Lala Vazquez Settles Controversy "Is She Black Or Latino?"

After the Bossip Awards last night, we chopped it up with La La Vazquez a little about her “I’m Not Black,” “I’m Puerto Rican, Dammit” comments.

La La was sure to set the record straight with us on what exactly she meant:

Bossip: So, some of our readers felt a little shunned by the comments you made in the January issue “Latina” magazine this year. Pretty much, you were trying to justify your Rican to people.

La La: I don’t know why! I am a Black-Puerto Rican.

Bossip: Well,  a lot of Afro-Latinos don’t want to be recognized for being “Black,” only Latino (Sammy Sosa, Daddy Yankee, Even Fat Joe Unless He’s Rapping,):

La La: Not me, I embrace being a Black-Puerto Rican and think we are plentiful and do exist! I am more “black” than people think. I would never shun that part of me and my marriage and the way I conduct MYSELF in public should speak volumes for what I stand for. I speak fluent Spanish as well, so why deny that intricacy of my makeup?

*Updated Piece*

Lala: Since I don’t look like J-Lo, it’s hard for me to get the Puerto Rican/Latin role in a movie. I speak fluent Spanish, but get cast as being black long before they put me as the Latino.

Bossip: So, what do you say to the readers who sort of “rode with us” on saying “why not just say you are black?”

La La: I feel they should relax first of all. Look at the person for who they are despite their race, but also embrace that person of color because we come in all types. People do not question a Trinadian person that is black if he says… “I am black… my parents are from Trinidad.”

That is the gist of the convo.  Our only point  is… why the distinction of being from “Puerto Rico?” Why not just be “black,” even if your parents are from another country?

The distinction does exist like La La said, but we must dig further into this.

Black Americans were stereotyped in the early 20th century as joyous, naive, superstitious, and ignorant. By the end of the 20th century, the stereotypes said that they were poor, lazy, ignorant, criminals, and violent, and occasionally ardent adherents of Christianity.

Mulatto Is a mixed-blood male or female. In film, often portrayed as a tragic figure who either intentionally or unintentionally passes for White until they discover they have Negro blood or are discovered by another character to be Black.

Mass media have played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way white Americans perceive African-Americans. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior among African-Americans, the media have fostered a distorted and pernicious public perception of African-Americans.

The history of African-Americans is a centuries old struggle against oppression and discrimination. The media have played a key role in perpetuating the effects of this historical oppression and in contributing to African-Americans’ continuing status as second-class citizens. As a result, white America has suffered from a deep uncertainty as to who African-Americans really are. Despite this racial divide, something indisputably American about African-Americans has raised doubts about the white man’s value system. Indeed, it has also aroused the troubling suspicion that whatever else the true American is, he is also somehow black.

What do you all think about the negative annotations that come along with being “Black/Afro,” is it real or just humbug?