... in response to Re: Re: triguena vs Morena, posted by OkieMan on Apr 24, 2005Okie,
Your questions suggests that you believe that dark-skinned Latins are not "Black" or that their dark skin is the result of something other than being of African descent, not so? Do you believe that the color of a fair-skinned Latina and the color of a fair-skinned Black American are different colors? Do you also believe that a pound of lead has a different weight than a pound of feathers?
"I know that each LA country has their own unique ethnic and cultural mixes; but just as a general rule?"
Not to be too sarcastic and condescending, but your statement belies a deep ignorance of LA history. All of Latin America has the same general experience of colonization by Spain, Portugal, England (Guyana and Belize), France (French Guiana), and the Netherlands (formerly Dutch Guyana, now Suriname). All of these countries used indigenous populations as slave labor. When they died out due to European diseases etc, they imported slaves from Africa. Brazil alone imported more Africans during the slave trade than any other country in the world. Other countries that received large numbers of slaves were Venezuela, Colombia including what is now Panama, all 3 Guyanas, Belize, the eastern coasts of Costa Rica, Honduras, and the Vera Cruz region of Mexico. In addition, many slaves ran away into the interior of South America and settled in areas of Peru and Bolivia.
As slave revolts and lberation movements made the slavery of Africans more difficult, the colonialists turned to their Asian colonies for indentured labor. Portugal brought lots of Chinese from their colony Macau. England brought lots of Indians to Guyana and Trinidad, enough for them to now comprise around 45% of the populations of those countries. The Dutch brought over lots of Asians from their former colony of Indonesia.
There has been lots of inter-mixing in SA of all the 4 major racial groups; the indigenous peoples, the Asians, the Europeans, and the Africans. That is how there is now such a range of skin colors among Latins, especially in the working classes. Only the extremely wealthy elite class never mixed and stayed pure European over the centuries. I don't even want to guess at how much inbreeding went on to maintain that.
To quote from the US Census, Latin/Hispanic is an ETHNICITY, not a RACE. "Negro" is a RACE, not an ETHNICITY. All major racial groups are represented in the Latin ethnicity.
All that said, it is best that you ask your novia, NOT ME or US, how she describes the color of her skin.
I gave examples of Black Americans because most on the list are familiar with them. If I used, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Gilberto Gil, Pele, Mana, etc. as examples I doubt as many would have followed my point.
