Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Explains Her Race and EthnicityPosted in Articles, Latino Studies, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2019-02-15 16:43Z by Steven |
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Explains Her Race and Ethnicity
DiversityInc
2019-02-14
“I am the descendant of African slaves. I am the descendant of Indigenous people. I am the descendant of Spanish colonizers,” explained Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in an MSNBC interview.
Conversations around race and ethnicity have been prominent in the media because of the onslaught of diverse newly elected public officials. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is one of them. In an interview on MSNBC, she addressed her heritage with respect to her race.
It’s no secret that throughout the Latino community there are three major racial influences: African, European, and Indigenous.
And depending on a person’s country of origin, it has been well-established that one of these influences can be dominant or they can be equal.
Ocasio-Cortez is Nuyorican (a person of Puerto Rican-descent, born and raised in New York). In the interview, she talked about her heritage citing: “My identity is the descendant of many different identities. I am the descendant of African slaves. I am the descendant of Indigenous people. I am the descendant of Spanish colonizers… I am a descendant of all sorts of folks. That doesn’t mean I’m Black, that doesn’t mean I’m Native, but I can tell the story of my ancestors.”…
Read the entire article here.