BLACK

I have always first thought of myself as Dominican as most people had come to identify me for 25+ years and I would have accepted Hispanic, Latino or Spanish (wrongly so). Spanish being from Spain. Just because we speak Spanish doesn't make us Spanish. Anyhow after moving to California it became much more apparent that being Dominican wasn't obvious to most Bay area folks. It's not their fault either. Most have never seen more than two or three Caribbean Latinos in the same place at the same time, so I am not surprised and have come to enjoy the daily look I get when I confidently communicate in Spanish.
In my 10 years here I have almost always been considered African American unless I come across an X-resident or someone who has traveled to the New York metropolitan area. I've learned to expect that, but the strangest part is when I identify myself as a Spanish speaker the automatic response is usually, "so you're Mexican?" Mainly caused by ignorance as mentioned before, but I'd almost rather them just say, "so what are you?" And that is a serious question. People here are not used to seeing Caribbean Latinos, but there are plenty of dark skinned Mexicans and other dark skin Latin Americans so it shouldn't be a surprise right? Not to mention all of the blonde hair, blue eyes Spanish speaking Mexicans, Spaniards, Southern Latin American or Spanish as a second language speaker as there are more and more every day. Wouldn't you also figure that it could function the other way around? Even the island is hard for people to place correctly. Folks usually remember Cuba and Puerto Rico, but often forget us in between. You forget the tasty meat, crispy lettuce, tomatoes, etc in the middle? Just kidding, I guess we are only as important as we make us.
Oh well, its fun though watching the expression on their faces when I start a conversation with a Spanish speaker and I know it will be the same reaction my children will get when they speak the language to others in the future regardless of what people call them they will be speaking Spanish confidently.