Letters to the Editor: A road map for Latinos to embrace their multiracial ancestry

To the editor: Jean Guerrero’s acceptance of her Black roots and multiracial ancestry on her mother’s Puerto Rican side sends a message to all Latino Americans who are wrestling with their identity.

She has provided them with a road map to acknowledge their ancestors, understand the implications of whiteness, and enable them to accept the lost identity of who they are.

White America has woven into the fabric of its social consciousness that whiteness is rightness. It defines someone as a person of entitlement and privilege, and it implies that you are more intelligent than people of color.

Unfortunately, that has created an identity crisis among not only Puerto Ricans, but also Latinos, Blacks and others who subconsciously reject their own identity and secretly wish they were white. This identity crisis in America perpetuates racism, bigotry, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence in those who feel neglected and unvalued.

Guerrero’s column is eye opening not only for Puerto Ricans and Latinos, but all Americans of color.

Donald Peppars, Pomona