funny like a funeral

Self identification among hispanics

lionza:

attn: ratbrat

this is rly interesting….idk even though i’m theoretically *~*~first generation, both my sister and i have kind of grown up in a second generation sort of environment, since my grandparents/outside environment forced that side of my family to assimilate. by 6 or 7, my mom forgot basically all of the spanish she knew, despite the fact that she didn’t speak or understand english up until about the age of 5.

it doesn’t help that i don’t “look the part” at all since i’m white. it’s tedious to have to justify my ethnicity every time the subject gets brought up. like i acknowledge the fact that yes, i am privileged - my father’s as white as you can be, and my mom’s from argentina - but i think it also sucks that my privilege comes from the fact that the white majority fucked over half of my family and forced my mom to ignore her identity and her roots. she’s only just getting in touch with family from argentina 50 years later. my grandmother refuses to acknowledge the fact that she’s hispanic - she’ll always check “white” on any form that asks it, and gets frantic and upset if my mom asks if she would prefer to read/talk to someone in spanish instead of english. that shit’s fucked up and heartbreaking and not okay - she’s been conditioned to be ashamed of who she is. 

tbh it’s also frustrating that no one doubts my sister when she asserts her hispanic-ness. like…i’m not any “less” so than she is because my features more closely resemble my superwhite father’s. it’s really fucking shitty that my culture was forcibly taken from my mom and grandparents, and my sister and i are left floundering trying to figure out what to make of it since two generations before us are too afraid to help. it also sucks that this isn’t a really unique situation to a LOT of people in this country. i should know spanish, i should know more than just good food and the early introduction to claustrophobia brought on by being forcibly stuffed in a confessional booth.

/rant.

27 notes
Reblogged from lionza
Originally posted by lionza

1. sacralpulse reblogged this from lionza
2. thenewyorkfamous likes this
3. esacabrona likes this
4. louque reblogged this from worsethanqueer
5. digidestined11 likes this
6. worsethanqueer reblogged this from -osito
7. dianasolo reblogged this from cress-cross
8. latefor-thesky likes this
9. andalaporra likes this
10. coffee-y-spanglish likes this
11. devalina likes this
12. headtowall likes this
13. brujacore likes this
14. anomalies reblogged this from lionza and added:

    this is rly interesting….idk even though i’m theoretically *~*~first generation, both my sister and i have kind of grown...

15. meaninglxss likes this
16. gowns likes this
17. adultlifetaketwo likes this
18. irishmexi reblogged this from cress-cross
19. irishmexi likes this
20. buddhaspalm likes this
21. agirlinastory likes this
22. cress-cross reblogged this from -osito and added:

    shit that we all knew BUT was common knowledge that needed to be legitimized through a study. ATTN: New York Times and...

23. hhhhaaaarrrriiiieeetttt reblogged this from -osito
24. hhhhaaaarrrriiiieeetttt likes this
25. cress-cross likes this
26. -osito reblogged this from lionza
27. lionza posted this