In tomorrow’s episode of “Artistas,” author Tanya Katerí Hernández discusses the “Latino racial innocence cloak”
By hola | Published | No Comments
On this episode of “Artistas in the Capital,” we explore discrimination, racial bias and social justice with Dr. Tanya Katerí Hernández, professor at the Fordham University School of Law and author of the book “Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality.”
While historic racism isn’t anything new, in her new book, Hernández exposes the deeper layer of discrimination among U.S. Latinos and how racial views are closely linked to Latin America’s complicated ongoing history of anti-black bias.
Dating back to colonial times, darker-skinned Latin Americans, especially Afro-Latinos, have dealt with racial and colorist discrimination from both non-Latinos and lighter-skin Latinos stemming from racial ideals and colorism, Hernández says. As a result, Hernández’s book documents how the Afro-Latino experience is often dismissed.
“A long-standing problem within the Latino community is this idea that if you bring up issues of racism, then you’re the racist,” says Hernández. “It’s not racism, it’s you, and your own personal failing and inability to have a hard work ethic, or you have a bad culture. There’s always some reason why it’s personally some individual’s fault for bringing up these issues of discrimination.”
The “Latino racial innocence cloak” is what Hernández calls it when Latinos believe that as minorities who also suffer societal discrimination, they are incapable of being racists themselves.
“I don’t at all mean to suggest that Latinos, as a group, don’t experience discrimination but within that context, to then be actively denying how darker skin, African ancestry further complicates that discrimination,” says Hernández, who also discusses the extra layer of vulnerability for discrimination faced by Afro-Latinos who also identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Tune in tomorrow and hear more about the Latino anti-black bias and Hernández’s hope that her book can be a step towards ending racial discrimination and colorism within the Latino community and the taboo around talking about the problem.
About “Artistas in the Capital”
“Artistas in the Capital” is a monthly conversation with local artists, authors, dancers, entrepreneurs and researchers, ranging widely from the local community to the universality of art. Each episode sheds light on important topics and provides a platform for lifting up artists, writers and other D.C. Latino creatives.
The interviews were conducted by interns in Hola Cultura’s Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning (SPEL). SPEL is dedicated to bringing together D.C. high school and college interns with fellows and mentors for story lab sessions and workshops that prepare them for their futures through the production of accurate digital media published on the Hola Cultura website.
– Story by Natalia Chairez
– Edited by Jordan Luz
Recent Stories
