Amara La Negra talks racism with the Estefans: ‘I don’t want to sugarcoat it’
Red Table Talk: The Estefans go there. Again.
Soon after Gloria Estefan revealed she was sexually abused by a family member at age 9, the Facebook Watch show is again touching on intense taboo topics.
“Things get heated as we discuss colorism within the Latino community on an allnew episode of #RTTE,” teases a sneak peek on social media.
Host Estefan says in a voiceover: “Afro Latinos speak out about the discrimination they face within their own community.”
The guests are Coral Springs native Karamo Brown and “Love and Hip Hop: Miami” star Amara La Negra.
Brown, who is of Jamaican and Cuban descent, tells the roundtable about his disturbing experiences growing up.
“For me, playing outside as a kid was nerve wracking because my grandmother would say, ‘Don’t go outside and don’t darken up my family,” the emotional “Queer Eye” star recounted to shocked looks. “So I would not go outside until after 5 p.m.”
La Negra, who has Dominican roots but was born in Miami, came out firing. The gorgeous singer meets businesswoman says that she does not look like your typical Latin woman.
“The prototype of the Latin woman is a woman like you and you,” she points at the hosts, including Emily and Lili Estefan. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t look like me.”
The reality star went on to say that hypocrisy abounds in today’s society.
“Don’t pretend to like us and really not like us!” she said.
La Negra confided that she has been rejected for jobs because she doesn’t have the right “look.”
“I’ve gone to auditions for novelas for these Latin channels and they’ve told me, ‘We love your energy, your personality, but were looking for someone who looks more Latina.”
The former “Sabado Gigante” star hopes the latest RTT episode broadens the discussion.
“That’s why to me I’m so passionate about it and I don’t want to sugarcoat it. Being Black: it’s not being Black in America, it’s not being Black in Cuba, it’s not being Black in The Dominican Republic. It’s being Black in the world. Just see us as people.”
Emily agreed wholeheartedly while admitting she couldn’t completely relate: “In Latino families you can have someone with very dark skin, you can have someone with very light skin and they can be brother and sister,” said the musician.
“That dynamic within the family can cause your family to treat you different, people looking from the outside to treat you different. Which is why we need to use this platform to amplify this issue because I don’t know what that feels like.”