Expanding my identity as a Latina

Colourism
Mar 28, 2024
It’s common to see colourism in the US, in fact it’s systematically engraved in a lot of US
citizen’s heads without even knowing it. It's been so deeply carved into us that we unconsciously
do stuff that is considered colourist or racist, like
tightening your grip on your purse if a person of
colour walks by, or feeling slightly uncomfortable
when you are sitting closely next to a POC. These
are tiny little interactions that may fly over your
head but they are deep rooted racism/colourism that
was planted. This problem isn't exclusive to the US
but also to nearly every continent and country on
the planet. When we think about someone who is
beautiful, what type of beauty standards do they
have? A straight nose with no hook? Bright
coloured eyes that are big? Long straight hair that is a light colour? By most standards we go by
eurocentric beauty because that’s what we’ve been taught. Even in countries where the residents
are of a darker complexion and have totally different features, they still go by those standards.
The prime example that I’m bringing up is in Mexico, despite being known for the people
having a beautiful caramel and brown complexion. Mexico is highly colourist and strictly wants
eurocentric beauty standards. From the news casters, to
actors, to day to day citizens. People will prefer those
who were lighter and less “morenita” (spanish version
of brownie) and with european features denying our past
indigenous roots. All you could see on television in
Mexico was light-skin actors, even when it came to the
men, it was the preference during casting. Luckily
nowadays the colorism issue is getting better and more
indigenous-mexican actors get more lead roles and show
inspiration to younger generations.

Immigration
Mar 16, 2024
When inquired about the “immigration problem” in America, it is split between 3 opinions. The
first being that they’re indifferent, that they don’t care if there are immigrants coming in or if
they're being abused by having them do incredibly hard labor work for cheap to keep the
 economy afloat. The second being that they are heavily against it, even dehumanizing
immigrants by calling them, “aliens who are stealing our jobs”. Or by just being generally racist
and wanting them out of the country. The final of course
being the more accepting and more caring about
immigrant care in the United states. Advocating for their
rights and wanting to make a more inclusive environment
for them.

The reason why the topic of immigration takes

place is because
there are certain
groups of people
that think the
immigrants are
stealing jobs and are
a pest to america, when in fact, they are the ones that keep
america flourishing. Many immigrants are unable to get
proper citizenship and resort to taking labour jobs that are physically tolling. They are the ones
who built and are continuing to build the America we know today. Immigrants are grandly
mistreated and need to be better acknowledged as the great innovators they are. Immigrants are
not pests that steal jobs, nor criminals that bring drugs. They are solely people who want to make
a better life for themselves. Seeing that usually the economies in their home countries aren’t
good enough to support themselves of their families.

Latino Healthcare
Mar 3, 2024
 It’s a common stereotype that latinos avoid the doctors as if they’re the ones that give
illnesses instead of curing them. But in a sense that’s how it feels like for them, that they are
perfectly fine until the doctor tells them they have
an ailment. My cousin from Mexico had the idea
planted into her head that going to the doctors was
a bad thing , because they could find something
wrong with you and that means it would cost
money for treatment. So what they did instead was
just ignore the problems because either they don’t
want to know what’s wrong with them or that they
don’t have the funds to figure out/ treat their
illnesses. But this system is slowly killing latino
folk, they can develop curable diseases but remain
unbeknownst to it until it is too late.
A common illness that goes undiagnosed in the Mexican community is fatty liver, and
this can evolve into a chronic liver disease becoming fatal and possibly shortening someone’s
life span. When I asked about my family’s lineage of disease I saw a very blatant problem with
livers, my grandfather on my dad’s side being a prime
example. When my father was 10 years old his father
succumbed to Cirrhosis of the liver and died at a young
age of 40. Nowadays mexican immigrants do have the
access to better healthcare but still avoid the doctors
because of a list of reasons. There is a language barrier,
they are undocumented, they cannot afford going to the
doctor’s. But this list is an inspiration to latino’s who
want to go into healthcare, they work to make sure that
the Latino community is included as well. In current
times there are about 6% of doctors who are hispanic/latino, and I aspire to become one of the
few that make up that percentage.

Underage Drinking
February 19, 2024
Unlike the US the legal age of drinking in Mexico is 18, 2-4 years before a human brain
can fully develop. It’s kind of a tradition for your parents to offer you your first drink, or allow
you to have a little sip “ just so you know what it tastes like”. Depending on your family or town,
Mexicans will have a big drinking/party culture. Is it your son’s first birthday? Better buy beers
for it. Planning a big and expensive quinceanera for your daughter? Better have a big budget for
booze! Just inviting some friends over for a barbecue? Make sure there's some beers for the
compadres! With the big drinking culture it isn’t uncommon to see the teenagers become a part
of it, sometimes even the parents being the ones that will give them their first drinks of the night.
I remember when I was at a
quinceanera and I saw my 16 year old cousin
downing loads and loads of beers, at the end of the
party he was blackout drunk and spent most of the
morning throwing up most of yesterday's drinks.
When I ask my family members when they first
began drinking a common age I will see is 15 or
16, when they deem it to be an “acceptable” age to
start. Another example could be my cousin Ferley,
she told me a story about her crazy 18th birthday
party. Her parents celebrated by buying a bunch of
booze and drinking all night. The side effects of underage drinking are detrimental to
developmental progress, and those who start at a
young age could forever be stunted mentally or
engage in risky activities because of the effects of
alcohol. Since teen brains are underdeveloped this
affects their decision making skills, to multiply this
factor by giving them alcohol is just a recipe for
disaster.

Overcoming Racism
February 9, 2024
 In US history we’ve seen countless examples of racism or xenophobia, which in turn
created movements to protest against the
unfair treatment. One specific
movement I would like to mention is the
Chicano Movement or El Movimiento,
which started in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
The movement’s main focus was to end
negative stereotypes and end
discrimination for Mexican-Americans,
and is still continuing to this day.
Despite the movement there are still
many microaggressions or blatant racist
remarks being made about Mexican/Latino people. When I asked my mom if she ever had any
racist encounters she told me in the 90’s when she immigrated to the US. There was one specific
remark that stuck, even 30 years later, she still remembered what was said to her.
“This neighbourhood is going down because of all you beaners moving in,”

Today there’s still racism to the point that I experienced just a mere percentage of
microaggression when I was checking out a customer at my job. The area I live in is a rural and
conservative area, with a lot of hicks and hillbillies but to contrast there are also a lot of Latinos.
I live in Layton Utah, the Target where I work at is the nearest one for a lot of smaller towns.
Often, people from those towns will commute to
shop at Target and they emulate a certain vibe
when it comes to people of colour. When this
happens all you can do is be polite and make sure
the interaction is quick and simple. An old man
with his wife came into my lane, the wife told me
she was going to pay with her card but it declined
the times she tried to insert it, their order was
somewhere around 80 dollars so her husband
shoved a 100 dollar bill in my face. He looked me
straight in the eyes with a smirk beginning to
creep and he said, “This can get you a visa or
green card sweetie.” I stared at him for a split second before I awkwardly laughed, and gave
them their receipt. It wasn’t until after I was able to take my break and process that it WAS A
RACIST COMMENT. Why would he assume that I don’t have US citizenship? Was it because
I’m working as a checklaner at Target, or was it because I have “Yo hablo espanol” on my name
tag? But I looked at myself in the mirror, and I saw it. It’s because I’m mexican.
 Continuing the Legacy
Jan 19, 2024
Ever since I was born, my parents and grandparents would
talk to me in Spanish. It wasn’t until I was in preschool
where I learned how to speak english. And after preschool, I
think a flip switched and I soon forgot all the Spanish I
knew, having to relearn how to speak and understand it. Just
by going off what I look like, oftentimes when I’m working
spanish-speaking customers will assume that I speak
spanish. On special occasions I could speak to them with no
problem; though, more regularly I find it a struggle to find
the right words or even understand what they are saying. In
my current state I understand most spanish and can speak in simple sentences, though I often
fumble my grammar and correct conjugation.

I always think about what would I do if I had children, would they have the same features as me,
would I be able to efficiently teach them
spanish? What I feel guilty about at times
would be that my ethnic legacy would end
with me, that somehow, someway I
wouldn’t be able to carry on traditions. That
I have been diluted by my family's
traditions, and that my ancestors would be
disappointed in me. In retrospect, the
amount of years that will pass, means that I
can accumulate my knowledge and
therefore be able to teach to future
generations to come. So in the end it’s just
an anxiety that pushes me to learn more about my extensive culture, from cooking food, learning
about ancient history, or just being curious enough to ask my grandpa about how his life was
before he came to the US. Knowing that there are some individuals that have never had the
opportunity to connect to their roots gives me even more of a motivation to be grateful that I
have my family here to show me the intricate day-to-day of being Mexican-American.
First Blog Post
Jan 9, 2024
One thing about me that I don’t think I can ever change; is my
skin tone, it’s the first thing that you can notice about a
person, approximately or distantly. It’s the reason why people
can probably assume that I’m Mexican, hence knowing that I
can also speak spanish. Solely based on the melanin on my
skin. The skintone of someone can represent many things,
beauty, history, or hardships. Throughout the history of
humans, someone’s skin tone would make or break the way
they were treated. Those who were black would be heavily
discriminated against, even enslaved. Just because the amount
of pigment in their skin was darker than what was deemed
“acceptable”. Even in present times, those who aren’t “fitting
the standard” can face discrimination wherever they are.
Never getting a moment of ease to the tension.

To me, the colour of my brown skin is a testament, a message that

reminds me everyday of my roots. And even though my roots are filled
with spaniard blood that invaded indigenous mexico, I was still able to
be born denying the features of the spaniard blood. On my fraternal
side, my great-great-great-great aunt was a french woman, with
eurocentric beauty features and blonde hair and blue eyes. While those
genes may have been washed out, I can notice that some of my cousins
will be a lighter complexion with a mix of lighter iris colours. Even my
father who was born and raised in Mexico; was not brown, maybe tan
in the summers. But he was not of a brown complexion. On my
mother’s side my grandmother highly resembles an indigenous woman,
her nose, her skin, even how her bone structure constructs her facial
features. Her appearance is the epitome of the indigenous Mexican standards, and I will always
be proud of that.