Why Latinos hide their identities
Two members of Culture Clash, the pioneering Chicano comedy troupe, recently "came out" as Salvadoran, not Mexican. Surprise! It's part of a bigger phenomenon.
Headlines From The Times · Shannon Lin, Marina Peña, Shani Hilton, Carolina A. Miranda, Ric Salinas, Heba Elorbany, Mario Diaz, Gustavo Arellano, Herbert Siguenza, Ashlea Brown, Lauren Raab, Denise Guerra, Melissa Kaplan
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Show Notes
Latinos have long hidden in plain sight in U.S. society. Some do it to lessen the racism they might face from non-Latinos. But there’s another type of whitewashing that’s even more disturbing. It’s when Latinos downplay their distinct identities among themselves or suppress the visibility of fellow Latinos.
Today we talk about the phenomenon of Latino erasure, who does it, why it happens and how it persists. We’ll focus on Culture Clash, the pioneering Chicano comedy troupe. This summer, two of its members “came out” as Salvadoran, not Mexican.
Our guests: L.A. Times arts columnist Carolina A. Miranda and Culture Clash members Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza.
More reading:
For me, being Latino means living between two worlds
Op-Ed: Why did so few Latinos identify themselves as white in the 2020 census?