Black v. Brown

Maybe it was where I was brought up or maybe it was how I was brought up - but I just don't quite understand all of the resentment that is going on between Blacks and Browns.

My hometown was far from perfect - but it makes the effort.
In the above photo, one can see the district football stadium at Martin Luther King High School.
Sure, a lot of municipalities put their stadiums in the "Black side" of town.
And a lot of towns have a school named after Martin Luther King Jr..
But look at the houses in the surrounding neighborhood.
Those are not small shacks in the ghetto - instead, they are nice homes in a nice part of town.

When the school was proposed and a name sought, many new residents from the O.C. wanted to name the school Ronald Reagan High or Bob Hope High.
But the district and long-time residents wanted to send a different message - that Dr. King's ideas were not important only to Black people, but for all people.

Being a product of a Black and Brown marriage, my perspective may be a little different from many others'.
When I first moved to this small Southern town; "I hate Mexicans", "Mexicans are dirty", and "They are taking all of our jobs" were the statements made by most Blacks with whom I'd come into contact when speaking about Hispanics/Latinos.
When I'd tell them that I was half Mexican, "Well, they're not all bad.", or "Yeah, you work hard and fast like a Mexican." were the most common responses.

I understand resource competition and having pride in one's culture - but when did things get this bad?
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/713/blacks-hispanics

Hip Hop is often thought of as a purely Black culture.
But one of the early elements (break dancing) in this culture was dominated and brought mainstream by the Hispanic group The Rock Steady Crew.
Another aspect of Hip-Hop was the art of graffiti.
For every Dondi White, there was a Zepyr.
Black and Brown used to get down to create art out of almost nothing.


Rollin' in your '64?
Got a long Steve Harvey type Zoot-Suit?
The Brown brotha's made these moves within the same communities that often included Blacks years ago.

Being that it is Hispanic Heritage Month - I just had to weigh in on the disconnect between our communities.
But what the heck is HHM?
HHM is a celebration of Hispanic/Latino culture that was endorsed by Lydon Johnson in the sixties as Hispanic Heritage Week.
In the eighties, Ronald Reagan expanded the week into a month.
Why is it celebrated from September 15 - October 15?
Because five countries celebrate their Independence days on September 15 (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala) or close to it (Mexico-Sept.16, Chile-Sept.18,Belize -Sept.21.)

A Black v. Brown beef?
Well, that's between them.
As for me, I'll just enjoy a cerveza mas fina with my Brown brothers (until I celebrate Oktoberfest with my white homeboys).
On Christmas Eve I'll celebrate with my Brown brotha's once again as we eat tamales made by by boy Fernie's mom.
The beef in the tamales with a red sauce is the only beef I have with Mexicans.