It's my understanding that black Latinos feel the same way that you do. People look at you like you're crazy when you call Sammy Davis, Jr. Latino despite that he always made sure everyone knew he was Puerto Rican. He used to regularly call himself “the only black, Puerto Rican, one-eyed, Jewish entertainer in the world.”

Edit: Apparently, Sammy was actually Afro-Cuban, but he called himself Puerto Rican because he was worried about anti-Cuban sentiment. TIL.

Or to make it more modern for the kids today- telling a lot of people that Zoe Saldana is Latina doesn't click with them because she's black. Even if you tell them her parents were from Cuba. Even though her last name is fucking Saldana.

I get that. White people carry so much guilt that we sort of knee-jerk about racial stuff.

I remember in high school I was talking about one of my co-workers, whom I described as “Mexican.” I was told by some of my well-meaning but extremely white classmates, “Don’t call him that, that’s offensive. You should say Hispanic. You don’t know where he’s from.”

I said, “Yes I do. His name is Juan, he’s from Mexico, and he’s Mexican. I know that because I talk to him. He was a police officer there, and decided to get out when he was shot three times. He came to the US and he works in a kitchen here.”

There is an episode of 30 Rock where Tina Fey’s character asks Selma Hayek’s character (the character is Puerto Rican) what she should call her. She says, “A Puerto Rican.”

Tina Fey’s character says, “I know you can say that, but what do I say?”

“A PUERTO RICAN!”

“That does not sound right…”