Black South/Central Americans anybody?
So, it seems lately that a lot of interesting and important discussions about African-American culture vs African culture (and the appropriation thereof) have been appearing on my dash, but I’ve been upset that no one has spoken up yet about what appears to be the group of black people that nobody wants to acknowledge — that is, the fact that there are Black South/Central Americans, and that their culture is also very different than both African and African-American culture. I myself am not a black Hispanic, but think these experiences shouldn’t be pushed into a corner like they usually are in discussions about black culture. : ( "American means white, and everyone else has to hyphenate."
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When some cultural critics fret about the “ever-more-appalling” YA books, they aren’t trying to protect African-American teens forced to walk through metal detectors on their way into school. Or Mexican-American teens enduring the culturally schizophrenic life of being American citizens and the children of illegal immigrants. Or Native American teens growing up on Third World reservations. Or poor white kids trying to survive the meth-hazed trailer parks. They aren’t trying to protect the poor from poverty. Or victims from rapists. No, they are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be. " |
