“Mi Homie Esta Alla”

So the other day, I was bored and was watching a bunch of videos on Youtube.

For some reason, Youtube recommended the following video to me that you can see here.

A very short video…

In which the guy says “Nomas I HEAR PA PA PA ..lo corre aya fuera pero cuando la corre se fue  paya y mi HOMIE ESTAS AYA.”

And that’s it.

Though maybe I shouldn’t laugh because my Spanish isn’t perfect either and I also speak with an accent like him.

But it’s a funny video I suppose to hear someone throw down some Spanglish in a gringo accent like in the video above.

And like with most Youtube videos….

The gold is always in the comment section.

Of course, you got the usual expected comments…

Some folks here and there complaining about how his parents should’ve taught him Spanish better growing up.

Others making a good joke like these comments below…

“Pocho Spanish and paisa English are a match made in the barrio”

“you know this foo always asked for a pencil and paper everyday at school”

“All people who speak English: "I don't understand what he is saying" All people who speak Spanish: "I don't understand what he is saying"

“He actually said that you can save 15% or more on car insurance using Geico”

Still, one of the comments got my attention in particular that’ll be the basis for this article.

Let’s copy and paste it below before we get into the discussion.

Copying & Pasting the Discussion

First, someone named Melquiadez wrote “El vato no tiene la culpa de ablar asi Los culpables son sus papas.”

Which that isn’t the comment that is important to me. I don’t have any Latino children so I don’t care so much about the topic of teaching them Spanish or not.

Though, if I did, I’d like to think I’d teach them English and Spanish but I guess it’s easier said than done with the work involved.

Anyway, it’s the conversation afterwards that I find interesting.

I’ll highlight the bits of the conversation I found relevant to the topic of this article by username.

MissG: “exactly! Spanish comes from Spain and I'll bet no one in these comments was born in Spain. Why be so proud of knowing a language that was forced on our ancestors?”

Big dipper nick: “if you are Mexican our ancestors where Spanish too. The native population got decimated with desease, most of the Mexican population is mestizo, a mix between the natives and spinards. Mestizos spoke spanish, which is why its the official language in Mexico. I dont get why people act like they only have native ancestors.”

Alex12: Mentiras, el nahuatl era el idioma de los Mexicas (Aztecas), mas nunca fue idioma de México, y como bien se sabe, México tiene de azteca lo que yo tengo de ingeniero aeroespacial

Juanchi: Náhuatl no es la unica lengua nativa que se habla en México.

Daigo: not all of the native population got decimated. Where did you get your info from? There's lots of indegenious languages and people who still live in Mexico.

Daigo: existen muchas, y no todo Mexico era Azteca. Diciendo que México es un país Azteca es incorrecto.    At juanchi

Juanchi: Yo no dije que México es un país Azteca. México es un pais de culturas muy variadas, al igual que toda Norte y Sur América. Es por eso que no se debe asumir erroneamente que Nahuatl es el idioma nativo de México, ya que hay muchos otros idiomas nativos que merecen estar en el mismo o mayor pedestal que el Nahuatl.

Big dipper Nick: I said most not all, and I got my information from INEGI, as well as just being Mexican. Its comon knowckledge that natives are a marignalized group. they are a minority in Mexico that sadly are just getting smaller. but that doesnt change history, the overwhelming mayority of Mexicans are Mestizos. and our culture is also Mestizo. its not spanish, its not native but a mixture of both and something unique. Which is why it doesnt make sense to act as if we indigenous people. We are not.

Wife beater: your ancestors came from Spain you dummmy

Melanie: Nahuatl es idioma de los Mexica( Azteca) no todos los Mexicanos somos descendientes de los Aztecas. Mi familia es mestiza hay blancos, rubios, y morenos. Yo soy Mexicana no Azteca, y mis raíces indigenas son Rarámuri y Yaqui. Yo no soy del centro ni sur de Mexico si no del Norte y no tengo conexión con los Aztecas o Mayas. Y pasa los mismo con Mexicanos del Sur no todos provienen del Mexica (Azteca).

And that’s what I found interesting!

So let’s dive into it.

My Thoughts

There’s really a few points that can be made from these comments that I have at times mentioned in previous articles.

Though these comments help provide examples of what I mean.

First, the biggest point I want to drive here is the different in rhetoric between American Latinos and Latinos who were born and raised in Latin America.

Let’s take the comment by “Missg” about how “we shouldn’t be proud of a language forced onto our ancestors” that came from Spain.

Now, to be fair, we don’t know for sure if Missg is actually Latina at all or if she is an American Latina or one born and raised in Latin America.

But the point still stands, in my experience anyway, that it’s more common to see Latinos born and raised in the US speak this way.

Though, to be fair, I think most don’t.

It’s mostly though the young types who are more left-leaning and maybe are still in college.

And really just a fraction of those anyway who speak like this.

They are often the same folks who think “speaking Spanish is cultural appropriation” or use the term Latinx like I wrote here.

The irony here is, as I said, that literally almost no Latino in Latin America actually thinks this way about the Spanish language.

Almost none of them really sit around thinking “damn Spaniards. If only they didn’t force their language on us….we’d be speaking Quechua right now, damn it! I WANT TO SPEAK QUECHUA!!!”

It doesn’t happen for the most part.

It really does seem to be, from my minimal observations, something that American Latinos are more prone to do and only a fraction of them really.

Second, we have “big dipper nick’s” comment about how “it’s weird for people to think we only have native ancestors.”

I agree with this entirely!

Though I don’t agree with his take, as “Daigo” later pointed, that the natives basically “got decimated.”

Well, they did.

But there’s obviously still plenty of indigenous people left in the Americas.

Still, I agree with “big dipper nick” in that it is a bit weird how people sometimes characterize all Latinos as being indigenous people.

Which is really fucking bizarre to me given how much diversity I’ve seen in this region.

Not just Mexico but all of Latin America.

You got plenty of Asian, white, black and indigenous Latinos.

Plenty of mixed race ones obviously.

As I wrote in this huge ass article here, the diversity of this region is very noticeable.

But yet you still have folks who act as if everyone in Latin America is indigenous.

I’ve seen this more commonly when I go back home and get asked questions that, a few times, have implied that.

Furthermore, you do have some American Latinos, in my opinion, who want to “reconnect” with their roots in Latin America but go about it by associating themselves with the indigenous roots and pretending like the European roots are non-existent.

Based on my armchair analysis, I kinda feel like this stems from a desire to want to be associated with the “oppressed” group and not the “oppressor” group since the latter is perceived as evil while the former is perceived as being cool enough to overcome a struggle or some shit agains the evil colonizers.

It’s something you notice particular to the US – a need to associate oneself with somehow being oppressed or a victim in anyway.

It’s not cool to be part of the “oppressor” group so I feel, based on an outsider view, that the few American Latinos who are reconnecting with their roots in this way are, in part, motivated by what I wrote above.

Third, I appreciate the input by “Alex12” and Juanchi in pointing out that there was a lot of indigenous diversity in Mexico (and Latin America more broadly, I’d add).

This is something also that a lot of people fail to realize or give real thought to when it comes to the diversity of indigenous people.

More often than not, it feels like a lot of people, Latinos included, sometimes just categorize all indigenous people as being the same.

Which is ironic given the intense battles, massacres and genocides committed among them before the arrival of Europeans.

Though I’m not an Historian of indigenous history in the Americas, I’d have doubts that a lot of the groups truly saw each other as being the same.

Fourth, the point by “big dipper nick” is right on point about how the native population is seemingly getting smaller in Latin America.

It’s something I’ve noticed when I’ve been in Chiapas, Mexico or, as I wrote here, you find folks who grew up in more rural communities explain it to you.

Essentially, rural areas are more marginalized.

People learn Spanish or were never taught an indigenous language by their parents at all growing up.

Ultimately, more people leave behind their communities to live in more populated areas nearby for better career and educational opportunities.

As a result, their indigenous communities become less populated and dissipate over time.

Meanwhile, like in Chiapas, you got violence that is still committed against various indigenous groups.

And among other issues that might be at play here…

Over time, indigenous populations do become smaller.

Though, in my observations, it sometimes feels like both American Latinos and folks in Latin America care more about the indigenous people of the past and not the ones that exist nowadays.

The classic example that comes to mind is Mexican President AMLO, who as you can read here, demanded that the King of Spain and the Vatican apologize to the indigenous people of Mexico for their historic atrocities.

Meanwhile, AMLO may or may not be apologizing to them though he is largely of Spanish descent himself…

But, more importantly, continues to fuck over indigenous communities that exist today with infrastructure projects in the south of Mexico….

And also the increased militarization of areas surrounding indigenous communities in Chiapas and a seemingly lack of fucks to give at present day violence against said communities that have forced thousands to flee their homes as you can read here.

 So admiration for the indigenous of the past but fuck the ones that exist today?

Anyway, as you can see, this article was really just a response to some really interesting comments I found on the internet.

Covering points that I think have some importance when it comes to life down here.

But nothing more than that.

Got any comments yourself?

Drop them below in the comment section.

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Thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Matt