Although I’m fully Hispanic, most people assume I’m not because I’m extremely fair skinned. I feel both challenged and privileged as a communicator across cultures and languages as a result. I feel privileged due to my acknowledgment of my innate white privilege. I understand the license that my skin color and native American english proficiency gives me in certain spheres, due to existing biases and stereotypes that are unfortunately ever-present in society. I feel challenged in the sense that due to this privilege I know that I can’t participate in certain discussions or areas of representation that my cousins for example can, who are considerably darker than myself and consider themselves people of color. I sometimes feel like an alien in my own culture because even by other Puerto Ricans, I’m usually always assumed to just be white. However, I ultimately do feel a sense of authority and happiness in owning the privilege I have to boost the voices of the people of my culture who may not be granted the same implicit freedoms I have in society.

The intercultural trainer methodology from Chapter 9 of our text,  explains how there is no such thing as a “right” or “superior” way of communicating and connecting with others.  It’s obviously extremely important to be self-aware and cognizant of the norms and values of other cultures in fostering amicable relations. Further, it’s important to be mindful of the nuances that our own individual cultural identities have in relations to others and vice-versa.