The Learning Curve
For those of you who don't know, I have taken a job here in Santo Domingo. I'm working for Stream International, in their marketing /communications office. This job has taken every bit of my free time, but I love every minute of it. I do miss spending time with my love, but he understands I need to fulfill some professional ambitions. I have not worked in a professional atmosphere in a year and it is refreshing to be back in the game, although I do miss the days of lounging on the roof of Casa New Yorker.
My job consists of working with English speaking Dominicans(ex-New Yorkers really)and getting them to sound more "American" on the telephone and teaching them to give the customers an "exceptional customer experience",(have I been brainwashed or what!)
My first two weeks I had to get used to hearing the "n-word" again. (Living in Harlem, I would hear the word everyday.) Dominican men feel it's a term of endearment to refer to any man as a n----r. Now I am not talking about natural born Dominicans. I'm speaking of the men and boys who have spent an extended about of time in the United States. After a few minutes of hearing the derogatory term, I voiced my dismay at the use of the word. I was amazed to hear the guy's say, what's the big deal, "everybody is a N----r", once in a while. When asked to explain this , they could not, at least coherently. Another guy said, "I lived in the projects, so I have earned the right to say the word". After an hour of discussing this topic, we had to move on, but it left me depressed and dumbfounded. I thought leaving America I would not have to hear such inflammatory language, but you can't escape ignorance or the language of the streets.
(I will continue my work stories in a series, called "Islands in the Stream". The next update will talk about professional v. labor workers in the DR)
My job consists of working with English speaking Dominicans(ex-New Yorkers really)and getting them to sound more "American" on the telephone and teaching them to give the customers an "exceptional customer experience",(have I been brainwashed or what!)
My first two weeks I had to get used to hearing the "n-word" again. (Living in Harlem, I would hear the word everyday.) Dominican men feel it's a term of endearment to refer to any man as a n----r. Now I am not talking about natural born Dominicans. I'm speaking of the men and boys who have spent an extended about of time in the United States. After a few minutes of hearing the derogatory term, I voiced my dismay at the use of the word. I was amazed to hear the guy's say, what's the big deal, "everybody is a N----r", once in a while. When asked to explain this , they could not, at least coherently. Another guy said, "I lived in the projects, so I have earned the right to say the word". After an hour of discussing this topic, we had to move on, but it left me depressed and dumbfounded. I thought leaving America I would not have to hear such inflammatory language, but you can't escape ignorance or the language of the streets.
(I will continue my work stories in a series, called "Islands in the Stream". The next update will talk about professional v. labor workers in the DR)
posted by The Byron @ 7:05 PM
15 Comments:
At 11:37 AM,
Anonymous said…
that's funny. when i was living in senegal, my then-boyfriend's brother let it slip that i was american (something i almost never let slip in public in west africa), and all of a sudden people were like "what's up my nigger"? what got people to stop doing it was the fact that i would totally ignore them until they said "mon frere" (bro) or called me by my name.
(most people in west africa think i'm either nigerian because of my build or beninese or cameroonian because of my build + my flawless french. i get to see/do things a lot differently than most expats here as a result, which is usually a blessing, but in cape town (and that goes for south africa in general) it's a curse. ugh.)
At 2:13 PM,
Anonymous said…
For someone coming from the last year experience in the whore/bugarons industry the n word and uneducation should not surprised you, but daily bread.
Ignorance is everywhere, even you have discover yourself being ignorant of latinamerican culture or feeling unconfortable in situations where dominicans feel perfectly well.
As I have told you few times, the n word have different meaning for dominicans. Santo Domingo has not been exposed to racial issues as strongly as the african-americans had, so for dominicans the word dont have that historical meaning the word has for you. So forsake dominicans, they love you too.
F
At 7:12 PM,
The Byron said…
Just because "working boys" visited the hotel on a regular basis does not mean I heard the n-word. I would say 95% of the boys were polite and respectful.(Talk about sterotyping)
If you will re-read the post, I said, Dominicans who have spent more time in the States than here were inclined to use the word, than Dominicans who have never left the island. Those people are mre New Yorkers than Dominican. I have heard the n-word more from you and and handful of people on the street.
I ask questions and debate issues because I want to learn more about this island and its culture. I appreciate all cultures and want to respect customs and traditions.There are some things I understand and some things I will never understand, but I will keep asking questions and learning. Thank you for the lessons and the conversations.
At 8:08 PM,
Anonymous said…
"you can't escape ignorance or the language of the streets.", when I am talking about the industry you have been exposed to in the last year I am talking about these boys full of ignorance selling themselves for pennies to old farts, many of them sick of STD: That is ignorance and should not surprise you.
In the other hand, racial issues exist in DR but not with the same connotation of american issues. For instance,when haitian crusader Tousaint tryied to free slaves in santo domingo the slaves kept living with the master as employees cause the colony was so poor that they enrolled themselves again to work with the masters in the farms. Slaves and master here was more a work segregation than a political segregation.
For you the n word has a historical meaning that goes back to the civil war, and all these sad related topics of civil rights or affirmative action, for the dominicans in the projects the n word has a phonetic meaning close to the color, and in anyway means discrimination or disrespect to you, although it shows ignorance and uneducation.
Luv.
At 5:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
Another way of thinking about what's going on with the term "nigga" is cultural circulation, even problematic aspects of culture, cultural practices and cultural performance. So in this instance, Dominicans who certainly did not experience the long racial history and memory of African Americans in terms of American racial history (but who've had to deal with racial issues and racism in DR since 1492) have become racialized/raced and racially aware after living in the US (this happens to EVERY immigrant group), and many (though not all, let me make that clear) may come to think of themselves in racial terms, and to live and identify themselves in different and differently raced ways than they would if they had not lived in the US.
One aspect of this is that many young(er) Dominicans who grow up in the US are acculturated to and adopted aspects of Black American popular culture, including hiphop culture, because Dominicans in the US often find that they are considered and treated as not only Latinos/Hispanics, but also as Blacks (often by whites and even by other Latinos/Hispanics). Whereas ethnic and racial tensions and problems still exist between Dominicans/Dominican-Americans and African Americans and other Black Americans, it is also increasingly the case that many (but not all) younger Dominican Americans are more comfortable moving between racial and ethnic identities, even as they maintain a strong national identification as "Dominican" or "Dominican American." Their socialization and acculturation, which involves a movement between racial identities includes adopting terms like "nigga" which some feel they too can own and use in the same way as African Americans, because they feel it encompasses them in a way that it wouldn't for many other Latinos, or most Whites. This is NOT to say that Dominican Americans see themselves as Black Americans, that they and African Americans are the same, or that it's okay for them or anyone to bandy the term "nigga" around in the US or in DR.
If this offensive term offends you, it's important to make this known; you probably would do so to other African Americans, to Africans, to anyone who's using a term you find offensive. At the same time, it's also helpful to realize that this is part of a cultural transfer and process of circulation that is evident throughout DR (and in reverse, in the US). Just look at the popularity of hiphop culture and African American styles throughout DR (and among Dominicans playing in the major leagues, in American popular music and culture, etc.), which doesn't REPLACE local and native Dominican cultural practices, but flavors and enhances them.
At 5:33 AM,
The Byron said…
well said, and thank you for those insightful comments
At 4:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
Although it is being used less and less, the word "negro/a" can be used as a term of endearment in Puerto Rico. In many, old, popular songs, the phrase "mi negro" or "mi negra" can be heard to address the person of one's affection without race being a factor. My mother regularly called my father "negro" as in "¿Negro, quieres un cafecito?" However, since political correctness now pervades even the most simple conversations, people apparently have stopped using the term for fear of offending someone by calling them "negro/a." This seems to be the exact opposite of what Byron indicates where ex-New Yorkers use the "n-word" to identify themselves as a group. Words do change meanings over the years and what was an offensive term 100 years ago may become acceptable tomorrow and vice versa. Just my two cents...
From Puerto Rico,
Rafael
At 9:46 AM,
Anonymous said…
I agree with Rafael, in Cuba my Country we also use the terms " mi Negro Or mi Negra " and it is done out of Love for the other person even if they are not Afro-Cubans. I remember being called " Mi Negrito" by many family members and Friends for many years until I came out and they started calling me " Rubita" after many hair de-colorations with oxigenated water....
At 9:24 PM,
Anonymous said…
These terms in Spanish - 'mi Negro" or "mi Negra" "Mi Negrito"
can be equated with the French word "negre" and the English "Negro." None of these words/phrases are by themselves derogatory. Americans of African descent for years were OK with the term "Negro." They used it for generations to describe their own ethnicity, and probably even now don't take gross exception to the word, considering it instead simply old-fashioned and out of style.
The problem is with the word "nigger," or, phonetically pronounced by southern whites - "nigra" as used in the United States, especially in the South. This is truly an inflamatory and despicable description, carrying as it does the history of its originations and use by American slave owners and, later, other whites.
I don't mean to quarrel with any of the comments by previous posters. I simply want to point out that "Nigger" is a uniquely American word and is truly offensive because of its unique origin and use among Americans.
At 2:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
This is a most interesting dialogue that I find fascinating.
The "N" word to me is offensive with nothing but negative connotations.
BUT........
My adopted son is NY Puerto Rican, grew up on the lower east side ghetto and for years I've heard him use the greeting -
"my nigga or hey nigga", mostly to his latin and black friends. Even to this day when he is more educated and 31 he uses this affectation during a few social gatherings.
My being white, german born but southern USA raised meant that the "N" word was totally derogatory at best an most usually inflamatory. I grew up with segration and then integration of schools and busing of blacks to white neighborhoods;
and hearing the old folks commonly refer to all blacks as niggers, even to peoples faces... my own grandmother used to refer to all blacks as "them niggers"...
So, what I don't understand is how such a derogatory term has become a common greeting term or self description for blacks and or latinos???
I have a passion for the latin culture and latin men of course, I like the language and the music and the sense of family that goes along with. Hence, most of my friends are latin, mostly Puerto Ricans and
I agree with Byron, I don't use the N word. Can you imagine a white man walking around NYC or SDQ and saying "nigga this, and nigga that? ? ? ? ? I THINK NOT !!
At 7:46 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hey Byron,
Why do you object to the n word when many black Americans call their homies or refer to other blacks as "niggah" on a regular basis?
I was recently at a DMV location to renew my DL and I was one of the few white people in there. I am telling you that I have never heard the n word so much in my life and all by blacks. For example, "How you gonna tell this niggah what to do", "What's that niggah doin in jail again", "Shut up niggah", etc.etc.etc. I felt bad that they felt it was okay to degrade themselves and other blacks with that term. But then again I am white. So perhaps it's okay to use the n word when a black talks to/about another black person?
What do you think?
At 6:22 AM,
The Byron said…
Are you saying just becasue people say it, that makes it acceptable? I hope not, I hear the word and I cringe everytime I hear it. I think it is distasteful and I hate to hear it from anyone. What you do and say in your house is your own business, but in public I don't need to be subjected to your ignorance.
At 8:47 AM,
Anonymous said…
I am not saying that just because people say it makes it acceptable. I feel a pit in my stomach whenever I hear that word because it is so vile. My question is this: Why do so many black Americans feel it IS okay to throw this word around on a daily basis? I have been told several times "It's a black thang and you wouldn't understand". Well, I don't understand. So I would like a black American to tell me why so many members of the black community think it's okay to talk about themselves and other blacks using this word. To them it's apparently no big deal.
At 9:25 AM,
The Byron said…
I can't speak for the black community, I can only speak for Byron. I really don't understand it myself. I guess it's how you were raised and the standards in your home. My parents and thier friends did not use the word as a form of introduction or term of endearment. So all people of color don't use the word on a daily basis. I would gather in some parts, that this discussion is more about class than race. More often than not, you will hear people who use the word are not college graduates or people who have attained some level of American success. I'm not talking about people in the hip hop community because they take ignorace to a new low.
At 9:37 AM,
Anonymous said…
Byron, thank you for your comments. I agree with you about the question of class. I think the lower the economic level, the more this word is used. I also think it is used by people whose self-esteem is so low they actually are proud of identifying themselves and their "homies" with that disgusting word.
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