerber if he was the gardener as we were leaving the house?!? Couldn't believe it!
Oh no! So sorry to hear about your neighbor and Gerber's experience. I agree with you - I find this topic fascinating and am amazed at all the different ways that identity piece shows up in individual's unique experiences.
DeleteBeing all white all the time this is fascinating to me. I was definitely the outsider while living in Costa Rica and it was hard to get used to so I can't really imagine living there permanently.
ReplyDeleteI have a Filipino friend married to a Japanese man and they live in Dubai. There Filipinos are generally the laborer class although she has the better job - she works for an elevator company in their offices. She has frequently written about how she is taken for the nanny of her daughter since she looks so much more Japanese. It's offensive especially with the connotations of what it means there.
Sorry to hear about your friend's painful experience. I wish we could all take that extra moment to squash stereotypes and allow someone to introduce themselves to us as they are... how they would like to be known... Thank you for sharing.
DeleteI am a future Mission Year team member and just graduated from Boston University with a BA in sociology...sooo as a fellow sociology nerd- I agree! it IS interesting! haha. us sociology nerds are so misunderstood.
ReplyDeleteYay! Sociology nerds unite! I mean, for real, we're a small, but faithful crew. :)
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