I truly appreciated this week’s class readings. This week’s piece, Aleichia Williams’ “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina,” is a terrific illustration of being at odds with what you identify with. This judgment of what a Latina should look like or how a black person should act stems from the white man’s categorizing and stereotyping of society. I’ll never understand the struggle, but it’s similar to when people claim you can’t be gay and black. It’s such a pity that some feel the need to place others in boxes. The problem with society is that we use race to divide us rather than bring us closer together. “I am Black, I am Latina, and I am also human,” Alechia says. This quote not only affects me but also others, and it goes to illustrate that we are not prizes, items, or fetishes. We are individuals…. And many individuals have forgotten that everyone has feelings.

Aleichia Williams, talks about her experience on her first day of school and the years that follow that. She says that she came from North Carolina and it is a different environment than New York. On her first day she sat next to a group of girls that were hispanic and looked friendly. One of the girls that was in the group questioned her why she was sitting there, she did not want her to sit there. A friend of hers that had already had class with her corrected the girl and said she speaks spanish. She informs us that this was the first time she took her skin color into awareness. She grew up where her skin color wasn’t looked at because it was normal to be darkened skin and be spoken to in Spanish.

“My home language is Spanish so this must mean I eat tacos.” I relate to that quote from her. I am not too dark but also not too white, I have long black hair and speak Spanish. When people see me they automatically think I am Mexican. I correct them and inform them that my parents are from Ecuador. A response is followed by saying but it’s the same thing, you guys both eat tacos. Getting identified as a specific individual is something I get as well. It is not easy to be told that what you say you are is the same as what everyone thinks when you say your Latina comes to mind. Everyone has different cultures and types of foods that surround them. Mexican is not Hispanic. 

Williams talks about being too Black or being too Latin. Having to fit in is not an easy task and can be challenging for some. Not fitting in is also acceptable, be happy with who you are. Williams says she is learning to embrace every aspect of who she is. 

In The Power of Identity Politics it talks about what it is and how it was developed. The author talks about an incident that occurred to her at a bar. Where a white woman was talking to a white man about an Egyptian actor. The white man said that there should be more actors like him, she started to talk about how we are all humans and that it should not be pointed out that he is over color. She has power, she may not be aware of it but a white woman has power to speak her mind and use that to be heard that we are all humans, not balck or white. 

Non white people don’t always see people like them in magazines, when it comes to makeup girls of color have difficulty finding their shade. Even bandages are a white tone. Not until recently a variety of shades of makeup has been created and colored people are in magazines. Body shapes were one type and if you did not have that type of body you were not perfect. Now all bodies are coming to be accepted, plus sizes, people with curves and that should be enforced. We all do not have one skin color and one shape of body. 

I really enjoyed this week’s readings for class. The discourse pertaining to identity politics is one that’s very interesting and usually discussed on social media like Twitter and Instagram. This week’s text, “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina” written by Aleichia Williams is a great example of being at odds with what you identify with. They write, “When the violence broke out in middle school between the African-American gangs and the Hispanic gangs and the students spoke among themselves on who was best I could remember screaming “I don’t know who to side with!”’ This is a great example of how confused and “stuck” someone might feel when confronted with what they identify with. The author explains how they felt they were “too black to be Latin” and therefore was put in the box of listening to the music associated with the Black culture when they actually listened to Spanish music that they had grown up with their entire lives. It’s important to understand that a meshing of cultures is inevitable living in the United States, especially areas like New York City where the author grew up, and taking that to a more conservative and undiversified place like North Carolina will certainly bring judgmental gazes when their preconceived ideas of what a seemingly “black” person or seemingly “white” person should act like. 

Isabelle’s snapshot perfectly encapsulated the struggle many black women in the Latinx community suffer from, and just like her posts read, it’s one thing to experience racism from white people, it’s in some ways even worse when it’s coming from their own community. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, I saw colorism plague the minds of so many people. Being darker skinned meant being made fun of or given backhanded nicknames, such as “Prieta”, or “Negra”, both meaning black. While some people think these nicknames are endearing, I personally don’t. How bizarre would it be if we normalized calling people by their skin color in English? Other hurdles that darker-skinned individuals in my country would face would be outright racism and prejudice. Having darker skin would make someone less “desirable” in the eyes of some men. Even the coarseness of their hair would be judged and most women who can afford to relax their hair to achieve a straighter appearance would do so. Eurocentric features were incredibly sought after and anything that didn’t resemble that was deemed as less pleasing. I find it disgusting how judged these women are, simply for the color of their skin or Afrocentric features, something that we cannot control. 

The Power of Identity Politics, 

 “for people who aren’t white, heterosexual, cisgender men.” This is a perfect example of who has/gains power in the levels/ranks of society. An exact description of who is and will be in control, no matter the situation at hand. This is the normal reality of Americans, instead of dividing power to all types of people and groups of identity, in the USA it is encouraged and in force to keep the struggle going. Which keeps white men in power, and some white women who are able to gain power but since they are women, it’s mostly white men. It is a proven fact, they’re so many articles, court cases, federal sponged cases, situations in society, or issues at home where men, white men and/or white people who have been given a higher level of respect, care, and a slap on the wrist. EVEN CASES WITH RAPE AND MURDER!! It is incredibly disgusting and so heart-aching. 

White people are presented as the superiority “race” when in reality we are all one race and in my opinion white people have no culture because the culture they claim to have, is and are stolen from African descendants. Which is incredibly ironic to say, because African Americans suffer so much and are not respect as much as other groups of people.  There are several different types of identity politics in this article but this one hit homes for me because  black people poured their heart and soul in submitting into torture, makeovers, and etc. They have done so much to get and demand their rightful rights and respect as human beings for as long as anyone can remember. Still till this day, they are always being degraded and seen as less of a human based on the color of their skin! 

This week’s reading was very interesting and I enjoyed the connection between the two. I felt that both of the readings were very impactful and packed with new knowledge. The articles “The Power of Identity Politics” by Alicia Garza and “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina” by Aleichia Williams demonstrates the difficulty for someone of color to be accepted by society. Williams lived in New York City, an environment wherein people across all communities and cultures lived alongside one another. Compared to the diverse Big Apple, Williams’ move to North Carolina proved to be an entirely different story. In the articles, she explains that she was faced with the dilemma of choosing between her two identities. Because her skin was so dark, society had already categorized Williams as Black, disregarding her Hispanic nationality entirely. She was being viewed superficially, and thus brought about inner turmoil in regards to her identity. However, though Williams’ was suffering, she refused to give in to these harmful assumptions and instead came to accept herself for who she is. I genuinely admire her determination, the fact that she did not change herself to appease the prevailing narrative. As human beings, we have an innate right to stand by our personal identities, we the right to fight against society’s normative stereotypes. This is the powerful message within Alicia Williams’ writing that resonated with me, a member of the POC community.

Identity is an intangible idea encompassing the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks, and/or expressions that make a person or group. Acknowledging one’s identity is inevitably associated with categorizing oneself, for example the use of the phrase ‘I identity with/as…’, and is ultimately seen as a negative or positive depending on said category. Alicia Garza’s piece “The Power of Identity Politics” reflects upon Garza’s personal experiences with psychological identity. Psychological identity, branching off of identity, refers to a person’s self-image, self-esteem, and individuality. Garza speaks about this certain quality of defensiveness that comes from White people when discussing “race issues”, expressing how they fail to see that “naming it somehow perpetuates the dynamic of underrepresentation”. One of the instances that demonstrates this takes place during a conversation that Garza happens to overhear at a bar. A White man and a White woman are discussing an actor when the man specifically mentions that the actor is Egyptian. He then continues to say that it is great that actors, of Egyptian race, are getting more representation. The woman counters this thought and tells the man, “He’s a great actor, which is why he should be in more movies not because he’s a person of color.” I believe that first and foremost, cultural differences and skin tone aside, we all belong to the Human race. We must encourage society to see beyond color because an individual’s race should not determine the impact of their accomplishments. The United States touts itself as a home for all, a country with a global population and diversity like no other. Referring back to the conversation Garza overheard, the man could have ended his admiration without mentioning the actor’s race. I ask, what difference would it make if the actor’s race had not been revealed? Would it lessen his significance within the acting community? What I took from Alicia Williams and Alicia Garza’s readings is that we have the knowledge to better society’s understanding of identity and race. Race can play into one’s identity, but one’s identity is not simply determined by race.

         In her essay, “The Power of Identity Politics”, Alicia Garza discusses a conversation she overheard taking place at one of her favorite bars in California. A white woman essentially expresses that people need to get over the whole race thing, because she’s sick of it and feels like it’s dividing society rather than helping us grow closer. This seems like such a lazy and half-baked thought. It’s as if the woman in the essay decided to think about race for all of five minutes and decide that it’s no longer an issue because she doesn’t see herself as a racist.

         The reality is that, as the Garza discusses, “Power prefers to operate in obscurity”. By failing to acknowledge the issue at hand, the white woman doesn’t have to acknowledge her own privilege. This way she never has to reflect on the ways in which she is complicit in a system of oppression. Most people have a hard time admitting when they are wrong, and admitting wrongness involves taking responsibility for your own actions. Many white people think that just because they aren’t members of the KKK that their work in the fight against racism is done. 

         Thanksgiving is coming up, which is often a time when white people from major cities unite with their more sheltered and conservative relatives and have awkward conversations at the dinner table. Oftentimes no one at the table thinks of themselves as racist, but the difference is that those who tend to be younger and more politically progressive have hopefully contemplated and acknowledged their white privilege, while the older and more conservative family members often have not. It’s easier to pretend that it doesn’t exist. As Garza has written, for white people to admit that we are the oppressor race involves the negation of what lies at the core of conservative American values. 

         In their snapshot, Samantha Martinez posted a quote by Audre Lorde which states, “The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the first patriarchal lesson. In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower”. Identity politics are most important for those whose identities the patriarchy has attempted to whitewash. In the article “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina”, Aleichia Williams shares her experience of moving from New York to North Carolina as an Afro-Latina woman. When she sits with the Hispanic girls at lunch, they immediately shun her for her dark skin. Her article speaks to the fact that people love binaries, and it’s much easier for people to digest their surroundings in black and white than to take in all of the nuances. 

         I have experienced a similar, but different thing as a queer bisexual person. I’m too gay for the straights and too straight for the gays. Rather than treating sexuality as a spectrum, people want to place you in a box so that it’s something they can relate to. There is something about being bisexual that seems to threaten the sanctity of people’s own ideas about what it means to be gay or straight. Instead of having your identity respected you live your whole life with people not taking you seriously, sending you the message that you either need to come all the way out of the closet or go back inside and hide. 

Do you have an identity? Or are you just human? Identity politics is a very complex circumstance, there is no specific definition to it, there are just situations that builds up on its understanding. How is politics related to an individual’s identity, in relation to his/ her gender, race, sex etc. A person who is within the classification of what is known to be society’s norm would have no idea whatsoever how it feels to live outside of it. What it is to be black and/ or a person of color, a woman, a member of the LGBTQ community and so on. Like the blonde lady at the bar who got enraged about the fact that her colleague stated that more “diverse group” should be in movies, or specifically she did not like that “the very good actor” was represented as a person of color, instead of just being a “human”. She is (in my words) claiming that classifying the Egyptian actor, is only deepening the division that exist between groups in the society. This blonde bar lady, whether intentionally or unintentionally is denying the fact that it is in fact the system that is led by mostly white people in power that causes the division between groups of people. There are countless people like this blonde lady (that Garza unconsciously listened to her conversation) that fail to recognize that all groups would never be the same, as long as there are issues of racism, oppression, and homophobia. In as much reality that, we live in a society where certain actions and laws benefits some and leaves others hanging, protects some and directly or indirectly puts the rest in danger. The author, Garza Alicia coincides the identity politics to power, and explains that we do have the “power” to make certain decisions, however larger forces create those options from which we decide or choose from.

The issue with being “too black to be Latina” and vice versa has similarities with making assumptions or even saying that a person cannot be mixed, or an Asian cannot be black, an Arab cannot be Christian, or a Muslim cannot be black. I feel like the disrespect against people like this has become so common, people do not even hide their ignorance and shame anymore. Ina away or another, these people are always expected to deny a part of their identity and fully embrace the other. They have the right to claim both sides and most importantly be proud of it. It can sometimes be confusing, however. For instance, in the article, the author stated during an altercation between black people and Hispanics. She was very perplexed as to which group to side on. At times, people give backhanded complements in some situations, like “You’re the most Mexican black girl I’ve ever met”. Are people supposed to be pleased for receiving such reversed complements disguised as complements. I posted a YouTube video to my snapshot, where a black girl was sharing her experience of when she tells people she is Hispanic. In a popular Tv show, “Love and Hip- Hop Miami”, you would see that the celebrity Amara goes through very similar events.

  This week’s readings revolved around identity and identity politics. In The Power of Identity Politics by Alicia Garza, she begins by setting the scene at a bar. Garza explains there is a woman complaining about how a man she was talking to said that representation is important. The woman was annoyed by his statement saying that we shouldn’t focus so much on race and rather just accept one another as human. This blindness to race is a harmful approach that usually only leads to the furtherance of racism and microaggressions. Garza goes on to explain why this is a dangerous perspective and talks about power. Garza defines power as “the ability to make decisions that affect your own life and the life of others”. Garza also clarifies that there’s a difference between being empowered and power. Not all those who are empowered actually have power. 

  Garza then continues to explain identity politics. She says it is a way to describe the lives of those not in the “norm” of America. The norm being described as a control group in the United States. Then Garza mentions the reading from last week, The Combahee River Collective Statement.  She goes on to say that black feminists examined the women’s movement and eventually led to them defining identity politics. They observed that black women were not considered when white women were participating in said activism. 

  Garza continues with the story of the white woman at the bar and says that white people have brought this need to better represent and even have this conversation unto themselves. This is due to the categories created by white people that they have divided each skin color, class and sex into. Garza brings up another argument that people tend to make which is that we must move forward and away from the past. The author argues that this just leads to maintaining the harmful effects of racism. Garza refers to this as “amnesia” and declares it as harmful to those subject to oppression. 

  Then Garza begins speaking on the position of the right and says they are about principles based around “perseverance, rugged individualism, faith, and hard work”. The people that do not fit this notion of the norm threaten these ideals. Garza ends by saying power is to be distributed more equally.

  The second reading, Too Latina to Be Black, Too Black to Be Latina by Aleichia Williams speaks about her race crisis after moving to North Carolina from New York City. She did not realize how she was perceived would change so much when she moved. Her peers would say offensive things to her and she did not know where she fit in. Throughout the piece she writes that she was too Latina for her black peers and too black for her Latino peers. Ultimately though, she learns to embrace both aspects and does not let her identity be defined by just one thing. 

  I’d like to highlight Emily D’s post. I feel like it really connected to the piece by Alechia Williams. The image depicts what I interpret to be an identity crisis. Each of the fragments of each face makes up one shared identity. 

It’s a very delicate matter to tackle when the context is been drawn to identity politics. With no definite explanation to what it means, observations have been made that shows such instances where one makes up an identity politically. In the States, identity politics is largely based on sexes and race. Without much taken from the context, typical Americans won’t only discriminate on racial grounds but a social construct of sex where patriarchy rules the system and white conservatives on racial basis are seen to be the superior and most fit to govern. Based on the Cambahee River Collective Statement which surfaced in 1977 which was deliberately developed by black feminists, identity politics which was taking out women participation especially that of black women from the mainstream politics of the States was then frowned upon by the statement and critically fought against.

In view of this, it’s become like a war that need to be hard fought not only on races and gender but now on psychological and mental basis. Blacks are cast out and women limited, Latino and Hispanics are now also considered not worthy of any position in the political scene as its believed only white conservatives are capable and deservingly the best to be in such positions of the State. This political identity originated when typical White People decided to be racial in order to serve only to the best interest of people of their own kind and to that effect white women which indirectly sidelines and deprives blacks and Latinos from any privilege whatsoever that is being enjoyed by the whites themselves.

Political identity shouldn’t be anything that should separate people and create factions in societies. It rather should foster unity and tolerance, it should be a way by which different groups of people should relate with each other by respecting each other’s views and formulating policies that would affect each other positively because it’s the only way for harmonious living in a society. It should be a bridge between the gap created on racial, sex and gender basis. It’s important to understand that society is at peace if we don’t create enemies among ourselves, discriminating which tends to fracture the relationships we develop should be eliminated. It should be our way of understanding things that would define our identities politically. Inasmuch as we tend to have different ideologies and support different political parties, it’s reasonable that we come together as one to build countries one way or the other.

To some extent we are not only creating political identities on the grounds of races and gender but now to an extent we do it per religious affiliations. This means and ways of attribution is solely based on our belief systems and this then makes it extremely difficult for to do away with the problems that is being created by certain identity politics. It’s our duty to understand and accept people’s view on issues while we accept their affiliations not only to religion but also accept the fact that others are males or females and others being white, black or Latino without any form of discrimination.