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Slide 2 Introductory video [click here] Slide 3 Black Hispanics? Hispanics come in all colors and shapes. There are Asian Hispanics, white Hispanics, black Hispanics and even Latino Hispanics, as roughly 20 million people defined themselves, puzzled by the race question in the 2000 U.S. census. Black Hispanics struggle for their racial identity Bruno Diaz, Midland Reporter Telegram 2/13/2005Black Hispanics struggle for their racial identity Slide 4 My accent didnt match my face "When people realized that my accent didn't match my face, they asked me where I was from. And when I told them that I was from the Dominican Republic, and that I spoke Spanish -- therefore my accent -- I always got this 'wow!-that-is-weird!' kind of look" --Eddy Bello. Slide 5 Dominican identity Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez, men who in this country, most would identify as Black men, but when asked, they identify as Dominicans strictly. Jose Vilson Slide 6 Hispanic race? "Hispanics are not a race but members of a group with a common cultural background. To put all of us in the same bag is just ridiculous." Eddy Bello and Ronald Flecha Black Hispanics struggle for their racial identity Bruno Diaz, Midland Reporter Telegram 2/13/2005 Slide 7 Afro-Latin Americans Map Click for interactive map Slide 8 And Argentinas Afrolatinos? Gaurav Jashnani, a Fulbright scholar Studying in Argentina, suggests possible theories on the annihilation of afrolatino populations in Argentina. Slide 9 Afro-Nicaraguans The ancestors of Afro-Nicaraguans were free blacks who immigrated from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, lured by the good, steady jobs available for English speakers. Afro-Latin Americans:A rising voice Miami Herald, Audra D.S. Burch 6/10/2007Afro-Latin Americans:A rising voice Slide 10 And yet Stories abound about people who have hidden behind ambiguously brown complexions, passing for Miskito Indians, or mestizo. Slide 11 No racism in Cuba Slide 12 Alice Walkers account Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, described her visit to Cuba in her essay My Fathers Country is the Poor. Slide 13 Alice Walkers account And then we presented ourselves as black Americans (they presented themselves, un self-consciously and without words, as Cubans, of course), and their faces changed. For the first time they seemed aware of their color differences among themselvesand were embarrassed for us. Then we were entertained by what I perceived (with North American eyes, seeing narrowly) as an integrated group. Such a group! Black, brown, white, yellow, pink, gold complexions. Slide 14 No racism in Cuba? Sitting across from the white manager, [Denny] rattled off his qualifications: high school diploma, courses in tourism, hard worker. They weren't good enough: He needed his white brother-in-law to vouch for him, Denny recalled. Black people tend to do everything bad here, the manager said. A barrier for Cuba's blacks Miami Herald Staff Report 6/20/2007A barrier for Cuba's blacks Slide 15 before the revolution, blacks were disproportionately employed in menial jobs, in which many remainedNow, everyone, including the black waiters, studies constantly in order to improve their positions. My Fathers Country is the Poor, In Search of Our Mothers Gardens, 210 Alice Walkers explanation? Slide 16 Afro-Cuban identity denial The 2002 census, which asked Cubans whether they were white, black or mestizo/mulatto, showed 11 percent of the island's 11.2 million people described themselves as black. The real figure is more like 62 percent, according to the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. A barrier for Cuba's blacks Miami Herald Staff Report 6/20/2007A barrier for Cuba's blacks Slide 17 Alice Walkers take We can see that great efforts have been made to have Cuban art reflect the masses of Cuban people, that the African heritage is given equal time with the Spanish, and that the dominant culture is recognized as being a synthesis of the two. My Fathers Country is the Poor, In Search of Our Mothers Gardens, 210 Slide 18 Afro-Cubans imprisoned [Physician Oscar Elias Bisct] was sentenced to 27 years for, among other things, organizing a seminar on Martin Luther King's non--violent forms of protest. A barrier for Cuba's blacks Miami Herald Staff Report 6/20/2007A barrier for Cuba's blacks Slide 19