A message for my fellow Hispanic people:

I’n going to be brutally honest with you.

We were taught that we need to “mejorar la raza” aka date someone with fairer skin, or Caucasian features to “better” the race of our children.

Our parents taught us that Black people are “thugs, muggers, thieves and up to no good” or that they’d “jump you just out of boredom” put “gun in your hair because they’re jealous”; all of these are stereotypes.

We are taught to deny our African decendency because our parents were taught that claiming they were black was degrading and made them less of a person.

I was taught to NEVER bring a black man home to my parents by family members. For no reason other than the color of their skin.

I was taught that I should be more aware of my surroundings if a Black person was near me because they for sure were “out to get me”.

We were taught to bully family / peers who were darker skinned just for fun, it felt better to be a “blanquita” or “rubita” than to be a “negrita” or “morenita”.

Our school books do not mention that our ancestors were slaves; they only speak of the revolutions we had and there after. They don’t mention slavery or the slave trade in now modern day “Hispanic or Latin” contries. Just bits and pieces about natives and conquistadores

As an adult I look back and I see how wrong all of the things I was taught are. I’m aware the cycle of racism towards African Americans, African decendants or Afro Latinos can end with me, if I chose to teach my peers and my children that these ways are wrong.

You can teach your children it’s ok to be a different skin color, that Black people are like us and not someone to be scared of because of what your abuela once said about them.

You can teach your children that the way to “mejorar la raza” is to BE A GOOD PERSON AND PASS DOWN GOOD VALUES, not to white wash your heritage by procreating with caucasians.

These are all things we know to be true but feel shame in speaking about, because it’s hard to admit people we love, like our abuelas, tíos, tías and mamás were wrong and even racist. It’s hard to acknowledge your upbringing was wrongly swayed towards racist views

The moment you acknowledge it, is when you can heal from it and grow from it. Correct those around you when they say things that are wrong, like you, they were taught wrong things too. You can make a difference, it can end or start again with you......