I seem to be what I'm not you see...I'm lonely and no one can tell. - "Great Pretender"
Let's play a game! Who am I?
I don't speak Spanish. I like Radiohead. I like Aventura. But that isn't enough for you. I don't like kidney beans. I have had arroz con any meat you can possibly imagine, but you will still doubt whether I know what actual Puerto Rican food should taste like. I am not the Latino your family will love. I am a college graduate who speaks with a pompous inflection. I am not Latino to you. I am marble to you, but you cannot see your reflection in my glossy surface. I am pale to you. You will continue to compliment my eyes and my hair, but you will never love my slacks and loafers. I ask myself everyday who am I? You will not love me because I do not have a fade hair cut with a mohawk. You will not love me because I don't act with a machismo attitude. I don't need your love. I will never be the son who will say la bendicion. I will say I love you and when you are not there I will talk about how my mother got me through college. I cannot dance bachata, salsa, and merengue well. I can write. I can get poems published in literary magazines.
I will never be white. I am not tall enough to be white. I do not have blonde hair. I cannot get a fake tan, my skin will turn copper on its own. I do not like how I met your mother. I do like It's always sunny in Philadelphia. I am not ethnically ambiguous.I am Puerto Rican first, Latino second. I do not have American pedigree. My family traces themselves back to the Taino. I want to be a Lawyer. I am a school teacher. I will say Teach for America first. Your parents won't be comfortable if you first tell them I'm Puerto Rican. Your parents will love how respectful I am. I am not expected to succeed. My back has been patted out of paternalistic need. I have some hair that turns blonde in the sun. My beard goes blond. I have hazel green eyes. My genes are brown eyed. I have watched someone get jumped. I have hurt other people. I am not innocent. I am not a thug.
You have rebuked me. I will persist in the belief that if I become tremendous, you will want to become me. But you will never want to become me. I don't want to become me. I can only sound white or inauthentic to you. I am not white. I am not a traditional Latino.
Let's play a game! Who am I?
I don't speak Spanish. I like Radiohead. I like Aventura. But that isn't enough for you. I don't like kidney beans. I have had arroz con any meat you can possibly imagine, but you will still doubt whether I know what actual Puerto Rican food should taste like. I am not the Latino your family will love. I am a college graduate who speaks with a pompous inflection. I am not Latino to you. I am marble to you, but you cannot see your reflection in my glossy surface. I am pale to you. You will continue to compliment my eyes and my hair, but you will never love my slacks and loafers. I ask myself everyday who am I? You will not love me because I do not have a fade hair cut with a mohawk. You will not love me because I don't act with a machismo attitude. I don't need your love. I will never be the son who will say la bendicion. I will say I love you and when you are not there I will talk about how my mother got me through college. I cannot dance bachata, salsa, and merengue well. I can write. I can get poems published in literary magazines.
I will never be white. I am not tall enough to be white. I do not have blonde hair. I cannot get a fake tan, my skin will turn copper on its own. I do not like how I met your mother. I do like It's always sunny in Philadelphia. I am not ethnically ambiguous.I am Puerto Rican first, Latino second. I do not have American pedigree. My family traces themselves back to the Taino. I want to be a Lawyer. I am a school teacher. I will say Teach for America first. Your parents won't be comfortable if you first tell them I'm Puerto Rican. Your parents will love how respectful I am. I am not expected to succeed. My back has been patted out of paternalistic need. I have some hair that turns blonde in the sun. My beard goes blond. I have hazel green eyes. My genes are brown eyed. I have watched someone get jumped. I have hurt other people. I am not innocent. I am not a thug.
You have rebuked me. I will persist in the belief that if I become tremendous, you will want to become me. But you will never want to become me. I don't want to become me. I can only sound white or inauthentic to you. I am not white. I am not a traditional Latino.
