1. Because you're dark-skinned, people ask me if you're actually Hispanic.
My apologies for not looking identical to Jennifer Lopez. This is by far one of my biggest pet peeves. Yes. I am still Hispanic. People never questioned me being African American, but they always questioned whether I was Latina or not because I didn’t “look Latina.” I don't have long black hair, I am not light skinned, and I don't have light green or hazel eyes. People also fail to realize that there are different shades of Latinos with different eye colors, and different hair textures. Get a clue! Educate yourself.
2. If you don't speak Spanish, you're not really Latina.
I do not speak Spanish fluently because I wasn’t taught by my mother, but why is that the only thing that connects me to my culture? It has always bothered me that people identified me with being Honduran by whether or not I could speak Spanish fluently, as if that was the only thing that tied me to my Hispanic culture. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's most definitely not. Try again.
3. On surveys and applications, you have to choose between "African American" or "Latino."
Something that I never understood is why don't I have the option to choose both? Why do I have to choose one or the other? Do people somehow forget that we as human beings can be mixed with different ethnicities?
4. Constantly being asked where your parents and grandparents are from just because you have to prove yourself.
You can ask me as many times as you want where my parents and grandparents were born and my answer will still be the same.
5. If you didn't have a quinceanera, you're not a part of your Latin culture.
Can I just say that not every latina wants a quinceanera and if she chooses not to have one, it doesn't make her any less latina than the next girl. I didn't have one. I decided to have a Sweet 16 instead. ;)
6. You don't speak like a Latina or a black girl.
LOL, okay, thank you. What does this even mean? Oh, right. I speak like a "white girl." Sorry I'm educated and I know how to speak properly. I didn't know that the way I spoke had to be tied to a specific race. How does a black woman speak? How does a latina speak? Crickets.
7. If you don't have long hair, you can't be Latina. There's no way.
My natural hair is kinky with tight curls, but when I wear it wet with leave in conditioner and gel in it, my hair is loose and curly. People have asked me if I was mixed with another ethnicity as if black women can't have different hair textures. Sorry to disappoint you, but they can.
