I once lived in a building with a superintendent who was Dominican. He was the best super I've ever had. If there was a problem, he showed up when he said he would and did what he could to help me out. Anyone who's ever lived in New York City knows that's not always the case.One day, I was just shooting the breeze with my super when he said: "I like you guys because you treat me well. Other people in this building, my own kind, treat me like some sort of slave because I'm Negro."
"Black," I said.
"I'm a black Dominican. My skin is darker than yours. We have the same hair. Our ancestors both come from Africa, but in my country, they love the light-colored people more."
He wasn't exaggerating. In the Dominican Republic, there is almost a complete denial of the country's African roots in favor of its European and Spanish heritage. According to estimates, 90 percent of the country is black, but census figures show only 11 percent of people in the country identify themselves as black.
Dominican hairdressers are world-renowned for their hair-straightening skills. In New York City, Dominican salons are well known among African Americans for their cheap, yet potent perms and hair straightening methods.
That's why no one should have been too surprised when baseball legend Sammy Sosa showed up at the Latin Grammy Awards looking several shades lighter. Sosa first claimed that he was undergoing a "skin rejuvenation" process, and that the flash from the photos made him look lighter than he appeared.
"He's not trying to be Michael Jackson," former Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, who talks frequently with Sosa, told the Chicago Tribune.
And then Sosa admitted that he was using a bleaching cream during an interview with a Spanish-language network. Sosa also said he wanted to endorse the cream and market it in Latin America and America.
"It's a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some," Sosa told Univision's 'Primer Impacto' in an interview. "It's a cream that I have, that I use to soften [my skin] but has bleached me some. I'm not a racist, I live my life happily."
The world is still waiting for Sosa to explain his heavily processed hair and green contact lenses.
The issue is one of the hottest topics of discussion in the Latino community, said Hector Bonilla, a co-founder of Encuentro, a group that focuses on Afro-Latino issues.
"It's called internalized oppression. For 500 years, people of African descent have been socialized to believe that the more European you are, the better you are," said Bonilla. "Sammy Sosa was a Dominican who was respected by all Latinos. For him to do something like this, a lot of people feel it is showing his self-hate."
In the Dominican Republic, much of the animus toward darker-skinned people can be traced to the country's rift with Haiti. The two nations are both situated on the island of Hispaniola. After wresting its freedom from the French, Haitians took over the entire island.
According to a series about Afro-Latins published in the Miami Herald:
To this day, the Dominican Republic celebrates its independence not from centuries-long colonizer Spain, but from Haiti. ... Dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled from 1930 to 1961, strongly promoted anti-Haitian sentiments and is blamed for creating the many racial categories that avoided the use of the word "black." The practice continued under President Joaquín Balaguer, who often complained that Haitians were "darkening'' the country. In the 1990s, he was blamed for thwarting the presidential aspirations of leading black candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez by spreading rumors that he was actually Haitian.
And Dominicans aren't the only Afro-Hispanics struggling with their African heritage.
"It's very embedded in the culture of Latin America and America," said Bonilla. "Just look at Peru, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, African Americans and the fraternity culture. They all have the color issue. In Jamaica, the lighter you are, the closer to white you are, the more relevant you become. "
At a recent event celebrating the music of Puerto Rico, Bonilla said he was shocked when people began walking out after music with heavy drums, reflecting the country's African heritage, began playing.
"There are a lot of people, who, if they had the same resources as Sammy Sosa, would do the same thing to their skin," said Bonilla.
Despite protestations that he's no Michael Jackson, Sosa is causing buzz within the blogosphere with his new look.
The Latino gossip site Hissip wrote:
Sammy, who had been so handsome, had resorted to using a lightening cream to, er, rejuvenate his skin. But rejuvenation that cream did not perform; it was more like disfiguration. A disfiguration made complete by light-eyed contacts.
It's sad that Sosa, like Michael Jackson, is not satisfied with his enormous talent. It just goes to show how slavery, oppression and racism still affects us today. Unfortunately, because of his fame, Sosa may be setting the process in motion again.
"Sammy Sosa is just a reflection of greater societal ills," said Bonilla.


Comments: (68)
Add a comment
By: SAMMY STOP! on 11/17/2009 7:24AM
OMG he's ruined his beautiful color-he was such a handsome man-now he looks freaish-it's MJ all over again. I hope that harsh toxic cream doesn't cause some sort of permanent skin disorder. WHY?
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: carla ford on 11/17/2009 4:19PM
Yes, he does look like a freak-he resembles one of the Wayans brothers when they portrayed white women in the movie "White Chicks"; totally ruined his looks.
Report This
By: tellatell on 11/19/2009 9:59PM
I agree. He was a cute guy, now his monstrous. Why would he do such a crazy thing. Dark chocolate skin is gorgeous, reminds me of chocolate...
Report This
By: bitterbrotha on 11/17/2009 7:58AM
the only thing all must remember is black is the essence of beauty. if some people want to turn there skin white good luck! because no matter what, you still won't get invited to the country club.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Augustus on 11/17/2009 4:44PM
ALTHOUGH WHAT SOSA DID DOES NOT REPRESENT WHAT ALL LATINOS WOULD DO, WHEN A CELEBRITY DOES IT IT CARRIES A LOT MORE WEIGHT, AS NEGATIVE AS IT THIS MAY SEEM. THIS IS TRUTH, AND THOUGH IT MAYBE NEGATIVE, IT IS TRUTH. ITS LIKE SOME PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE ATROCITIES OF SLAVERY AND THE HOLACAUST, BOTH NEGATIVE TIMES IN HISTORY. SOSA LOOKS LIKE A CLOWN WITH THE GREEN EYES AND THE PASTY FACE. WHAT THIS SHOWS IS HE HAS NO SELF ESTEEM. ANYBODY BLEACHING TO LOOK LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO ENSLAVE AN ENTIRE PLANET OR WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO THE JEWS, THE EUROPEAN GERMANS, OR TAKING THE COUNTRY FROM THE INDIANS, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. SOSA WENT FROM HERO TO HEEL IN MY BOOK. LET US REMEMBER, EBONY MAGAZINE ONCE FEATURED ALL OF BLACK SKIN AS BLACK BASEBALL PLAYERS IN THEIR MAG, BUT THE LATINOS DID NOT WANT TO BE LISTED AS BEING BLACK. IF I WERE WITH EBONY I WOULD HAVE KEPT ON DOING IT. MESSING UP ONES SKIN ONLY ADDS TO THE MESSING UP OF THEIR MINDS.
Report This
By: Gail on 11/17/2009 8:03AM
he looks stupid!!!!......even his hair looks straighter....i guess he'd rather be white....oh well i don't really give a damn....i got some hispanics in my family but they are not like some of the so called "white hispanics" who think they are white....
AND NO PEOPLE....THIS IS NOT.....NOT....NOT...A MICHAEL JACKSON THING.....MICHAEL HAD AN ILLNESS........THIS DUDE HERE JUST DON'T WANT NO DARK SKIN...PERIOD.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: shannlinwo on 11/17/2009 8:12AM
NOW THIS IS A CONFUSED NUT!!!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Mayerli28 on 11/17/2009 8:34AM
Well I am Puertorican and I love my curly hair and my color of skin if it wasn't because of my African-American heritage I wouldn't have them so I am very proud, also I very much dislike hangin around some of my own people "latinos" because all they want to do is gossip about the same people they hangout with and that to me is boring, thank God for African-American that have veery interesting things to talk about.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: wisewoman on 11/17/2009 8:36AM
This is a sad commentary on humanity and self analysis. It is a fact as I have felt it and seen it many times that hispanic people think they are better and many times will not speak to black people. I have been confused for being hispanic many times. I am a lighter skinned black female. As soon as they know that I do not speak spanish and I am actually black their attitude changes. I recently went to a wedding for a young lady of puerto rican and east indian ancestry. She married a very handsome and nice young Black man. He father at the beginning of the ceremony actually tried to get her to second guess her decision...on her wedding day!!! He husband to be is college educated, handsome, a christian, polite, upstanding citizen that any black woman would be proud to marry. Yet, in the east indian and hispanic culture still not "good enough". It is sad that people think that changing the color of your skin will make you more accepatble. I have been treated badly by my own black people because of my light skinned...good hair (affliction). This world has been confused and stays confused. The younger generation seems to be more accepting of racial barriers and are starting to bring them down. Hopefully by the time my grandchildren reach the age of marriage this will not be a problem anymore.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Patti on 11/17/2009 10:51AM
While I try to take care of my skin with sunscreen and moisturizers, and wear make-up when I get dressed up, I think my skin tone is unique and that it works just right with my features. I do color my hair to cover my grays, so I guess that shows some vanity, but I use a color that matches the rest of my hair; I'm not trying to be a blonde.
I would never have plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons, or bleach my skin, or wear contact lenses. I generally feel sorry for those who do. I see them as people who feel that they are not "enough" (good enough, pretty enough, white enough, rich enough, etc.) I see them as people who are insecure and trying to project an image of someone else, not themselves.
With all of his success, Sammy Sosa still feels that he is not enough.
Reply to this Comment | Report This