Racism: A six letter word that is defined by Google as,” the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race, or races.” While that definition is true, it does not sum up half of what racism has caused throughout time.
There has been a partition of the races since mankind’s beginning . For example, there was the Jim Crowe Laws that began in the 1890’s, Holocaust in the 1930’s-40’s, and a 21st century surge in police brutality. We’ve all seen it on the news, in the media, even in our history textbooks. Or, one could experience it just by walking down their school’s hallway.
At the moment, it is not always Caucasians versus the minorities. There are ethnic slurs for every color in the spectrum. Whether they are used just as a small joke or for the purpose of being hurtful- individuals can find it offensive.
As a young Hispanic woman, I refuse to be defined by half-witted stereotypes made by society towards my ethnicity. Because believe it or not, am not an illegal immigrant, my father is not a construction worker, I don’t eat tacos everyday, and I am not a maid.
Sonia Sotomayor is another female that does not fall into the stereotypes, being the first Hispanic appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, led the nation to having the worlds’ seventh largest national economy. There is Mario Vargas Llosa, a significant novelist in Latin America, and is also a politician, journalist, college professor, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. These people were just a few amongst the thousands of influential Hispanics in the world.
“Spik” is a derogatory term used for anyone that is from a Spanish-speaking country whose English generally isn’t the best. Ironically, it is a term that I have been labeled with. If someone such as myself, whose first language is English, was tagged with the term, then that means anyone with a tan complexion falls under this stereotypical moniker.
If that is the case, then I’d like to conclude by saying that not only am I a proud Hispanic, a proud “spik” as well.