Tapatio89 wrote:zboy1 wrote:Yes, Latinos in the USA tend to act like ghetto thugs, gangsters or outright criminals, or they tended to be FOB (Fresh of the Boat) types. Of course, there were those Latinos that didn't match any of those descriptions. The Latinos I befriended back in the States, were much like you, Tapatio: well mannered, and intelligent, but, as you mentioned, those Latinos were often ostracized by the more hardcore, stereotypical Latinos.
Most Latinos in the US and especially Mexicans come from the lowest socioeconomic background. I come from a middle class background in Mexico, so although I hate to sound classist, the reality is that them and me are worlds apart and had very little in common except we came from the same country and speak Spanish, but interests, ambitions, ethics, and dress style completely different. Even in facial features, I do not look like the Mexican illegal immigrants as they have darker skin, shorter, stocky and look mostly indigenous (Aztec, Maya, etc) or Dark Mestizo.
Latin America is a very classist region as you know.
And thank you kindly for your comments about me.
Cheers!
I learned that the hard way that Latin America is very classist, more so than racist or bigoted even. I'd gone to Chile back in 2008, and I've become an English teacher. One time I was walking down the street in northern Chile in thug gear with my baggy jeans sagging, wearing Timberland boots....looking like Naughty By Nature the Rap group, and this girl exhorted, "Go home, you f***ing n.igger!" from her window, but my Afro-Dominican friend and I couldn't pinpoint where she was located.
Right after that point, he became irate that I was dressing in U.S. Hip-Hop video style while he and I were walking.
He bellowed out, en ingles, "You just could dress like a human being with some middle class, couldn't you?"
Afro-Dominicans loathe being put into that caricature of a stereotype due to trying to rise above socioeconomic status above Black Americans in the U.S. of Gay (i.e. the USA). Personally, I don't blame him.
Then and there, thats' when I've learned that looking well-groomed, not being overweight, and dressing well-fitted with at least an intermediate nivel of Espanyol goes a normal yet long way down there. Tengo en cuenta ahorita.