Most of the time, when people think of Latinos, they think of someone with brown skin, black, curly hair, wearing a Mexico soccer jersey. And everyone that doesn’t match this description usually hears, “Now way, you can’t be Latino!” or, “You don’t look Latino!"
And it leaves one thinking, “Hold on while I grab my sombrero and maracas, and yell ‘ARRIBA!’”
And it leaves one thinking, “Hold on while I grab my sombrero and maracas, and yell ‘ARRIBA!’”
First of all, not all Latinos are from Mexico. Being Latinx is an ethnicity, not a race, as many believe it to be. The Latinx community is a combination of many races, including black, white, pacific islander, and many more. Which means that there is not a checklist of qualities that all Latinos must have to identify or qualify as Latinx.
What is the deal with society praising people for their light skin? Although dark skin is common within the Latinx community in Latinx media, celebrities with light skin are more famous and are praised the most. When a baby is born blonde, blue-eyed, and with light skin, they are labeled "beautiful" and when a baby is born brunette, brown-eyed, and with dark skin, they are labeled as “Indio”, indigenous. At times, Latinos criticize the color of each other's skin, for example, calling Latinos with black skin, “changos” monkey. This is called, horizontal racism, meaning, when members of the same racial group praise members of the community for the skin dominant within their society and degrade members of the opposite skin color.
Spanish is commonly spoken among the Latinx community, not all Latinos speak Spanish. Many Indigenous people in Latin America speak their native language. The main language in the largest Latin-American country is Portuguese. Many were raised in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico before those states became part of the United States and have adopted the American culture. People that speak English with an accent tend to not teach Spanish or their native language to their children to provide more opportunities to them, yet they are criticized by members of their community.
One is not any less or more Latinx because of their skin color or of the language they speak. There is no Latinx meter that scans your features and rates how Latinx or not Latinx you are. Because Latinx is an ethnicity and not a race, it means that people identify as Latinx.
Spanish is commonly spoken among the Latinx community, not all Latinos speak Spanish. Many Indigenous people in Latin America speak their native language. The main language in the largest Latin-American country is Portuguese. Many were raised in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico before those states became part of the United States and have adopted the American culture. People that speak English with an accent tend to not teach Spanish or their native language to their children to provide more opportunities to them, yet they are criticized by members of their community.
One is not any less or more Latinx because of their skin color or of the language they speak. There is no Latinx meter that scans your features and rates how Latinx or not Latinx you are. Because Latinx is an ethnicity and not a race, it means that people identify as Latinx.