When I learned about the Underground Railroad during my US History classes in high school it was about the pathway north towards Canada with key figures like Harriet Tubman, Isaac Hopper, and John Brown. From what I’ve noticed, this lesson has been consistent across the entire country. However, my mind was blown away when I recently found out that there was another trail that led slaves south towards Mexico in their journey towards freedom. Unsurprisingly, countries like Mexico were years ahead of the US with human and civil rights especially when it came to issues like slavery. In Mexico, this step in the right direction came about with the leadership of individuals like Vicente Guerrero. Vicente Guerrero, a mestizo farmer of African descent, became the president after helping lead Mexico towards independence from Spanish rule in 1821. Due to his experiences and background, Guerrero understood the trials and tribulations that people of color faced under the rules of white people in power. With this knowledge and leadership position, he quickly began to dismantle slavery in the country and accomplished abolishment by 1829. Meanwhile, in the US slaves were still decades away from liberation and those slaves in the deep south states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas sought the freedom found in Mexico. This led to the birth of the unknown underground railroad to Mexico.
A huge reason why this pathway to freedom is widely unknown is that it was not exactly the most organized route. Along the border between Texas and Mexico, there were several Tejano families that offered refuge. At these houses, slaves would recover and prepare for their journey across the treacherous waters of Rio Grande. Amazingly, some slaves crossed the river using the very tool of the system that dominated their lives...cotton. There are several stories of slaves who created floating devices out of cotton to cross the river into Mexico and kickstart their new lives as free humans. Although the journey had its obstacles, it offered an amazing reward at the end once they were on Mexican land where the commerce, trade, and hunting of escaped slaves was completely illegal and punishable by law. Due to the lack of organization, it is complicated to have an accurate estimate of the number of slaves that escaped to Mexico with the numbers ranging anywhere from 3,000 to 100,000 escapees. Now, I understand that the organization and numbers aren’t as aligned and accurate as of the facts for the Underground Railroad that led slaves north but I still believe this bit of information should definitely be taught in US history classes. Especially, since the U.S. government officially recognized this unknown underground railroad in 1990, Public Law 101-628, to commemorate the different routes that helped slaves escape towards freedom. This quick tidbit of history also brings to light the purpose of our campaign as it shows a physical representation of the myriad ways in which Tu Lucha Es Mi Lucha or Your Fight is My Fight! Written By: Eduardo Abreu If you're interested in learning more about this topic check out these links that offer everything you need to know: Pathways To Freedom South To Freedom
0 Comments
Have you ever gotten stuck at the race and ethnicity portion of a survey, exam, poll, etc.?As a recent Latinx graduate, I’ve been in a constant search for employment during this whole pandemic. From one job application to another I have found a common struggle when filling out my identification with Hispanic and Latinx being regarded as an ethnicity but not a racial identity. Over the past 3 decades, the Hispanic population in the United States has grown faster than any other racial or ethnic group. Currently, 17% of the US population identifies as Hispanic or Latinx and this group is projected to compose almost 30% of the nation’s population by 2060. This growth of Hispanic/Latinx populations has been met with identification struggles because of the complexity of multi racialism and the limited options available for identification in many surveys such as the census. It’s time for there to be expanded options of racial identities to encompass the bigger picture of diversity within the Hispanic and Latinx community. For now, I’m left having to choose “other” for racial identity because I don't see myself in any other of the options given. Choosing “other” always drives my mind into a million thoughts attempting to decipher the right identification of my race. The problem, I believe, lies within the multiracial components within the overall scheme of Latinx races such as my father who is Afro-Latinx while my mother is a white Latina. To my content, I found that I was not alone in this identity struggle. The same survey by PEW states that while only 6% of Hispanics and Latinxs identify as multiracial in census surveys when the options are expanded to further denominations (like Afro-Latinx, Afro-Caribbean, indigenous, etc) the numbers jump up to 34% of individuals identifying as a multiracial Hispanic or Latinx. Oftentimes, Hispanic and Latinx individuals are met with this problem because of the separation of Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity from the race. In 2010, upwards of 37% of Latinx individuals chose Hispanic/Latinx for their ethnicity while choosing “other” as their racial identity and writing their responses as Mexican, Hispanic, or Latin American. This identity is further emphasized when PEW conducted a National Survey of Latinxs which found that around 67% of Latinxs consider Hispanic/Latinx identity to fit both ethnic and racial parameters. However, the reality is that these census surveys deny acknowledging the multidimensional facets of how Latinxs and Hispanics view their identities. Clearly, there needs to be a change to expand the options and for this year’s census of 2020, there have been some changes made in the right direction. Currently, there is a category labeled “Hispanic or Latinx, or Spanish Origin” including all individuals that identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central, and South America, and other Spanish cultures.
This change recognizes that there is a distinction in diversity between the Hispanic and Latinx communities. It provides an outlet for individuals of these communities to understand the importance of their background but it’s missing the further options within the race category. I’m happy with this step forward, however, I believe another step could be made. The additions of racial options such as afro-Latinx, afro-Caribbean, indigenous, mestizo, etc. would take it a step further by providing all individuals with more expansive options to identify themselves. Written by: Eduardo Abreu If you are interested in learning more about this topic feel free to check out these amazing resources: Resource: PEW Research Center Article “The Many Dimensions of Hispanic Racial Identity” 2020CENSUS.GOV “Questions Asked on the Form ‘Questions Asked: Hispanic Origin’” Race vs. Ethnicity. What are they? MURAL's Tu Lucha Es Mi Lucha, Your Fight Is My Fight campaign is geared towards standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. There comes a time when Latinx individuals start applying for things. What things, many things; jobs, volunteering, applying to school, filling out a random survey online, you name it. Many of these forms ask questions to see what their audience is made up of, and a question you will likely see asks whether you identify as “Hispanic or Latino”. The problem here lies in where they place this question. Is “Hispanic or Latino” a race? Is it an ethnicity? Let’s try and break it down. Oxford Languages defines race as: “Each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics” They also define ethnicity as: “The fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition” \Based on these definitions, we can conclude that being Hispanic or Latino is referring to ethnicity. Simply stated, White Latinxs exist, and Black Latinxs exist. This becomes problematic when important questionnaires like on job or school applications, and most importantly the US Census have conflicting information on race versus ethnicity. The Census defines race as: “a person’s self-identification with one or more social groups. An individual can report as White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, or some other race. Survey respondents may report multiple races.” They define ethnicity as that which “determines whether a person is of Hispanic origin or not. For this reason, ethnicity is broken out in two categories, Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino. Hispanics may report as any race.” But when looking at information they provided to help clear up confusion, they list South and Central Americans as American Indian, or Alaska Native. US Census: Race and Ethnicity. 2017 Pretty conflicting, right? Why is there confusion about these two terms in the Latinx community? The National Public Radio has a podcast called “Code Switch” where host Gene Demby has conversations with professionals like Julie Dowling, a Sociologist from the University of Illinois. Dowling shed some light on the history of the US Census, pointing out that in 1930, ‘Mexican’ was listed as a race. Although during this time, many people were afraid to properly identify themselves on this questionnaire, as the government was using it to find Japanese Americans to send them to Internment Camps. But groups like the League of the United Latin American Citizens fought to remove ‘Mexican’ as a race, claiming that they were indeed White Americans. Even the country of Mexico argued against this category. When the US took land from Mexico in the Southwest, they had done so with the agreement that Mexicans who chose to stay in that land would then be American citizens. This pushback successfully removed the ‘Mexican’ option as a race, and since then no other nationality has been a race option in the Census. Dowling states that “Latinos can be of a variety of racial backgrounds. People can be Afro-Latino ,and be white and be Latino, and there are a whole lot of Latinos who are brown. So there's the issue of not wanting to be racialized, and there's the racial diversity of Latinos themselves.” in 2010, the Census tried different ways of asking the question, by either having the category placed as a race and an only option, or having it asked such that one could “choose all that apply”. In this sense, I could fill it out and say that I am Latina, but I am also White, because that is the truth! This made the Census more accommodating. Latinxs that filled out the first format with the option to only choose one would end up choosing “White” instead of “Hispanic or Latino”. When interviewed post filling out the Census, they explained they chose White, not because they identify and are socially treated as such, but because they did not fit anywhere else. When the question gave individuals the option to choose multiple, there was a decrease in the amount of those who chose only White, going from 50% to around 9%. And overall, 80% of those that were surveyed chose only “Hispanic or Latino”. So why do some people still choose only ‘White’? It comes down to strategy and contextual definitions, Dowling says, as people learn what Hispanic or Latino means to them based on where they live. If they live in New Mexico, or Texas, then Hispanic means of American of Mexican descent. But to someone living in New York, or Florida, Hispanic would mean something completely different. So if there are Latinxs that are not Mexican and live in New Mexico or Texas, they would not claim to be Hispanic because they are not of Mexican descent. It also strategically makes sense, as legally you are being represented as ‘White’, even though socially they are still ‘Other’. I personally believe that, while categorizing an entire culture into one thing has certainly proven controversial and a pain for many, it is important for everyone to know the differences between their race and their ethnicity. With today’s events on police brutality and the Black community being murdered left and right, we have to be able to understand that our differences do not divide us, they make us stronger. Latinxs share so many similarities in our cultures, we are comprised of White and Black and Brown and Native, and we need to recognize each other’s history in order to mend our own historical past, and stand in solidarity for the future. Interested in learning more about this blog’s sources? Check them out at the links below: US Census: Race and Ethnicity. 2017 NPR: Code Switch “On The Census, Who Checks ‘Hispanic’, Who Checks ‘White’, and Why” |