latin american princesa {LAP}

Via TakingITGlobal:

I just learned about a digital dialogue initiative from Queen Rania on YouTube. This is a women who defies stereotypes through her very existence and actions. Now she is using cyberspace to help bring down some of the stereotypes about Arabs and especially Arab women. She’s like the Barack Obama of Arab women.

Obama has shown us that while he understands that we have a lot of work to do still in terms of equality and opportunity, this country has already come a long way. Some say that his “Change” message is superficial. How much change can he really bring about? What does that mean exactly? But his campaign alone has already changed so much. Dialogue is the first step and he has instigated a serious level of dialogue. He has made people think. And think again.

Queen Rania is attempting the same. She’s a brilliant woman. I’ll be following the initiative this summer. I hope you’ll check it out too. Let’s see if some stereotypes come down on both sides.

While it may seem that I am consumed with minority rights and am anti-white, people usually think I’m white. At least the the people who know me do. I love mochas, although I am morally opposed to purchasing Starbucks except in dire emergencies (homemade is better anyway). I have a college education, a career, a 401K, a dog and someday probably some rugrats (at a very late stage by latino standards).

But how come these things are “white”. Why are measures of success “white”. It’s stupid really. All people can be successful. There are plenty of white people who are NOT successful. It’s just a reflection of the years of imbalance in this society. Issues of class get muddled up with issues of color.

But any-hoo, I’ll be writing plenty more on the black-white dichotomy and class. The reason I bring it up now is because my hubby found this absolutely hilarious blog called Stuff White People Like. Seriously it’s f-ing hysterical.

If you’ll excuse me now though, I’m going to bed so I can get up for my 9-5 suit job. Yes, I have mastered the art of taking the latina mask off and “acting white”.

• DEVELOPMENT: MDGs Yardstick Too Generic, Critics Say [IPS]
  This article highlights the importance of context and scale. The MDG’s were established on a global scale but when applied locally they don’t make sense and are hurting nations, African ones especially. One size does not fit all.
• Material Support to Terrorism — Consequences for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the United States [Migration Information Source]
  Since 9-11 new counterterrorism laws and policies have made asylum and refugee resettlement to the U.S. more difficult. This is another example of one-size-fit-all policy damaging the world’s weakest and most vulnerable inhabitants.
• Meanwhile the French sentenced far-right Le Pen for hate speech but the Dutch delay prosecution of far-right member of parliament Geert Wilders (in Dutch sorry, can’t find an English story on this). Wilders heads a right-wing party, has called the Koran a fascist book and demands it be banned. He is about to release a documentary about the Koran and Islam. Wilders lives under guard having received numerous death threats.
• In Bronx School, Culture Shock, Then Revival [NYT]
  Here’s an example of what happens when you address the specific needs of a community (a school in this case) rather than applying a one-size-fits-all policy. Not to mention that it breaks down stereotypes and assumptions, which generic policies often rely on.
• Yesterday’s march in Washington [CIPCOL]
  An eye-witness account of the anti-FARC march in my hometown.

What irritates me most about the media coverage of the race for the democratic nomination is the constant harping about gender and the less harped on question of race. Why do people think that it is strange that Obama got a higher percentage of female votes than Hillary in Iowa? Why don’t they question how many men voted for any male candidate? Do they think women are so stupid that they would vote for Hillary just because she is a woman? Shouldn’t female voters, like male voters, choose the candidate they feel best represents their interests?

The gender question seems to be getting more of this kind of bogus coverage than the race issue. We could blame it on the media and our patriarchal society. We could say that for a white male dominated patriarchal America, a man, no matter what color, is still better than a woman. But I won’t say that. That is an easy cop out. No, I think the media is reflecting a major difference in the campaigns of the two front-runners. She plays the gender card. He does not play the race card. She is running as a woman, to be the first female president. He is not running as a black man, to be the first black president. Early on this resulted in accusations of “not being black enough” which Obama cleverly quieted. I feel for Hillary. She’s smart and strong and could be a good leader, but it’s true she is part of the status quo. She hasn’t realized that she is more than just a woman. Or at least her campaign is not really showing that.

We can’t pretend that race and gender are not factors. Many people are surprised at the amount of white support for Obama. Certainly good questions related to race and gender will reveal interesting new dynamics. The problem is that Hillary and her campaign are making gender more of a focal point than Obama is with race.

When Obama speaks one hears a black man (with my eyes closed I almost hear MLK). But he is many things. He is multiracial, he is well-educated, he is a husband, he is a father, he is a citizen, he has lived abroad…. But most of all he is my hero for not allowing one aspect of his identity to define who he is. Stereotypes reduce us to one small, and often negative, aspect of our identity, stripping us of the rest of our selves. That’s why stereotypes can be so damaging to self-esteem. SO WHY DO IT TO OURSELVES? Why limit ourselves to only one aspect of who we are?

The progressive liberal in me may love Gravel’s frankness and audacity, but Obama could be what America needs to help us recognize and fully include multiple facets of our identities: black, white, immigrant, hopeful, energetic, ambitious, and complex. Obama as president would embody that new America so many of us are obviously yearning for: color full not color-blind. This would certainly play a role in both foreign and domestic issues, breaking with the colonialist, imperialist mentality inherited from European ancestors. Sarkozy is shaking up the French political establishment. Chavez, Lula and Morales represent dramatic changes in Latin America (how good the changes are remains to be seen). Sadly Bhutto’s assassination destroys a bit of democratic hope for that region.

Could we be on the brink of a new era in which the Euro-American arrogant superiority complex is slowly replaced by dynamic, new ways of thinking?

I hope so. But I don’t quite see the light at the end of the tunnel just yet.

Well in my many years (if you really wanna know you can ask, but I try not to disclose too much personal info online), I’ve been asked countless times where I come from. People often make a guess or two and I’ve decided to compile an official list: just to prove that you can’t judge a book by its cover and show how ridiculous it is to make judgments based on how someone looks. Because, guess what? Unless you live in some isolated little town, you’ll probably be WRONG.

To start off with, the most obvious, I’ll list the different paises latinoamericanos and then I’ll move on to the rest of the globe.

1. Colombia (ok I do come from this one)
2. Puerto Rico
3. Venezuela
4. Mexico
5. Bolivia
6. Peru
7. Brazil
8. Spain
9. Italy
10. Sicily (not the same as Italy!)
11. Portugal
12. Greece
13. Turkey
14. Morocco
15. Egypt
16. Algeria
17. Lebanon
18. Philippines
19. Hawaii (I know it’s not a country but an ethnicity, as in ethnic Hawaiian)
20. Ethiopia (!!! I know. I’m flattered cause Ethiopians are gorgeous, but really? Me?)
21. India
22. Indian (as in First Nation)
23. Indonesia
24. South Asia (since when is that country?)
25. US of A (and again I DO come from this one. Imagine that, some people actually guess my nationality, go figure.)

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few over the years. Sorry, I don’t mean to leave anybody out or anything. If you feel your country has been unfairly neglected from this list please let me know.

Racialicious just posted a video from Aljazeera on female soccer players in Egypt. I immediately thought about the Ameri-centric discussion that was also recently featured on Racialicious.

I’d like to extend the discussion to the Euro-centric views in a lot of Western media. We are bombarded with images of other countries as backward. I remember when Schwarzenegger was first elected, one U.S. news agency found some fat, toothless Austrian to interview. Here in Europe they always manage to find the fattest, dumbest American to show. But mostly it is the developing world, the East, the South, the Rest (non-Euro), which the Western European and U.S. dominated media stereotype as backward.

Continue reading Euro-centrism and matters of context…

Some people say a joke is just a joke and one shouldn’t be so serious. Hopefully that’s because they just don’t know any better and they take the time to inform themselves with this great video.

Via Racialicious: Documentary exploring race and humor.

The predictable retort to all this is that those who take offense at jokes are over-sensitive, as if jokes couldn’t be insulting.

To say it’s “just a joke” is the quickest way of dismissing the debate, while expending no mental energy. Don’t fall into the trap of labeling those who take offense as “over-sensitive.”

It’s important to ridicule human folly, but not at the price of our humanity.

The same can be said about calling someone “stupid” for having an opinion different from yours.

Earlier this week a Dutch friend told me his father needed an “American voice” to promote a product he’s trying to introduce into The Netherlands and asked if I could help out. “Sure, why not. Have him call me.” The product is an oven mitt with a magnet in it (ha ha, one more gimmick product). Friday, I spoke with the father and he explained that he wanted to make a video (huh? I thought they wanted a voice?). I would be standing in a kitchen wearing the glove. He was going to leave it up to the director (his nephew) to come up with the script and action.

Ok wait! Step back. I will be standing in a kitchen????? Huh? I feel a little queasy and tell him I have to think about it, check my schedule and will call him back. Ok, so how do I feel about making a video for some gimmick product that portrays such a blatant stereotype (only women cook)? That’s easy, disgusted.

Continue reading How to express racism, anti-Americanism and sexism all in one breath…

In The Netherlands, Sinterklaas is the the manifestation of St. Nicholas. Sint, a Turkish bishop who lives in Spain, arrives on his boat every November. He rides his white horse throughout this small Protestant country, accompanied by his Zwarte Pieten (Black Peters) and on December 5th he brings presents to all the good Dutch children. The bad children are taken away in a sack to live with Sint in Spain for a year. Doesn’t sounds like a bad punishment to me, but most certainly can be attributed to the long and difficult war for independence from the Spanish Empire and “evil” king Philip. Glad to see that after 500 years or so they can forgive and forget!!

Well St. Nick is of course also the basis for Santa Claus, Father Christmas and more. Inquisitive Dutch minds however cannot understand why Santa brings presents on Christmas. After all, Sint was a generous man who on his own birthday gave gifts to poor children and that is the “historical” basis for gift-giving. And duh of course his birthday was on Dec. 5th!

Continue reading Santa’s helpers in blackface…

It’s 2007, in a cosmopolitan capital city, in a wealthy western nation, and I hear that phrase. In a room with two women who drive and a man who doesn’t even have a license, I have to hear such an absurd statement. It was not the man who said it though, but the other woman. Double sigh.

Doesn’t anybody ever stop to think about the fact that men pay way more insurance? “That’s because men take more chances and some can be reckless.” This is true in some cases. Does that make them better drivers? No. Being careful is an important part of driving in my book.

Continue reading Stereotype challenge: women can’t drive!…