The history of being black or having dark skin has always been very sensitive topic to discuss in America or just period. We all know in The United States that there has been history of slavery due to the slave trade starting in the 1400s. But there is a huge unawareness of the entirety of the routes slaves were traded along and the Black population in other locations of the world. During the slave trade 95% of African slaves were transported to Latin America. That includes South America, the Caribbean, and Central America. The other 5% of the African slaves were sent to the North, which is the present day United States of America. With that being said, their are large populations of Black Hispanics/ Latinos. Brazil has the second largest Black population outside of Africa, followed by Colombia with the third largest population of Blacks.
This information seems to be hidden in the Latino community and not spoken of often, so today I am going to speak out about my own personal experiences as a black Hispanic and the hidden secrets that many people try to cover up or hide from mainstream media.
My name is Sessle Sarpy, I am a product of a multicultural family, with African and European/Latin roots. Growing up, I knew I was Black and I knew I was also Hispanic. I am extremely proud of my heritage. My mother's family were from Cuba and the state of Louisiana. My father's family was from France and also from the state of Louisiana. Essentially, they were Creoles that spoke French and or Spanish, which is very similar to Haitians. I like to consider us, my family, as Caribbeans that settled in the United States. Moving along.... Growing up I noticed that my family came in different colors, some were very light skinned and some were dark. My mother would tell me stories of how her family would say nasty things about her because her skin was darker than her grandmother's. They would say things to my mother such as "go sit your black ass down" and many other hateful things. But when I look at my mother, she is not the same skin tone as a person who is fresh of the boat from Africa, meaning that she is not "dark as midnight" as some people would say. This just shows that having any skin tone darker than "light skin" was considered bad or ugly. Growing up, as a little girl my mother was taught to always marry someone with lighter skin so she could have beautiful kids. This sick mentality is referred to as "Avanzar La Raza" which means to advance the race and make your family "lighter". After my mother met my father, who was half black & half French. She married and had 5 children. However, from then on she did not like to bring us around her family because of how racist they could be towards people of darker skin. My great great grandmother did not want to hold my older brother when he was a baby just because he was not "light skinned". This shows how sick and twisted people can be. So my mother took us away from her family and raised us not to spread hate nor be ashamed of having skin that is darker than "Mulatto" (black/white).
Now that I gave you all a brief history on certain parts of my family, I want to get into the topic of recent events in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic shares an island with the country of Haiti. It is located in the Caribbean. Dominicans speak Spanish, and Haitians speak French. During the 1400's African slaves were taken to the island of Hispaniola after the Natives were dying off due to weakness and becoming ill from the diseases Europeans brought to the country. Thus, the reason for having African slaves. Over the years Spain invaded one side of the island, where as France invaded the other side. This divided the island in two parts. Rafael Trujillo, a ruler of the Dominican Republic started a racial Genocide by killing off anyone with African roots and revoking rights from anyone who looked "black." Of course, this put fear among the people of the country because the majority of the population is black. So in order to protect themselves, the history of white washing started to effect the island because being "dark" was "bad", and those who were dark would be considered dirty, ugly, and thugs who had no rights. So, in order to adapt to this new sickening law. Dominicans became brain washed, thus leading to the chemical perming of Afro hair, the bleaching of skin to appear more white and the hatred for Haitians.
In present day Dominican Republic these actions are still in full effect. It is considered unprofessional to have Afro Hair. The women who work in banks, or any other professional setting, are forced to cooperate with weekly benefits of going to the salon to keep their hair permed and straight. To Dominicans, this makes them look more European, more rich, and less "black" because they have straight hair thus giving them better opportunities. Today, in the year 2015, the genocide has returned. Right now, in the Dominican Republic anyone who has "Haitian blood" is now in the risk of being deported and having their rights revoked. Some claim this is because Haitians are bringing problems to the island such as crime. Let us not be quick to sugar coat this. This is happening because the population of Haitians are majority African descendants and the people of the Dominican Republic are tired of being a country of majority black or African people.. So in order to get rid of the blacks they are targeting anyone who is of dark skin. People are hiding their families because it is not safe. But what everyone seems to forget or pay attention to is that Dominicans and Haitians share the EXACT same African blood that has been there for centuries since the 1400s. But Dominicans were taught self hatred thus leading the culture to be tainted.
My older sister is married to a Dominican and they now have a son who is Dominican from my brother-in-law and Cuban from our bloodline. Meeting the Dominicans of my family was interesting because of course, we were discriminated against but we were all the same skin color. There is no difference. The other thing that separated us was that our ancestors and family came from Cuba, a different island in the Caribbean. For years my sister was mistreated by her in-laws because of her hair. My sister is beautiful, she has freckles all over her face with big curly reddish-brown Afro hair. She embraces our African roots because my mom taught us to love every drop of blood that runs through our veins. Now that I have a nephew who is of Dominican heritage, should we teach him the ways of Dominicans? Should we lead him down the path of self hatred and dislikes of anyone who is dark skinned? Of course not.
The issues that are going on in Latin America against people of African roots has been swept underneath the rug for far too long. Africans have contributed so much to our culture. It is just ridiculous for anyone of Caribbean Latino or African decent to deny who they are. The way we speak Spanish is because of Africans. If you listen to a Mexican speak Spanish as compared to a Cuban, Puerto Rican, or Dominican, it sounds completely different. This is because of our African roots. Salsa music originates from Africa and then to Cuba from the African slaves. My Cuban heritage is heavily influenced by not only Spain, but by Africans. This racial colorism, discrimination and ignorance has to STOP. But, the only way to fix this problem is at home. Our families must get educated on the true history behind Latin America and stop living in denial and hatred. Racism is taught, no one is born a racist. No one is born to hate their roots. This has been drilled in the heads of Dominicans since the beginning of their history. My family is not at peace with the issues over on that island, nor we will teach my nephew to hate Haitians or any other person who has African blood. It is going to take hard work to fix centuries of hatred but it can be stopped if our parents are willing to teach us about our REAL history. This is not to generalize all Black Hispanics and put them into a category and claim that they are all brain washed, because I know many Afro Latinos who embrace all of their heritage. But, the point of this is to educate and inform people on their history and how things started in our culture. This will help to erase the non sense just like my mother did with me. Knowledge is power and education is key. In order to succeed and get further in life we must first know who we are and were we come from, so that we will know where we must go!
Thank you all for stopping by The Great Change today! Make sure to check out our new book The American Alien today!
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