Belize is a small country but it is definitely a melting pot. We have a wide variety of faces, skin colors and languages. An issue that I have encountered while growing up is what we as Belizeans consider our ethnicity or our race. (there is a difference) Growing up, I never had an issue with marking myself as Black/African-American. For the most part, that is what I am and what you would see by looking at me. But now, the Census and many other government agencies are asking for our ethnicity. I know I was very surprised at how many times, I have marked down Hispanic. I never really considered myself of Hispanic heritage until I looked further into my heritage. (something we should ALL do) Alot of forms and applications will tell you that Hispanic refers to any origin or culture with descendants from Latin, Central and South America. I wanted to add some comments from a FB stat I made back in October about this exact same topic. Comment and let me know what you consider yourself and why? (You dont have to be Belizean)
Coretta Rich
My nationality: Belizean (I was born & raised)
My Ethnicity: Kriol/Creole (as specified in Belize)
My Race: Hispanic (origin in Central America)
In America one's race is sometimes aligned w/ethnicity so depending on the question and options my answer will differ. Some questions don't give "other" as an option so I check Hispanic b/c of my birth origin. However, if "other" is an option, then I write in Kriol. If neither option is available, I leave it blank b/c I don't identify with the rest. Now on the census we checked Pacific Islander based on the description that included origins in Central American! Ok, that was a lot, lol...
My Ethnicity: Kriol/Creole (as specified in Belize)
My Race: Hispanic (origin in Central America)
In America one's race is sometimes aligned w/ethnicity so depending on the question and options my answer will differ. Some questions don't give "other" as an option so I check Hispanic b/c of my birth origin. However, if "other" is an option, then I write in Kriol. If neither option is available, I leave it blank b/c I don't identify with the rest. Now on the census we checked Pacific Islander based on the description that included origins in Central American! Ok, that was a lot, lol...
Brittny Longsworth I put hispanic for ethnicity because when hispanic/latino is defined it say- central and south america.... n for race i put black because if u jus see me u would suspect i was a lightskinned american/black.... n also because im not white or mexican.....
Kaya C. Flowers i think it also depends on what your parents are made of... some of my friends are belizean, but their parents, grandparents, & so forth, were all born in belize. unlike us. we have ancestry all over, not just in belize. so i think that makes a big difference & goes a lot further than just being belizean.
Lisa Campbell
until Hispanic was an option from very young i would make my own spot and put other, my mother and father were born and raised in Belize as well as some of my siblings, i consider myself a Belizean American because i was born here but my bloodline is Belizean, i mark Hispanic origin, because my great great grandfather came to Belize from Cuba on my fathers side and my great great father came from Spain on my mothers side, both great great grandmothers were born in Belize and they both have a mix including but not limited to irish, english, mayan, and spanish, so from time to time i still say other and completely agree with Coretta on how to identify myself and also why i do not put African American
I consider myself mixed, I know that my grandfather is spanish an so it runs deep in my blood, my other grandfather is coolie indian. They are both from Belize. Both of my grandmothers are black belizean women. Its really confusing cause Belize is a melting pot. Being in america most of my life I adapted to the african american culture a whole as well as staying in tuned with my Belizean background.
ReplyDelete