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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 18th, 2023

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  • I’m half hispanic/white. I grew up with my Mexican family and spent most summers in Mexico visiting family. I’m fluent in spanish and mostly identify culturally with my Mexican side. But my dad was a very white guy from northeast Texas, so I look very white.

    While in college, I found myself serving and eventually bartending at a popular Colombian restaurant/club. I got called a lot of nasty things by Latino folks who assumed I was appropriating their culture or thought I was mocking them. I’ve also had Latino folks talk shit about me in spanish in front of me - assuming I didn’t understand.

    I often find myself playing it down or pretending I don’t know spanish so as not to upset people. It has to be a conscious decision because it’s very different from how I talk with my family.

    Wish I had some cool, “I showed them” story, but I was always frustrated and hurt in those situations. It’s like all of my upbringing, experiences, and familial relationships didn’t matter because I don’t look like them.

    **I’d just like to add that for as many rude Latino people I’ve met, I’ve met 4x as many wonderful Latino people.



  • My dad was a wonderful man with a great heart, but I think in this conversation, it’s more productive to speak of his downfalls. He died when I was 15, and I was very close to him until then. He was so often smiling, and giving, and generous, and caring to everyone and anyone he met. But one of the most impactful things I remember is that he was severely depressed in the last 5 years of his life. As a child, I didn’t know what to do about it. Shit, as an adult, I wouldn’t know what to do.

    If you feel depression creeping up, for the sake of your daughter - for the sake of your family - get help.

    I miss my dad so much, and I hate that the dominating memories I have of him are when he was max depressed, or when he was in a coma.