Fabienne Fleurantin/Staff Writer
There’s an old saying: “don’t judge a book by its cover.” While this is a simple phrase, it is the epitome of the human condition. Every individual has an unique experience that cannot be seen on the surface and is integrated in all that they are. One’s experience is intertwined in the way they speak, think and identify themselves. However, this can be misconstrued and those who do not fit the mold of what is considered right in the world get plagued by harsh scrutiny. This has become the unfortunate circumstance of many Hispanic people here on campus.
Multicultural Programs and Services presented the ALM: Discussion Series, where students and staff members discuss their sentiments on the treatment of Hispanics, not only in Miami, but also in America and how this has affected them personally.
Many people spoke about the use of certain terminology that reinforces negative ideas amongst the Hispanic community. The classification of different ethnicities into one race of people upset many of those in attendance. The term “Hispanic” was created to easily categorize a group of people in order to produce a more efficient way of knowing what a person is. But, this has proven to be quite offensive.
Elena Cruz is the director of Upward Bound at BBC. She is Afro-Cuban, born in the U.S and raised in Miami. She spoke about how this term “Hispanic” came to pass and what it meant to her.
“In the 1970 census is when ‘Hispanics’ emerged, as a way to categorize the growing number of Latin Americans coming to the United States. I think it is a constructed term. I think it’s an attempt to kind of say: ‘You’re not White Anglo-Saxon or Protestant. So what are you?’,” Cruz said.
Cruz continues: “But I think it can sometimes homogenize the diverse populations and kind of reduce people to maybe the stereotypes versus getting to know where people are coming from.”
Cruz also mentioned the divisions that are visible within the Latino community and how some cultures are considered higher than others.
“I definitely feel there’s a hierarchy in Miami. I think that even Latinos treat each other differently depending upon which country they’re from, depending on their ‘Spanish’, and perceived accent. For example, Colombians are considered higher up in the hierarchy because their Spanish is considered the best Spanish.”
Moira Lertora Chacon is the Assistant Director of the Student Support Services program within MPAS. She shared her experience of what it was like growing up in America after coming from Argentina.
“I moved to the US when I was five, and I moved to Delaware, and I was pretty much the only Hispanic kid there. I didn’t speak English and they didn’t know what to do with me. At one point, the teacher sent me in the hallway because, what were they going to do with a girl who doesn’t speak English?”
Chacon continues to say: “For me, with all of that, at first, they try to put you in a category they understand, and they didn’t understand where I was from, so they were like: ‘You’re Mexican!’ Well, no, I’m not.”
There is a huge misconception about the Latino community that needs to be unraveled and redefined. Many Latinos are scrutinized and criticized harshly without having a chance to be heard. Just as Jose Felipe, the Director of Educational Talent Search and Student Access and Success simply put: “There are two big takeaways from this—there is no such thing as a Hispanic race and there is no one thing that a Hispanic or a Latino is.”
Image courtesy of Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomypelluz/222370820/in/photolist-kDH6E-9TFRGA-dgN4sz-hub46-fs9gQW-rbtkQV-c3JrjE-jEow-uR7UwT-fKQKxS-5jprEk-H4ByQ-ruMDo4-VncJ9-dgN4m4-gDLjHY-4BXUU2-c3JsMU-9pWMdi-69LAxs-73Q5vY-e8nQhx-4Xgj2x-e8tvGj-avKcUE-e8nRw2-4PGG5J-e8nMet-p7dkFi-e8tuwf-e8nS6F-e8nPnr-e8tsrm-ep2HEf-e8nN1H-e8nNz2-jE7Y-4Yjhpn-dgN4qp-fQCGuH-AtiY9-FkLaYC-9Jxhe3-9FDEMM-Edt3zD-6rCvQm-ruFrUR-6JvEWC-c3Jkdh-c3JmHj
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