Toni Morrison once said that, "The first word immigrants learn when they come to America is nigger". I take that to mean any new American coming from another country learns quickly that there is somebody else lower on the totem pole than they are, by America's own standards.

I have worked and lived in ethnically diverse communities (Brooklyn, East Harlem, Lower East Side (NYC), Southside Chicago) for several years now and I have experienced Latino prejudice and discrimination against African Americans. I have also witnessed Black and Latino people living and working together. Black people have had their feet in American soil since we arrived on the slave ships and even before that. Regardless, some Latino people believe they are better than these people.

I think many people bring their prejudices with them. There are some awfully dark people in Spanish speaking countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Belize, Puerto Rico, Cuba. African
Latinos are often discriminated against and oppressed in these countries. Some "white" Latinos and "Indian" people bring their experiences from a racially divided, racist system with them and project their beliefs onto American Black people.

"Know thyself"

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you". So we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
-- Hebrews 13:5,6

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
--Morpheus in "The Matrix"

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"- Dumbledore to Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets"