Asserting difference: Racialized expressions of Colombianidades in Philadelphia

Abstract

Intra-Latina/o/x dynamics are fundamental to the negotiation of Latina/o/x identity, especially as Latina/o/xs communities in US cities become increasingly diverse. How Latina/o/xs try to differentiate themselves from one another is a salient, but often overlooked, part of their lived experiences. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Philadelphia, this article explores articulations of Colombianidades through the framework of assertions of differentiation, which centers how Colombiana/o/xs express that their experiences, perspectives, and characteristics are distinct and inherently different from those of other Latina/o/xs. I explore assertions of differentiation to reveal how conceptions of race are produced and enacted across transnational, national and local scales as they are anchored within material conditions and scarce resources. I argue that the production and negotiation of difference rework Latin American geopolitics, US-Colombia relations, local racial dynamics of Philadelphia, and US and Latin American racial ideologies, as Colombiana/o/xs attempt to avoid being positioned at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.