LaLa Vasquez’s rant on her race is just a fraction of an often overlooked issue.

Words by Lauren McEwen

Last week, a well-written rant by LaLa Vasquez of MTV’s TRL and VH1′s Charm School fame hit the Internet and it has raised some interesting questions about race, diversity and understanding in the United States.

According to Vasquez, she has come across many people who refuse to believe that she is of Puerto Rican descent. Based on the color of her skin, they insist that she is African American. Even after she explains that her family is Puerto Rican, and therefore, she is Latina, some refuse to believe her. Some have even gone as far as to diagnose her with some kind of self-hatred complex or identity crisis.

Here’s a snippet of Vasquez’s remarks:

“A lot of people don’t realize that I’m Latina, which is fine. One thing about being Latina is that there isn’t one look that comes with the territory. I don’t expect people to know my cultural background just by glancing at me. I do, however, expect that when I tell people my family is from Puerto Rico, that I will be believed and not accused of trying to be something that I’m not. It usually goes something like this: a person having a conversation with me discovers one way or another that I’m Puerto Rican and fluent in Spanish. That person then expresses their shock over these realizations for any number of reasons—common responses are, “You don’t look Latina” and “I thought you were black!” I never said I wasn’t black. And since when does being black and being Latina have to be mutually exclusive?” (Source: Necole Bitchie)

Vasquez goes on to acknowledge the fact that many peoples’ perceptions of what it means to be Latina are shaped by the images that are presented by the media, which casts actresses like Jennifer Lopez and Sofia Vergara to play Latina characters, while ignoring the fact that Latino people come in a variety of shades. She also says that she understands that some people not be aware of the fact that Spanish-speaking countries, such as, Panama, Puerto Rico and Cuba are racially diverse. However, she writes that it is hurtful to have people question her heritage and accuse her of pretending to be something that she’s not.

It is interesting to see that even in this age of relatively easy international travel and the Internet (which makes the globe so small), some do not realize that race and ethnicity are two completely different concepts.

It has been said that schoolchildren in the United States have the lowest levels of knowledge about other countries. Is it possible that this ignorance about the rest of the world has passed on into adulthood, leaving people unable to understand that “blackness” is a matter of race, while being Latino deals with ethnicity?

Is it a lack of education or a lack of tolerance that causes people to question Vasquez’s ethnic background? How do people even begin to question what she says her race is? Why would it bother them enough for them to insist that she is lying about where her family comes from? Where does this need for people to identify a complete stranger’s race come from? Is it a result of the United States’ racially conscious past? Is America the only country where this much importance is placed on race?

These questions are undoubtedly difficult to answer, and there must be varying opinions about this topic, but it needs to be discussed. Why is race still such a monumental issue? Will it ever fade into the background?