Question of the Week: “Is it ‘Interracial’ When Blacks and Latinos Date?”

Depends on if you are using Blacks as in Afro-Americans and Latinos, then it is inter ethnic. If you are using Black, the pseudo-scientific racial term. I would need to know what pseudo-scientific racial term each Latino is being ascribed to.

I am sorry to say, that though some of the comments were educational, i found allot of the comments to also come off bitter and a bit racist  as well. I am Bronx born from Puerto Rican parents and I am in love with an awesome African American man. And at the end of the day.......I guess its the man I love. Not his race, culture, or the color of his skin. So who cares what blood line I have pumping through my veins, because if you live in America the only color that is truly flowing through your veins are the red...white...and blue ones. Love who you chose, live how you like and always stay true to yourself. 

Black/Latino dating is a *little* iffy, just because as many will point out, being Latino is less of a race and more of a culture or heritage. I could go the the term intercultural, but I feel like there is still a disconnect due to colorism. Despite the fact that blacks and Latinos get along in various neighborhoods, I personally feel black American cultures and Latino American cultures are as different as African and European. I mean, there are dark skinned (East) Indian people as well, and their culture couldn't be more different from black culture. Many Asians and blacks assimilate and get a lot well with each other, but if they were to date, it would be considered interracial. A white person dating a black/white biracial person would be considered a interracial (or maybe multiracial) relationship, despite the familiarity.

I am black and my boyfriend is Puerto Rican (with a small black and white mix). He grew up in the Bronx, is assimilated into black culture and has dated black women before me. But on the street the honestly looks like just another white guy. We walk down the street and get screw face looks from haters just the same, in the city and in the "hood." I honestly don't think about it that much. We are just in a relationship. Inter-whatever is irrelevant. But personally, when I have thought about it, I use the term interracial. At face value, we are two different colors. If we were to have children, they would most likely look like their mixed with something. And that mix is the physical difference between blacks and Latino. So yeah...

I'm glad this question was asked. I love Latino men. I'm Haitian American, Hispanic culture reminds me of my family. I'm from Long Island and Blacks and Latinos in my experience get along really well. Moving down to Atlanta you see things a little different amongst Hispanics here. Hispanics along with all other groups keep to themselves more so. Maybe I need to get out more, but Atlanta isn't the best place to swirl.

Well I have two answers to Armando's inquiry:

(1) historical: the short answer is NO. The interracial relationship and marriage bans in the US limited relations between whites and non-whites.....anybody else could inter-marry all they wanted. Guess all those less-thans were the same according to the US gov't

(2) personal answer: I used to teach civics at an inner city school in DC....I was having difficulty teaching discrimination, bullying and equal protection issues. My students just didn't get it and quite frankly they said foul things all the time...without even realizing it.

So I did an unorthodoxed lecture called "know what you say". I pulled pictures of celebrities and had the students guess the person's attributes. They were 100%....my favorite part is when the decided that Obama was "blacker" when he was playing basketball as a teen than he is as President.

I taught them words like race, ancestry, nationality, culture, sub-culture, sexual
orientation and gender ( masculinity & feminity). By the end of lecture we had tried our best to answer these questions for all the celebrities pictures. The point ws to teach the students to stop conflating the different concepts and to use their words accurately.

Why did I blather on? This discussion thread is conflating the concepts. What Armando is really talking about is identity. Syrians are Syrians, Mexicans are Mexicans....calling some white and some not-white is about community and shared identity and not about
race. Dating inside our comfort zone, inside our community, is a-okay. Outside our community is where the problem lies --- this where community tells us there is a problem. "we're abandoning the flock".

Interracial dating is clear when we know what the word race means, but inter-cultural dating that is harder. What is and is not included in one's cultural community is not simply limited to race. An easy way to understand my point is to think of AA who have been in America for generations and recent African Immigrants......there are a lot of similarities, but they are different groups as well. And if an AA and a recent African immigrant marry.....well what are they?

I think the conclusion is that it depends on what type of Latino person it is, depending on that it can either be interracial or inter-cultural or inter-ethnic. So it's all over the map, really. And like many folks in the world latinos got issues with colorism too. What's new under the sun.

My sisters and I attended a "fresa" (upper class/stuck up) University in Mexico. Nearly everyone there was what most Americans would consider "white" -- that is, most people had pale skin, lighter hair colors, light brown, blue or green eyes, etc. or were of mixed upper class ancestry (think a mixture of Arab and Spanish). We had two students in the dorm who had darker skin, and were obviously considered "different", i.e. non-white. The only Afro-Mexicans I saw besides my sister were in Oaxaca and Veracruz, none at my school.

Based on my experiences in Mexico, I would say yes -- it is interracial when blacks and non-black Latinos date. If you date a white Latino, you are in an interracial and intercultural relationship. If you date an Afro-Latino, you are in an intercultural relationship. Just like if I date a black man who is also French, am I also not in an intercultural (but same race) relationship?

I think that a lot of countries like to pretend like there is la raza, and it does exist on the surface. But there are clear distinctions between white, la raza (mestizo/mulatto), Asian/Arab, indigenous and black. At least in Mexico and other LA countries.

I have lived and worked in the NE (NJ/NYC) most of my life, and I didn't see this melting pot that others speak of. I will say that it's more like a tossed salad---a tomato will remain a tomato even after being thrown in with other vegetables. Yes, there is a ton of mixing going on (evidence of all the mixed race people), however at the end of the day, the groups pretty much stay to themselves. Puerto Ricans included.

Whether they want to admit or not, Puerto Ricans are very color struck, and prejudiced against black people. Yes, blacks and PRs in NYC do live side by side, party together, and sometimes marry, but trust and believe there is tension between the two groups. Puerto Ricans tend to downplay their African roots just as much as any other hispanic group.

Attractive is attractive. Does ancestry really matter? My family is its own rainbow coalition, just missing a dab of asian & we'll be a full set!

Unless they are from Spain (European/Caucasoid) I don't categorize it as an interracial relationship. I consider the relationship to be more intercultral.

Gates series for PBS "Black in Latin America" gives some insight

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/featured/haiti-the-dominican-republic-an-island-divided-watch-full-episode/165/

I used to live in NYC and sometimes would not a person WASN"T AA until they starting speaking Spanish! I am AA and most ppl thought I was Dominican or Panamanian! I think Latinos and Blacks get along so well in NYC bc u really can't tell who's who! LOL!

By the way, I've dated 2 Puerto Rican guys (love PR men BTW!!) and while there are some cultural differences, I felt very at ease around their families! The music, food, and language may be different, but I felt very at home! It was like being around a Spanish version of a Black family! LOL! Somehow just felt the same! Or maybe their families were just nice to me bc they thought I was Dominican! LOL!

There's a scene in the hugely underrated 1991 comedy "Hangin' With the Homeboys" where the four protagonists (struggling Black actor, ANGRY BLACK GUY, a PR, and a PR who pretends to be Italian) crash a PR house party. "Tell them you know Jose." "We don't know Jose!" "It's a Puerto Rican house party, there's a Jose in there somewhere." The Angry Black guy gets in trouble when he can't identify what Jose he says he knows ---Hernandez or Rodriguez or Gonzalez. Surrounded by four big Puerto Rican dudes he goes to his first defense "You're just doing this because I'm Black, right?". When that fails he changes his accent and says "Oh no you don't understand I'm not Black I'm Doh-meen-ee-cahn!" at which point the 4 PRs wordlessly grab him by the collar and throw him out.

Having known a few South Americans from different countries, I would have to say that colorism is well-entrenched in most of that continent. Not discounting what anyone says here about the harmony between different Latin populations and black people in specific areas; just pointing out that there may be dramatic differences in the level of colorism and bias as pertains to specific cities/regions.

To anyone who saw my other comment, nevermind.

Ricky my post stated., "almost 100%"African. I do believe that the whole race thing is a sham.

Well, in my opinion "race" is more or less a social construct in this country that has was created to protect the privileges of persons deemed "white". This category has expanded considerably over time in order to protect the interests of that group. Which is why there are a lot of people considered white today that would not have been a couple of hundred years ago.

The problem with the racial make up of this country being emphasized on "white race" and then other (the fact that our censuses continue to be about race and not ethnicity shows the fallacy in our thinking) is that it stripes EVERYONE of an ethnic identity or makes ethnicity secondary, which I feel is very wrong. Your cultural and historical make-up should never be secondary to an ideology that exists due to bigotry and exclusionary thinking.

To answer the question, I say that "racially" it depends. In the US, if a person is identified as "white" or "non-black", regardless of their ethnic background, and they pair with someone who is identified as "black" then it is interracial. This is because you have people from two different racial categories forming a relationship. Ethnically, it's much different. You can have people marry within the same ethnic group who others would look at and assume are interracially married because of the different skin tones and hair texture. And at the same time you can marry people from different ethnic groups, yet because of perceived similarities in skin tone and hair texture, people may assume it is an intraracial relationship. And that's even if you have people from different countries, religious backgrounds, and who speak different languages.

Ethnic groups are about what is shared and what people have in common with one another; race defines people by differences that are ultimately superficial and irrelevant, but are MADE relevant in this country for reasons rooted in racial privilege and hate.

As for how different ethnic groups get along, it's reaaaaally about the history of those groups and the region definitely plays a factor some times. There was a lot of racial tension between blacks and Koreans on the west coast that wasn't nearly as intense between these ethnic groups on the east coast. I didn't even know there were issues until I read articles about it. Sometimes, persons in ethnic groups can get along better in one place and clash in another.

I agree with Armondo, New York is there own litlle melting pot. i have close friend whose from New York. She's AA , she has neighbors who are uerto Rican, Honduran, and white who all were raised as if they were family. They don't seem to see color there. But here in Maryland I have another friend who sees hispanics as something other than Black and not connected to the same culture. I found that very interesting. It depends on where your at and their perception of the area I guess.

I live in Chicago as well and have dated many latinos. They are one of my favorite type of guys ;) Anyway, blacks and Latinos have a lot in common and certain nationalities such as Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, etc. have African ancestry. However, there are some major cultural differences depending on what country the person comes from. In my experience I had more in common culturally with a Puerto Rican man than with a Mexican man. Cultural differences never really got in the way with my relationships with Latino men. As far as it being interracial or not, some people see it different. If a black woman is dating is dating a Black Dominican man, it can just be intercultural. In a general sense I consider them interracial relationships but that I downplay how close Blacks and Latinos are. I love Latino men

There's love here from BW too! Just approach/persue like you always have/do. Our ethnicities have far more in common (taking into account region) than not. Sexy & sexy alike. Buena suerte a usted!

I'd say in certain neighborhoods that blacks and latinos get along pretty well here in Chicago as well. Hell, all of my really close girlfriends (so much so that we are like sisters) are all latinas. When I was single, I dated the entire latino spectrum: Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, etc. so much so everyone assumed that I would marry one. It didn't hurt that I can speak Spanish and can cook Puerto Rican food either. ;-)

How can this be a valid question when there are Black Latinos from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Panama, etc.? Racially an individual from any of these countries can either be almost 100% African or some mixture of White, African, Native Indian, or some other non-Black African descent. The same goes for Blacks in the United States, i.e. African Americans. So it may or may not be interracial depending on the individuals involved, but it will certainly be inter-ethnic or inter-cultural (if those are valid words). If an African American dates or marries an Afro-Latino it simply means that one person in the couple grew up eating macaroni and cheese, speaking English, listening to R&B, soul, funk etc. while the other grew up on rice and beans, speaking Spanish, and listening to some genre of Latin music. The can certain be the same or very close racially. Latino/a is an ethnicity. Domincan, Puerto Rican, and American are nationalities. A person cannot be half African American and half Puerto Rican. Race != ethnicity != nationality. Sorry but it really bugs me when people compare and use them as if they mean the same thing.