| wiki | search |
Main Page | Groups and Assignments | Bios | History | Harlem | Diversity Today | Help
NYC Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Race
Although the dictionary defines race as being “ A classification of modern humans, sometimes based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape”, this definition is very ambiguous. It proposes the idea that just because people may look the same or share similar features, must mean that they share the same “race”. However, this does not hold through in today’s society because people belonging to certain ethnic groups such as Latinos are so diverse from one another that it would be incorrect to judge them based on their appearance.
Modern anthropologists and biologists are realizing that what we consider to be “race” is a very limited way to judge individuals because it almost entirely based on one’s appearance. According to Dr. Harold Freeman who has studied the relations between “race” and science has said, “The biological concept of race . . . has no basis in science”, meaning that our current usage of the term “race” is not based on anything substantial or scientific, but merely on how we see and stereotype others. Latinos living in New York City are often stereotyped and categorized as “white”, “black” or “in between” based on their appearance and skin color. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are amongst the many Latinos that are seen as members of a certain “race” even though they may not associate themselves with it.
After discussing the ambiguity of “race” with a close family friend Israel Valentin, who himself is a Puerto Rican who immigrated to America in his childhood, he provided me with a firsthand account of the stereotypes NYC Latinos receive just because they appear to belong to a certain “racial” category. Israel comes from a large family and he is very light skinned. One may refer to him as “white”. However, his siblings do not all share this “whiteness”. One of his older brothers took after their father and is dark skinned. Israel remembers several instances where his brother would be classified as “black” or belonging to that category simply because of his skin tone. He says, “People don’t even bother to ask whether he is or could be Latino. They just take a look at him and assume that he is "black”. Instances like these are very common and they clearly demonstrate how the concept of what we call “race" is ambiguous and misleading.
