Cover Story - Soledad O’Brien (cont'd)
Who were your main influences growing up?
There weren't many outside influences. I was very close to my family. My Mom and Dad were very hands-on parents and very strict—my Mom especially. In fact, that was something I realized was much more cultural. I mean growing up, I thought I just had a really strict mom, but as I went around reporting [on Latino in America ] I realized ‘oh, Latina moms are really strict, it's a part of the culture of parenting.' So there weren't many influences. I would say that number one was my parents and number two was the town I grew up in—which was 99.6% (if I had to guess a number) White.
What challenges did you face growing up in a predominately White neighborhood?
I clearly didn't fit. People ask me, ‘What were the racial dynamics of your town?' and I'm like ‘No there really wasn't any.' There was no critical mass to have any sort of dialogue or conversation about this—I think there was one Chinese family and one Korean family in the small part of Smithtown I grew up in. I knew very clearly when I was in high school that my family didn't blend in. It was for a number of reasons. First we were pretty smart kids—and it wasn't like people were breaking down the door to date to me (you know sometimes I think being a nerd doesn't exactly help you socially!). On top of that since we just didn't blend in—we were not going to be considered attractive in our town—which was fine, because my Mother was like ‘you will never date anybody because I will kill them!' Once again, the strict parenting.
Was there ever a point that it became important to you to learn about your Latina heritage?
It wasn't until college when I moved out of my small town into a city [with] a more diverse community that I realized that what I had to offer could be considered interesting. I was different and not as in freakish but different as in interesting. I really discovered more while in college and probably even more so while reporting—you start thinking more about where you're from and your identity.
You must be posed with the question ‘Where are you from?' fairly often. How do you identify yourself?
I rarely got this question growing up—because it was pretty much a 100 percent White town—no one really cared. In college, it became ‘What are you?' Some people I know take great umbrage at this question, but I never really did. My mom would tell us ‘don't ever let them tell you you're not Cuban, don't ever let them tell you you're not Black' and I would just wonder---who are the “they”? She would make it almost sound like a conspiracy—and I would think ‘What is she talking about?' Years later, I have to admit—she was right because people will try to tell you. Partly because of my upbringing—it never really was a problem. I never felt that being Black or Latina was dependent upon whether someone else thought I was or not. My identity was my identity; and it was shaped not only by my parents but [also] my brothers and sisters before me—who heavily identified with being Black and Latino. People would ask: ‘If you say you're black then aren't you dismissing or diminishing your Dad?' and I would ask ‘How?' From an early age this never seemed like my problem to me, it just felt like this was something other people didn't get.
I guess the way a person deals with the perceptions or conclusions other people draw, would depend on their level of sensitivity…Some people internalize these things and it sends them into a tailspin—others just move on. It comes down to whether you think people have a vote or not. I never thought people had a vote. I never thought people got to weigh in and have a say on my identity.
Speaking of having a say—you recently completed a new CNN documentary Latino in America , a two part series that follows the lives of several different Latinos from various backgrounds. This was the first in depth look at the Latino community in the United States of this magnitude. As a Latina, did you feel any pressure?
I think there is pressure for any journalist to get things right--to tell the story and this was a story talking about 51 million people. What I try to do is give the people whose story we're telling a lot of airtime and you can do that with a documentary. I am not going to editorialize what happens to you. My job is to tell your struggles and successes, whatever they may be. That is where I feel pressure--to get the story right.
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