Writing
Three Words that White-Latinx/e Need to Say "No" To and Stop Gentrifying
Though it's unclear when we adopted the term "white-passing," white-Latine have nonetheless gentrified the concept. The word was meant to capture the experience of Black people, not bilingual white people who speak Spanish. As the brilliant scholar @gfx_prints once reminded her Instagram followers, “Speaking Spanish does not make you a person of color.” The history of "passing" has primarily focused on what was gained but ironically, white-Latine use it to demonstrate what is lost.
Three Words to Expunge from Our Vocabulary So We Don't Reinforce White Supremacy
Language is constantly changing, and terms come and go. However, racism and white supremacy are omnipresent and equally evolving. For instance, the difference between the words slave and enslaved perfectly encapsulates white supremacy's struggle to maintain itself today. The word slave is a problematic term that is often used today when discussing U.S. American history. Not only is the word a relic of 17th century white supremacy, it purposefully erodes the truth and romanticizes the condition of enslaving human beings.
My Journey “Into” Whiteness as a “Latinx” Man
I've never thought of myself as white: I thought of myself as only Mexican. A Mexican with a cinnamon complexion that could make Mexican singer, Thalia, belt out, "Eres piel morena. Canto de pasión y arena!" Translation: “You are brown skin. A song of passion and sand.”
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison