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Welcome back to Questions You Didn't Ask with
me, Nyesha Frey, and my guest, Julissa Soto,
as we continue the series. Ready or not, the
real talk Black and Latino communities need.
Let's pick up where we left off. So when we think
about our health system, you know, and our culture,
you know, what are some of the ways that Latino
communities, Mexican -American communities have
created their own health care and ways to take
care of themselves? What are some? When the door
is shut in their face, what are some things that
they do? Or when they can't find the door, what
are some of the things that they do to take care
of each other that you can share? What we do
is go to the meat market. The meat market is
like a pharmacy. It's like a Walgreens or Walmart
or something like that. But the meat market,
you as a Latino will know where to go, and then
you'll find your medications there. You talk
to people that are providers in our country,
but they're not allowed to work here. Sometimes
we have no other choice but to go through the
back door at the meat markets because, you know,
when we get to the emergency room, we get discriminated
and sometimes not even. They don't see us, right?
Or the Federal Qualified Health Center, you have
to have your ID, you have to have an address,
you have to have a lot of documentation to be
seen. But when you go to the meat market, you
talk to whomever you need to talk to, and we
get our medication there. And I'm sure that that
brings with it a lot of risks, you know, in regard
to having to get your health care that way. So
there probably been some things that work really
well. And then some things that, you know, folks
are just hoping and praying don't harm them more
than help them. Is that true? That is true. That
is true. And we know that when we go to a meat
market, we're risking our own health. But to
be honest with you, we prefer to go to the meat
market where we know that we're going to see
a smile. Yes. We might be at risk with the medication,
but we're also thinking that about the white
folks. We're always thinking that the white folks
want to do us wrong and we don't trust them.
So we trust somebody better that is from our
community. And we know that they're going to
have better intention than the Anglo community.
That's what we think, right? That's why we go
to the meat markets. So a lot of the times when
I do my keynote speaking and I talk out there
in the community, the white folks are like, oh,
my God, she says white a whole lot. She comes
after us a whole lot. Yeah, I'm coming after
you because you're part of that system. And that
part of the system that you think is working
well for you is not working for me. And as a
U .S. citizen and as a taxpayer, I have the right
to say exactly how I feel. Yes, yes, yes. You
know, it's very similar in the Black community
here, in the African -American community, that
there is a lot of medical mistrust. And there's
documented in our history why. There's a lot
of mistrust. It's documented in our research,
even currently, why there's a lot of mistrust
in the healthcare system and that people tend
to rely on, you know, a lot of home grown methodologies,
a lot of tend to trust and feel more comfortable
with what we call fancy term is racial concordance
in healthcare providers. And what that means
is that you have a lot more trust, a lot more.
tend to have better health outcomes when you
work with, and this isn't always the case, but
the tendency is that when you work with someone
that looks like you and is from a similar community
as you, that there's a better sense of understanding,
there's more safety in communicating, there's
more understanding in terms of your apprehensions,
your common health issues, and so on and so forth.
And so this tends to be a common strategy. that
people use to survive and to remain healthy,
regardless of what the national or traditional
U .S. healthcare system provides. Totally agree
with you. In your experience, what have been
some of the most eye -opening similarities that
you have seen between Latino communities, immigrant
communities, and non -white communities who live
here in the United States, whether that's Native
American peoples, indigenous peoples, or even
Black or African American peoples? What have
been some of the eye -opening similarities that
you have seen in our cultures and experiences?
You know, the discrimination. And it's amazing
for me to see that Blacks are born here. And
blacks have the right. But for the white folks,
you're black and you're not American. That is
very similar than with the Latino community.
But the only difference is that as we know that
we were born in our state or in our countries.
Right. And that we become U .S. citizen later.
But then you have some black communities here
that they have been here in the United States
for generations and generations and generations.
And people still see them as black and not Americans.
That was an eye opener for me because I am married
to a black man. And I used to tell him, I remember,
oh, it's easy for you. It's not as hard that
it is for me because, you know, I get discriminated
and all of that. And he told me, I remember he
told me one time, you know. I am black. I don't
know where you get that information from. And
I said, but you're an American. So life is a
lot easier for you. You were born with a social
security number that I'm fighting for. You were
born with that language that I'm fighting for.
You were born with that birth certificate that
I'm fighting for. So for me, your life is a lot
easier than me. And then he kept telling me,
no, it's not the way you think it is. So we will
go to a couple stores shopping and. And that's
when I started noticing that they will follow
him more than me. And in the past, I used to
see that some of the salespeople would follow
me, right? But now I'm with him, and I see that
they're following him more than me. So probably
this person is thinking, okay, one Mexican, one
black. Which one should I go to? Let me pick
and choose who I'm going to discriminate against.
here you know so for me that that has been the
similarities the similarity in the way that we
get treated at our jobs that um very much inequitable
the pay also it's inequitable you know so i a
lot of things that were very similar extremely
similar i'm glad you brought that up that it's
a journey for people right that come to this
country and again have to fight against the overcoming
the propaganda of what they think America is
versus what it actually is. As an African -American
person, as a Black person in America, I have,
like I mentioned, had to overcome a lot of misunderstandings
and misconceptions about the immigrant experience
and about the Latino experience here in this
country. But I've also been very disheartened,
heartbroken, because I do tend to try to be open
-hearted to people, especially of color, non
-white people here in this country. And I've
been brokenhearted by some of their racism against
Black people and some of the ignorance that they
have about our experience, our culture, our history.
I recognize that, you know, everywhere that people
are in this modern culture, There is some level
of colorism that makes people of a lighter complexion
more privileged than people of a darker complexion.
And that is true, not just here in the United
States, but even in countries like India, in
Australia, you know, you name it. Some of the
challenges. racial and perception challenges
and misconceptions that you believe Latinos have
about Black people. And of course, I'm not expecting
you to be a, you know, say it all because you
know it all. I'm just from your own experience.
No, no, no. And I can say it all because I have
had a lot of experience. Right. And and let's
just this is a podcast when I say that I was
going to be truthful. Right. So, yes, in many
countries, including Mexico, the light skinned
people is supposedly are the rich ones. And the
darker the darker you are, the less that you
have opportunities in Mexico, too. That happens
in my country too. Now, we all have our certain
biases. We all have our certain ways of looking
at life. And I think a lot of us are very much
ignorant. I remember when I told my family that
I was dating a black man and they were like,
a who? And I said, a black man from America.
And they were like, oh my goodness. And this
was, I was already older, right? And so. My mom
was like, mijita, do you understand what you're
doing to yourself? First of all, you're a woman,
and you're the type of a woman that is super
rebellious here in Mexico. You think a little
bit different, and now you're going to bring
a man that is not part of our culture because
our men can marry women from other cultures.
That's being seen normal. But a woman needs to
stay among the culture so we can keep. Our heritage,
our life. So that's our responsibility, but I
never care about that, right? So I started, even
among my family, I never believed that discrimination
existed and racism, but it did. Because when
I married my husband, a couple people didn't
want to show up for the wedding just because
he was black. And I seen the same thing and vice
versa, you know? The Latinos have this perception
that... Black are lazy. Black don't like to work.
Black, especially women, are always angry and
with attitude. That's what the Latino community,
and I'm not saying everyone in the Latino community,
I'm saying the immigrants more likely are more
close -minded than the Mexico -American ones.
Because the Mexico -American ones have been integrated
to the United States, to the culture. But the
immigrants were like, uh -uh, don't approach
the blacks because this is all what they do.
Where did that information come from? I just
don't know because my husband does not fit that
profile, right? And vice versa, you know, when
I'm hanging out around my husband's family, I
can see that his grandma and his family wouldn't
prefer a black woman for him just by the comments
they make, just by the comments, the gaslighting
comments. I know that they would have preferred
that too, right? But I'm very aware of that.
And they also make comments like, Like, why they
don't speak English? And comments like, why is
it that 20 ,000 live in one home? You know? So
it goes both ways. But, you know, for the government,
this is to their benefit. If you and I don't
get along, if you and I don't work together,
you know, more power to them and less power to
us. Because in black and brown communities, we
unite, honestly. Black and brown, just black
and brown. Don't even count Asians. Don't even
count Native Americans. You know what we will
do. We will kill it, right? We will do so many
good things, right? But we are so ignorant with
our close minds that we can't get along. And
we discriminate against each other when things
like this had happened to you and to me. Why
is it that we continue treating each other the
way that we do? If you're enjoying the show as
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the conversation going. Good question. Good question.
And the thing is, is that when we act out these
attitudes, you're right. It just creates more
and more division and divisiveness. I have seen
with my own eyes and experienced both professionally
and personally, multi -generationally, the discrimination
that Latino communities have against Black Americans.
I've seen that discrimination even against African
immigrants towards African Americans. And a lot
of it has to do with... The fact that our history
is, people don't know our history. People don't
know how hard we had to work and how much we
sacrificed in this country. And it always feels
like a slap in the face because we know that
if we hadn't sacrificed so much and worked so
hard and fought so hard, that a lot of immigrants
of color in particular would not have been allowed
to be here at all. And so that feels like a major,
major slap in the face when people come here
and then they look down on us and they think
that we're lazy. But we also know that that's
a part of the propaganda. Like you said, the
divide and conquer. It is an extension of the
Willie Lynch theory, which if you don't know
about that, that is a whole doctrine of thinking
that was adopted during slave trading time about
how to keep people of color, Black people, African
people, enslaved people, separated based on these
very superficial categories and demographic characteristics
or job titles or places of work in order for
them, one, to feel better than the other, to
feel separate than the other, and to keep people
from uniting, just like you said, because even
then, especially in the South, White people knew
that if Black people and even some Native peoples
were to truly embrace their unified experience
and their unified culture and maximize that,
their strength, that they would overturn and
throw out these European colonialist slaveholders,
terrorists that had brought African people here
and taken so much. from Native peoples, from
Mexican peoples, and so on. And so this continues
to this day. And like you said, it's to our detriment,
and we're feeling it right now. So let's talk
a little bit about some of the political rhetoric
that has been circulating, especially during
election time, and from this 45th, who's soon
to be 47th president. that he stood up 10 toes
down and said that, you know, Latinos, immigrants,
Mexicans, South Americans, Central Americans
were coming here and taking all the good Black
jobs, right? And pitting us together. How did
that resonate? What did that feel like amongst
Latinos and specifically Latino voters, like
amongst the people that you work with and engage
with? Because we have the data. And it seems
that some of them agree with him, at least if
not on that point, they at least agree with him
enough to vote for him. How did that resonate?
This whole, you know, Latinos are coming here
and taking taking all the good black jobs. You
know, when I heard the good black jobs, I was
like, I'm still kind of like, can somebody describe
what are the good black jobs? Because for me,
last time I checked. Everyone who has the good
jobs is the white folks. So I don't know. But
I will answer based on what I understand and
my understanding of what just happened. You have
those Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, right?
Mexico Americans, they voted for Trump. I kind
of got happy and sad about this. Let me tell
you why. I was happy. to see then now a lot of
the people who have or not see us at all now
they know that the latino vote matters because
the latino vote took these men to leadership
right to the to the white house now maybe next
election whoever is campaigning need to do a
little bit better job educating those latinos
who are on the left side, right? It's like COVID.
When COVID happened, I was very sad that a lot
of people were dying, but extremely happy that
everyone saw the inequities and the unfairness
and how the vaccine was delivered to BIPOC communities.
I'm still mad to now, right? Because that's my
work. My work is... providing access to care
for those, right? But for those Latinos who voted
for him, you know, a lot of times people are
coming to me and saying, hey, what's up with
your people? And I said, first of all, it was
the Cubans. And then it was the Puerto Ricans,
which is your people. You know, they tell me
it's my people. Puerto Ricans are Americans.
They're not Latinos. So I'm like, know the map,
know your history. Everything, my friend, before
you say my people, Mexicans were on the last
poll of voting for him. Also, let me tell you
what happened with the Latino community. They
felt also that Kamala, our vice president, or
president, I want to call her president because
she's a woman, so my president, you know. It
targeted very much African -Americans and other
communities. The Latino community felt left out.
And then they started saying, let's compare them.
At least Trump is going to get the economy up
and running because the Latinos, the voters for
him, are entrepreneurs, right? They want the
economy to get better. Kamala is going to start
doing a lot of things for the Black community.
And that's a no -no because then the Latinos
were going to be behind. I know it's an ignorant
way of thinking, but that's what I heard out
there in the streets. They were like, we will
go 100 % more for Trump than Kamala. Kamala is
going to look out for her people and not us.
And then I wonder, is that truly what Kamala
said? Or is that what people thought because
of what she looks like? that she's a woman, that
she presents as a Black woman. She embraces Black
culture and she's also Indian. She is not Latino,
Latina. She's not any of that. And is that what
she said or is that what people just assume?
So, I mean, today we're really talking a lot
about these assumptions that drive people's behaviors
and attitudes. I mean, because... Did you hear
that from her or do you feel like, got you? No,
no, no, my friend, no. Every time she spoke with
elegance, fierce, I never saw that in my community.
It's feeling and seeing. And I honestly think
it's racism and discrimination against her because
people see the black first and then a woman.
So they were seeing. For me, in my own way of
explaining this, that everybody was seeing what
they see as a downfall instead of, wow, she's
a woman. She's black. She's a woman of color.
She's going to do a lot for BIPOC communities.
I never heard her saying anything like that.
But the Latino vote spoke up and wanted Trump,
you know, better than Kamala, right? So I honestly
think it's a huge problem here. It's a huge problem
with my community. And I don't know if it's because
I cannot say that it's ignorance because the
voters who went for Trump, who happened to be
Latino, are highly educated. So it's not like
they don't understand. But I honestly feel and
they're never going to say this. The things I'm
saying here, they're never going to admit that
they're racist, that she was just a woman and
discrimination and racism that impact this decision.
But Latino Latino vote was very low for Trump.
It was not as high as Latino man. So I honestly
think it was that Latino machismo, the machismo
of not seeing a woman who happened to be a president,
you know, who can be a president. I'm sorry.
So I honestly think that not only her being a
woman, but also being black in the machismo had
a lot to do with it. Yeah. And, you know, I would
probably venture to say the racism probably won
out over the sexism in this sense, because one
of the things in the black community that we
talked about, you know, at least amongst my friends,
family, colleagues, and so on, is that Mexico
has a woman president right now. Is that right?
Yes. Yes. I was, I'm so excited. The third world
country, we have a Mexican woman. I'm like, what's
up? I'm totally, I'm super excited about my country
finally. I honestly think that race has race
is number one, because like you say, you know,
we have a woman president. And if the machismo
would play a role, she would never be a president
of Mexico. Right, right, right. So we've got
to confront that. We've got to confront that
because we've got so much at stake. You know,
we've got so much that we're fighting for and
that we need to. find unity around. We need to
find some healing around. We need to raise some
awareness and, you know, considering this incoming
administration that wants to do more to burn
books and get rid of certain, you know, history
in the public school system and things like that.
So how can Black and Latino communities work
together for better health and opportunities?
You know, doing what we're doing today. You're
a black woman, beautiful black woman. I'm a beautiful
Latina woman. And we're putting our ideas together
and we're being straight up, straight up with
each other. And we're being completely honest
without being offensive towards each other. But
trying to understand what your community think
about us. What do we think about you? And having
dialogues. We need to start getting into those.
forums into those conferences and speak about
how we feel about each other and how can we do
better, right? But, you know, in those conferences,
no way people are going to say the truth about
each other. And that's what we need to do more.
The Black and the Latino community, anyways,
they don't like us. So let's give them a reason
not to even like us even more. You know, like,
let's get out there. Let's speak up. Let's speak
out. And I feel that a lot of Black, a lot of
the people from the Black community, African
-Americans too, like the Latino, very afraid
to speak up in conferences. You know, most of
those conferences, look who are leading those
conferences, the white folks, because if you
say one wrong thing, I'll be them. You know,
if you're Black and brown, you say one wrong
thing and oh my God, nobody's going to forgive
you. But if you're white and you can be acting
crazy, yeah, everybody forgives you. And especially
because your name is Ann Smith or whatever it
is your name, right? So for me, it's... having
podcasts like this, educating the community,
but having real podcasts, not the political correct.
I couldn't be political correct today and say
to you, and say to you, no, it's no problem between
Black and Latinos. No, it is. And it has been.
And it has been for generations and generations.
It's just that nobody wants to talk about it,
right? Having more of these podcasts, going to
conferences and co -presenting together. For
example, if you know about vaccine. conference
right um then you know partnering with somebody
that is black and saying okay let's co -present
you present on your community challenges in your
community i present on challenges in my community
start working together applying for grants together
instead of separate Because that's what I see.
And I don't know if you see this in the Latino
community, right? Because I see in the Black
community, what I see is that it's even, like
you say, even discrimination against the Blacks,
that they're dark skinned and light skinned and
not working with each other, you know? So that
must stop. And, you know, for me, I feel that
it's a lot of ignorance when you're light skinned
and you're Black. I'm like, you're still Black.
regardless what you say people are gonna see
you black so if you're vanilla if you're black
if you're light skin i don't care it's like with
me you know when i work with other latinos i
always say that there's those latinos and the
better latinos the latinos who feel better at
the end of the day you still a latino that's
not gonna go away even if you feel better than
others right but we have those we have those
in our community and when i say that the latino
community almost want to kill me right when i
say well you have the mexicans you have the central
americans then you have the chicanos and then
you have the mexico americans and then you have
the better latinos did they say that they say
that they're in this country and they're doing
so well that oh my god they're rich and this
and that well if you're doing so well what in
the hell are you doing in a country that is not
even yours You know what I mean? Like like when
Latinos come to me and say, oh, no, we're doing
really well. And we left our country because
we wanted to experience something different.
You wanted to experience being discriminated,
being treated wrong, having money in your country.
Get out of here. No, I don't think so. I don't
think that you have money and I don't think you're
better than none of us. So, yeah, I get some
of those Latinos that tell me that they're doing
well, that they were doing well in their country.
And I don't believe that. I don't believe that
if you're doing well in your country, what are
you doing here? That's my question. And I think
a lot of people feel that way. They do ask that
question. You know, I will correct where I think
that we disagree on something. In the Black community,
where we have problems, now we do still have
colorism, don't get me wrong. I don't think right
now that's as big of an issue as the classism
and the political and cultural mentality. So
we have a saying, not all your skin folk are
your kin folk. That means that, and it came out
in the vote, right? In that you still, you had
a majority of Black men and Black women that
voted for Kamala Harris, right? But you still
had a 19%, a 10 or 15 % that did not, that voted
straight up for Trump. You have candidates like
here in my state of North Carolina, like Mark
Robinson, who says that he would want to buy
and own slaves. You know, you have people that
have this different mentality. We also have along
those classism lines, like what you just talked
about, those Black people who have made it and
feel like because they made it, that there's
no racism. I'll give you an example. I used to,
I love hip hop music. I'm of the hip hop generation,
right? Lil Wayne has been a hip -hop icon, right,
since he hit the scene. He has grown his career,
his popularity, all that other good stuff, and
obviously his bank account has followed and reflected.
And because of that, he wears a Trump hat. He
also promotes gang activity. He says that he
is proof that if he as a Black man can rise to
this level of fame and fortune, then that is
evidence that there is no need for a Black Lives
Matter campaign. There is no need to stand up
against police brutality. And I'm like, how can
you believe both things? How can you promote
gang activity, particular gangs that you want
to be affiliated with, who rain down terror in
Black communities, and at the same time, you
don't want to stand up against police brutality?
Because you're rich all of a sudden, but you
didn't start out that way. Like you said, Julissa,
these people, if it was that good, and we know
because his music when he started out was talking
about the hood and how difficult it was, how
violent it was, all the different things he had
to do to survive. That's what made him popular.
So you got famous because you talked about the
struggle and the pain and the violence and downright.
degradation of being a Black poor man in the
South, in New Orleans. That's how you got famous.
That's how you got all your money. And now all
of a sudden, you don't feel like racism is an
issue that Black people as a whole should be
concerned about. But you're still Black. And
you got them tattoos all over your face. You
really think that when you go in these places
that people see your money before they see the
fact that you're black, that you still don't
experience racism and discrimination, even in
these very expensive and exclusive locations.
Definitely. No, no, no. Definitely. He's black
and he will always be black and he will always
be hood and he will always be ghetto for the
white folks. Exactly. You know, you are now you're
still in service of their their propaganda, their
stereotype. Right. And now you have sold out
your vote and your political voice to someone
who doesn't care about you other than what you
can do for them. And that's such a shame because,
you know, somebody at his level should be helping
us and being the voice of the voiceless. You
have the money. You have the resources, man.
Let's help communities. Let's help bringing uplifting
your own community up. And, you know, like. And
hold their hands. And it's just saddening to
hear that he wears a Trump hat. And on top of
that, don't use his power, his voice that the
Lord has given him. Because not everybody gets
out of the hood like he did. You know, he needs
to count his blessings. You know? He needs to
count his blessings. And I just don't understand.
And again, I feel that that's part of the ignorance,
you know? Thank you for joining us on Questions
You Didn't Ask with me, Nyesha Frey, and my guest,
Julissa Soto. Tune in next week as we continue
our series, Ready or Not, The Real Talk Black
and Latino Communities Need.