1 Question and answer 1. Words used to describe Afro-Latinx are sometimes considered impolite, like Negro, Prieto, Moreno. There is varying agreement on labels like "Afro-Americano," Afro-Descendiente," "black," "negro." 2. Should there be a distinction between "African-American" and "Afro-Latinx"? Should people from different countries be free to describe themselves as "Afro-Puerto Rican," "AfroColombian," "Garífuna," "Dominicano Negro"? 3. What is the benefit for Afro-descended or black people with roots in Latin America to hold onto cultural characteristics like the use of the Spanish language or the participation in Latin American cultural expression? 4. Have you heard of the expression "Too black to be Latino, Too Latino to be black?" 5. How does the Afro-Latinx identity intersect with women's and LGBTQ identities? There should be a distinction between "African-American" and "Afro-Latinx" people because they are not one and the same. African-Americans should be limited to black-American who are born in the US, have no ancestry in Latin America or any other country outside the US (Hatzipanagos, 2020). Afro-Latinx would include black people who speak Latin or trace their ancestry in Latin America.
2 People from different countries should be allowed the liberty to describe themselves as "Afro-Puerto Rican," "Afro-Colombian," "Garífuna," "Dominicano Negro” to maintain their unique identities that include culture. It does not augur well to lump all black people together and term them African-Americans without paying attention to their differences. A black person born in Honduras from descendants of free slaves does not have the same cultural ancestry as a black person born to a descendant of a slave in the US or Cuba (Hatzipanagos, 2020). Each country has its unique culture and other aspects that make people born there unique. Moreover, national identity cannot be erased by the color of the skin. Allowing people from different countries to identify themselves with identifies that rhyme with their nationalism is advisable to maintain their right identities. Black people living in each nation have unique problems that can be well understood if they are allowed to identify with the countries of ancestry (Hatzipanagos, 2020). These identities can also be leveraged to study and understand differences in the challenges they face, such as racism, economic empowerment, health, and access to education. Yes, I have heard of statements such as "Too black to be Latino, Too Latino to be black?" The statement arises because of the misperception that Latinos are all brown. The popular belief is that in Latin America, there is no racism. However, the reality is that not all Latinos are brown and that not all black people are not of Latino origin. Some black people are of Latino ancestry and speak Latino, whereas some of the brown Latinos are of African ancestry, hence considered black (Hatzipanagos, 2020). The presumption that there is no black Latino is the source of all these problems. In this respect, there should be an acknowledgement of the fact that there exist black Latinos and people of African ancestry but with brown skin. Everyone of African origin does not necessarily have black skin. In the US, everyone who had a black parent in his or her
3 ancestry is considered African American, regardless of the whiteness of his or her skin. The same cannot be said of brown Latinos who have a black parent in their ancestry, hence the challenge of “Too black to be Latino, Too Latino to be black?" The Afro-Latinx identity intersects with women's and LGBTQ identities in its complexity. Afro-Latinx creates issues about divisions along race and ethnicity in understanding the challenges the group faces. Just like women and LGTBQ identities can vary according to race and nationality in terms of challenges faces, so is the issue of Afro-Latinx identity. Women identity has varying identities, such as black women and Latino women (Hatzipanagos, 2020). Each group has its own unique problems that it is battling. For instance, white women do not face exactly the same issues as African American women, hence the variance of their identities. The same can be said about Afro-Latinx, where we have Afro-Honduras and Afro-Guyana.
4 Reference Hatzipanagos, R. (2020). Some Afro-Latinos say the phrase ‘Latinos for Black Lives Matter’ makes no sense. Washingtonpost.com. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/28/some-afro-latinos-say-phrase-latinosblack-lives-matter-makes-no-sense/.