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I learned to be anti-racist at a young age.
When I was 4, we moved from South Texas to South Carolina. That& #39;s where my brother Fernando was born, Myrtle Beach. He& #39;s "half-Black," "half-Chicano."
Afrolatino. Afromexicano.
Black folks in the Lowcountry were lovely to us.
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When I was 4, we moved from South Texas to South Carolina. That& #39;s where my brother Fernando was born, Myrtle Beach. He& #39;s "half-Black," "half-Chicano."
Afrolatino. Afromexicano.
Black folks in the Lowcountry were lovely to us.
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They treated our little familia latina with such love & acceptance. That& #39;s where we lived for several years, in majority Black neighborhoods on St. Helena Island.
When we moved to White neighborhoods, something different happened.
My middle brother Matt & I present White.
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When we moved to White neighborhoods, something different happened.
My middle brother Matt & I present White.
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We have a White parent. Fernando presents Black.
Right off, he got treated like shit by many White kids & their parents. Matt and I got called "n—-lovers" because we had a Afrolatino brother.
Matt & I got into a lot of fights. I used my mouth.
Matt beat racists& #39; asses.
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Right off, he got treated like shit by many White kids & their parents. Matt and I got called "n—-lovers" because we had a Afrolatino brother.
Matt & I got into a lot of fights. I used my mouth.
Matt beat racists& #39; asses.
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When we moved back to South Texas, to the Río Grande Valley, to our almost entirely Mexican American community ...
... that shit continued.
It didn& #39;t matter that Fernando was half-Chicano.
"Pinche n—o," he got called. "¡Chapop*te!"
Once again, the 3 of us had to fight.
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... that shit continued.
It didn& #39;t matter that Fernando was half-Chicano.
"Pinche n—o," he got called. "¡Chapop*te!"
Once again, the 3 of us had to fight.
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At first, I tried to be patient with folks. Not many Black people in the Valley in the 80s. Lots of ignorance about the rest of the world.
But eventually, I was like, "No, a la chingada. Fuck them & their racist bullshit."
The privilege of being güero was then a gift:
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But eventually, I was like, "No, a la chingada. Fuck them & their racist bullshit."
The privilege of being güero was then a gift:
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I& #39;d get treated well, then Fernando like shit (at the movies, wherever we were hanging out), & I& #39;d go off.
"Ah, no, cabrón. That& #39;s my brother you& #39;re talking to. Se le respeta o habrá chingazos."
(I wasn& #39;t the one handing out the beatings, but I could threaten with them!)
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"Ah, no, cabrón. That& #39;s my brother you& #39;re talking to. Se le respeta o habrá chingazos."
(I wasn& #39;t the one handing out the beatings, but I could threaten with them!)
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Conozco a mi gente. I KNOW my people. Some of the most vile, racist garbage I& #39;ve ever heard has come out of the mouth of raza.
Why? Shit, we know why. Hundreds of years of colonial subjugation imbedded into our culture a deference to lo blanco & an abhorrence of lo moreno.
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Why? Shit, we know why. Hundreds of years of colonial subjugation imbedded into our culture a deference to lo blanco & an abhorrence of lo moreno.
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So I will say this as clearly as I can, para que no haya malentendidos:
Chicanos, you MUST stand up for Black lives, in our community & throughout the country.
Las vidas afrolatinas, las vidas negras IMPORTAN.
Stop being racist. Stop being passive.
Be anti-racist.
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Chicanos, you MUST stand up for Black lives, in our community & throughout the country.
Las vidas afrolatinas, las vidas negras IMPORTAN.
Stop being racist. Stop being passive.
Be anti-racist.
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