Thoughts on being Latino

March 26, 1:13 AMLA Latino Issues ExaminerLuis Antonio Pichardo

Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the LA Latino Issues Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the year 2000 the Latino population in Los Angeles County was approximately 4.2 million people; 4.2 million Latinos. That’s a total of 46.5 percent of the total population in Los Angeles County.

Today’s population in Los Angeles County is 10,347,437 people, with the Latino population still being close to the 50 percent mark.

In the year 2000, the total number of Latinos of Mexican decent was 3.0 million of the total 4.2 million Latinos that lived within Los Angeles County.

Mexicans made up 63.5 percent of all Latinos in Los Angeles County whereas in my hometown of San Diego, 83.4 percent of all Latinos were of Mexican decent.

Now imagine that: Latinos are nearly half of the total population in Los Angeles County.

Maybe the name of the county makes more sense now. Maybe the realization that this was originally Mexican territory is clear now. Or maybe it’s not.

I say that to say this: with there being such a big representation of Latino, and specifically Mexican, culture in Southern California, why do we still feel discriminated against?

For example, while preparing to have dinner with my Salvadoran girlfriend, an older white woman walked by our table at an Encino restaurant today and stared down my girlfriend and I.

The woman never noticed me looking back at her as she made the not so discrete “caca face” at us, and, needless to say, I felt discriminated against.

Or there’s also the time when my girlfriend and her sister walked into a GAP store in Glendale only to be followed by a GAP employee who felt compelled to ensure no merchandise would be stolen by the two well-educated Latinas.

The GAP employee was Armenian, distinguished only by the fact that she spoke Armenian with another employee at the cash register.

And so the question is, do pretty young Latinas not belong in “upper class” clothing stores? Am I relegated to only ordering burritos and tacos at cheap Mexican restaurants? Are we not allowed to be a healthy people?

And so the question really is, are Latinos not the same as everybody else?

I remember my first days of kindergarten vaguely. There wasn’t much going on other than the structured naptime, an occasional word lesson, and the repetitious spelling of my name. I do remember, however, when during the first week I opened my lunch box only to reveal to the disgust of my white classmates a care package of warm bean and cheese burritos wrapped in aluminum foil.

My Ghostbusters lunchbox wasn’t good enough to hide the fact that the white children were disgusted by my “ethnic” food. My mom didn’t know any better, and I personally didn’t realize that I was so different from them. But their facial expressions made it clear. I wasn’t one of them.

Now I’m sure those white children grew up to like Albertacos even more than I did, because after all, San Diego is probably one of the capitals for quality Mexican fast food joints with drive thru; and the fact that Latino owned business generated revenues totaling up to $222 billion in 2002 alone, probably says I’m right.

But the fact still remains; I am not one of them.

I had a realization the other day that I intimidate people by the way I look. The real realization was that I like it. I like being a big, scary Mexican.

I have dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. I am brown. I am big. And I wear glasses. Not sunglasses, but glasses to help me see. They make me look intelligent. I think that’s what’s scary.

I have a bachelor’s degree in Literature and Writing with a minor in Ethnic Studies. I have won several awards for my poetry. I am currently pursuing a Master in the Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.

None of my Spanish language poetry has been published, much less recognized by any literary circles. If anything, at my school it’s called “problematic.” The fact that I speak multiple languages is somehow unacceptable.

I look as though I speak another language, and of course I do, but you wouldn’t be able to tell if you were to hear my voice over the phone. And yet, people talk to me slower when they hear or see my name.

I find it fascinating when people wonder why Latinos get mad. People wonder why Latinos have a 21 percent dropout rate (over twice the national dropout rate according to the Pew Hispanic Center). And people wonder why Latinos have so many problems with people of other races and ethnicities.

The fact of the matter is that being Latino in the United States means being part of the largest ethnic minority group in the country. Being Latino means that you are part of the most economically powerful group in the middle class. And yet, being Latino also means that you are often overlooked by the school system, political system, foster system, and really, any system.

Being Latino is both a blessing and a curse. But more than anything, it is something to be proud of. The late Mexican philosopher, José Vasconcelos, was correct in believing that Latinos are a true amalgamation of all the peoples of the world, and I for one am proud of that, because that allows me to say that I am a part of everyone else in this world. That allows me to say that I am a part of la raza cosmica.