I can't speak for other Latinx countries and identities, but as a Puerto Rican it was already difficult classifying my race and identity as it was growing up, let alone trying to parse out what the threshold was to "qualify" as being Afro-Latinx. And yet we keep getting Krugs.

I was someone who could "pass" as Black/mixed to people who didn't know better, and considering I grew up in the deep south where being mixed was more common than being Puerto Rican, I kind of rolled with it because I didn't know how to tell them otherwise.

But now that I'm older, I KNOW I'm not Afro-Latinx. It's too complicated for me to explain or defend why in a tweet without risking invalidating someone else who DOES identify (because it's a tricky and personal thing). But as non-Black Latinx, we need to have that introspection.

Because colorism is still playing a HUGE roll in which Latinx creators get to tell certain stories. Being "othered" enough for publishers and studios to claim diversity points to hire us, but not being "too othered (read: Black) to fear being rightfully called out or scrutinized.

It's easier for non-Black Latinx to get jobs writing and drawing Black Latinx characters for studios' diversity points, while Black Latinx creators are constantly told that "no one can relate to this" or that their work is being "too political", too "personal".

And the same principle can be applied to every other professional realm; white/light enough to still be seen as "relatable" but "diverse" enough for others to feel like they've done enough to be seen as progressive.

I'm not writing this to say that we as non-Black Latinx can't write or create Black Latinx characters, especially when the people in our lives ARE Afro-Latinx even when we aren't. But we have to be aware of our identity, the spaces we take, and why.

It's not enough to say "Black Lives Matter" when we aren't pushing to have more Afro-Latinx creators on Latinx panels, in Latinx spaces that are traditionally very light-skinned and tan at most. Being Black and being Latinx aren't mutually exclusive identities.

I can't speak on what it takes to be considered/identify as Afro-Latinx. And obviously, this issue of misclaiming Black identity and culture runs deeper than just the Krugs and Dolezals and Kardashians and Jenners.

But every time someone misclaims Blackness, either because they're currently "passing" or change themselves to make it so, it makes it that much harder for ACTUAL Afro-Latinx and other Black identities to claim their blackness if they happen to ride that line-

-if they're not dark enough, if they don't talk or dress a certain way, if they didn't grow up in predominantly Black communities. While people like Krug and Dolezal were given accolades and praised for claiming blackness, others were gatekept out of their own communities.

Again, I can't decide who gets to claim blackness or not because I myself am not Black. But we can ask ourselves why we're so eager to claim the "benefits" of blackness and ditch the "risks" as non-Black people.

Danny puts it best in this thread: https://twitter.com/weredawgz/status/1301348648782041090?s=20