The Miami cold chill, very little heat

I went to Miami this week for a conference. When I first arrived in Miami I was overwhelmed at the number of brown skinned people walking around. Spanish was in the air floating about me, over me. Reflecting, I think that people often talk about how wonderful and at home they would feel in a nondiverse setting. When one finds herself in that situation, it takes some getting used to. In many ways, I felt as though I was an outsider. Much of the print and conversations in Miami are in Spanish and I am not at all proficient in the language. Rather quickly though, I was excited by the prospect of being with other brown peoples. It didn't matter that I didn't speak Spanish. The combination and existence of so many different cultures, ethnicities, races, interactions, and possibilities excited me. I enjoyed basking in the cultural richness and diversity. These first steps off the plane and into Miami helped me to see that we can "all just get along." Peaceful co-existence and respect are real. Then, I went to the hotel.

Now, I expect that what I will say here will be contentious, but it must be said. I got the feeling that many of the Latino men and women that I encountered were prejudiced against me, a black woman. I would walk into a store and many of the Latina proprietresses would overlook me, speak to Spanish speaking customers that walked in directly behind me, or, oftentimes, would give me looks of disgust and disdain before ignoring me completely. I'm not sure to attribute these behaviors to my own cultural ignorance of customs and ways of being, possible oversensitivity on my part, the fact that I wasn't white, or to the fact that I am black. I was pained and, at one point, cried at what I perceived as racial castigation from another minority group. I know that racism exists between oppressed groups as well as within racial groups. I, however, had never experienced it so blatantly.



Maybe, I was green. I know that I offered a few more toothy smiles to brown skin people than I do regularly. But, I think that I was trying to show authentic acceptance hoping to receive the same. Unfortunately, though, I felt as though Latina women in Miami, as well as some Latino men, considered me to be just another nigger-and treated me similar to the ways in which most white people typically treat black me. There seemed to be more smiles for whites and other Latinos than for me. Too often, I felt as though I was receiving looks of disdain that explicitly communicated "I am not like you. Nor do I wish to be like you. I am better than you because I am not you - I am not black. I am closer to white than you will ever be. Soon, I will be able to refer to you as nigger like other fair-skinned immigrants have done over the course of history."

Let me also say that there were a number of truly kind and generous people in Miami. They were welcoming and talkative and genuinely expressed warmth and respect. But, these people were so few and far between. I don't raise these comments, thoughts, and feelings as the gospel according to me. They are, however, my thoughts and feelings, and regardless to the politically correct social conventions we have in place, I must be able to express them. I think political correctness prevents us from talking about racial, gender, and class issues that would result in coalition building and alliance formations that would topple white privilege and dominance as it exists in the contemporary social millieu. My visit to Miami was professionally successful, but socially disheartening.