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The Dominican & Puerto Rican Comedian Aida Rodriguez Talks about Colorism & White Supremacy

Photo credit: Instagram / @funnyaida

“It’s white supremacy. The worst thing that ever happened to us is that they gave us flags,” the American-Puerto Rican-Dominican comedian, actress, writer, and activist Aida Rodriguez responded when asked about the tension between Puerto Ricans and the Dominican Republic. She also talked about colorism; and how white supremacy’s ingrained roots are what divides people of color in a recent conversation.

About the tensions between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans

In a recent interview with UPROXX, Rodriguez opened up about colorism in the Latine world. “They [the flags] divided us in a way that we like to flex on each other. Right? Colombia and Venezuela, beef; Puerto Rican and Dominican, beef; Colombia and Panama, beef. It’s white supremacy at work.”

She continued: “You’re walking around with a colonizer’s flags and speaking a colonizer’s language, shaming other people because they don’t speak Spanish. But that’s not my native tongue. My native tongue is Arawak or Taíno – they took our language from us.”

@louisv3660

Up next on #peoplesparty with @talibkweli and @realjasminleigh our guest @funnyaida speaks on the dynamic between Puerto Ricans & Dominicans. Full interview is available now via @hearluminary or watch 9am EST at youtube.com/uproxxvideo

♬ original sound – louisv3660

She says we’re the same people, yet we’re taught to act against each other. Since she’s both Dominican and Puerto Rican, she mentions how she’s experienced colorism and racism within both of her cultures. 

“When it comes to being Puerto Rican and Dominican and being told that I didn’t have to tell people that I was Dominican because I had good hair, or [when they would say] ‘you’re not like that, you’re more like us than you are them’ – that messes with your self-esteem. Because that’s what I am and there’s nothing I can do about it. You’re telling me there’s something wrong with part of me because I present darker over there. That’s what they’ve done with Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.” 

She wraps up this answer by reminding us that America pushes individualism and that she talks about the village “all the time” because it’s anti-American and what they took away from her people.

White supremacy is ingrained in people

Another point that Rodriguez made was that there’s no need for white people to white supremacy anymore. She says that we’re doing it to ourselves. The racism, the judgments, the erasure – people of color who are against their own people is what separates us the most. 

Rodriguez said: “It’s very painful for me to see how now we take each other down and the enemy just has an opportunity to laugh at us and say ‘look at them, we don’t have to do anything, they’re canceling each other out!’” 

What a way to use your platform to speak on matters that affect all of us. What do we need moving forward? Unionship and compassion para toda nuestra gente.

Watch the full interview here.

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