Cuba to America: Joel Ruiz's Racial Awakening - Essay Sample

Introduction

Joel Ruiz's physical appearance in terms of skin color is black in Cuba. He played basketball with African-Americans and black Latinos from the neighborhood. His emigration into the United States indicates an environment in which being black and white is a label that is different from life in Cuba. In America, he feels Cuban and black. Ojito says, "His world is a black world, and to live there is to be constantly conscious of race. He works in a black-owned bar, dates black women, goes to an African-American barber." (Ojito, 2000, p. 1).

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The black attributes and identification of Ruiz's environment indicate one part of his name Afro which means black. The reason why he refers to himself as Afro-Cuban is because of the Cuban ethnic identity and the black color physical attribute. The name indicated that he was not just as Cuban; the black skin tone required him to play the part. He learned how to fit it, which is explained as "if an officer is following your car, do not turn your head; the police don't like it. Do not stare at other drivers, especially if they are young and white and loud." (Ojito, 2000, p. 3). Being black in America, he learned how to avoid confrontation, walking fast in stores to hide from security guards and walking slower in the streets not to attract the police's attention. The Afro-Cuban name through integrating the activities and livelihood of the black neighborhood.

The idea about race that individuals speak is associated with skin color. However, it means something larger than just a simple understanding of skin color. The contemporary science demonstrates race associated with visual differences between individuals is accidents of history. The visual differences between individuals are a representation of how ancestors adapted to the environment by dealing with the sun. Race indicates a disturbing extent where it still demonstrates the people's experience, opportunities, and perceptions (Kolbert, 2018, p. 4). When he moved to Miami, the area he settled at called Liberty City, consisting mostly of black people. Also, the level of racism in the United States was on an all-time high with Cubans having a black skin color did not have the racial identity to perform any work.

He says that if you claim to be discriminated against racial because of being black and you are Cuban, people will consider the accusation as a protest. He was randomly being called black due to his actions with people disregarding his Cuban identity. He explains that he fought with someone on a bus in Havana, and a white friend's mother termed his behavior as being black. Black people were considered brutish. Another instance is on a birthday dinner at Mr. Valdes's home, where he was stopped and asked who he was. The implication was the guard was asking 'Who's the nigger?' which is inferred by Mr. Ruiz (Ojito, 2000, p. 8). The implication is it is prudent to term himself Afro-Cuban to get a place in the ethnically diverse community in the United States.

Why Do Whites and African Americans See Him Differently?

The whites in America are largely considered superficial characterizing people due to their physical appearance and, at other time, their behavior. The blacks African-American characterizes him basing on Mr. Ruiz's ethnic identity, which is Cuban. Although he fits perfectly in their community due to his black color, he is recognized as Cuban while the Whites recognized him as black. The instances in which he is considered black by the whites and the blacks call him Cuban indicate the impasse in his ethnic identity.

Mr. Ruiz is naturally black, which he was considered an African-American even in public places. When the owners of the restaurant called the police on him, it indicates that his skin color is associated with bad vices, even if he had done nothing. The United States, nonwhite groups of individuals, including Jews and Irish individuals, gain the status and wealth to be considered while making it a privilege and less concerned with physical attributes. The implication is that for one to be considered American, they need to stay away from nonwhite groups and renounce their original identity.

Hispanic American is an example of the pan-ethnic group identity who are politically vocal in one way and try to stem defections. Hispanic American identity tends to restrain members of the group ambitions for individual progress (Zhou, 2004, p. 30). Individuals placement in the downtrodden minority or model minority gets evaluated based on values that are contradictory to the average American standards. The non-Hispanic whites get used as the standard determiner in which other ethnic divisions get compared to them.

With the race being the perception of people due to difference in physical appearance, it is applied to biophysical reality which indicates that the human mind creates a particular perception of an individual and label them due to phenotypic variation. Most importantly, the African-Americans and the whites see him differently because they both have different ideology on matters to do with race (Schmidt, 2011, p. 2). Through exclusivity, racial differences are maintained through the development of social-cultural barriers between populations. The whites and blacks both stayed in different regions. These boundaries between them make them characterize each other differently.

References

Kolbert, E. (2018, April). There's No Scientific Basis for Race-It's a Made-Up Label. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/04/race-genetics-science-africa/

Ojito, M. (2000, June 5). Best of Friends, Worlds Apart. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/05/us/best-of-friends-worlds-apart.html

Schmidt, R. W. (2011). American Indian Identity and Blood Quantum in the 21st Century: A Critical Review. Journal of Anthropology, 2011, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/549521

Zhou, M. (2004). Are Asian Americans Becoming "White?". Contexts, 3(1), 29-37. https://doi.org/10.1525/ctx.2004.3.1.29