The article “Too Bad You’re Latin” by John Leguizamo reflects on the discrimination Latinos face within daily activities. Leguizamo recalls an experience he faced while working with producers, where he pitched an idea for a Latino-centric movie, to which the producer replied, “Latin? People don’t want to see Latin people.” This is a blatant example of discrimination against Latinos, but a less chaotic example compared to physical assault and racial-based crimes.
Leguizamo quotes, “We are victims of neglect, discrimination and ignorance. We have grown up amid an entrenched disrespect for Latin culture, and we have often internalized that disrespect.” which is a heavy idea to think about. Latinos don’t fit into the White category, as well as any other category as Latino is seen as a mix of cultures, not a race. Often times we are seen as the outsiders, neglected and disowned by our own kind as well.
Latinos amongst themselves discriminate each other based on the idea that cultural acceptance leads to the loss of traditions. Living in a border town where visiting family across the wall is a common act, there is bound to be discrimination amongst one another. It can range from an American-born Mexican being called gringo/gringa or not Mexican enough, to families enforcing strict racist boundaries such as not befriending others of a different race.
Border towns also usually involve the use of two main languages, of which if a latino doesn’t know their native tongue, they are seen as not latino enough to fit in with their own families, but also not American enough to fit in with the diversity of the United States. Even families discriminate their own blood, mocking them for being too white, being too different, not being in touch with their roots, etc., which makes these Latinos outcasted by both sides, leaving them left alone.
With the discrimination of Latinos causing the upcoming generations to be less accepted by anyone, it’s almost predictable that a new culture will grow where these new generation Latinos will either be accepting or refute any new cultural growth. Similar to the eventually change after segregation became illegal, eventually the view on Latinos will also grow into two major views; pro and anti Latino culture, versus the overall neglect we see nowadays.
I personally believe that the idea of “too bad you’re latino” is based on the stereotypes behind Latinos, which can be: they’re too lazy, they’re ghetto, they’re rude, they’re noisy, they’re druggies. The constant reminder of these stereotypes from Hollywood movies also brings the negative light to the Latino view, since most people prefer to base their ideas on the media instead of personal experience nowadays. Besides, who wants to meet someone of a specific trait when all they’ve been exposed to is negative, unattractive, and just purely unpleasant?
All in all, the negative light on Latinos has no real substance other than racist undertones that have developed over history. Nowadays there’s exaggerations and stereotypical depictions of Latinos that seem to just take over the actual acts and accomplishments of true figures in history, which leads to the growth of this mindset overtime. The more we are exposed to x, y, z, the more people will start to believe in x, y, z.
Source:
John Leguizamo, "Too bad you're Latin"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/opinion/too-bad-youre-latin.html
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