Daiz's Intentions of The Instructional

“How to Date a Browngirl…” really stuck to me since the narrative form is unique and in an instructional style. It clearly, however, is also telling the story while instructing because the narrator names what to do in specific circumstances that clearly actually happened at some point and are not  just circumstantial instructions like when the narrator instructs, “Call her house and when her father picks up ask if she’s there. He’ll ask, Who is this? Hang up. He sounds like a principal or a police chief, the sort of dude with a big neck, who never has to watch his back” (145). The other part of this story that sticks it is how intentionally adheres to stereotypes. The narrator stereotypes by saying how either a white, black, or mixed girl will react in a circumstance and he also refers to how he expects others to stereotype when he states, “She’ll say, I like Spanish guys, and even though you’ve never been to Spain, say, I like you” (148). I thought this quote was interesting because it is also calling attention to a common problem that Dominicans face of people assuming they are Spanish just because they speak the language.

Do you think Diaz’s intention is to condemn stereotypes or simply imply they are a just a natural part of life? Why?

Why do you think the story is titled “How to Date a Browngirl…”? I ask this because it seems to be making a statement since it is instructing how to date a black, mixed, or white girl.