Growing up Hispanic, I’ve experienced many cases of subtle racism. People seem to make these tiny comments in conversation that have seem to become a “norm,” but that’s not how it should feel. Here are 10 incidents of subtle racism that Hispanics deal with all the time.
1. “Do you speak English?”
I find It shocking how often I receive this question. Most times I understand that someone is genuinely asking, not in a rude/racist way, but it is always quite clear when you get someone who comes up to you and slowly utters the words “do you speak English.” And at times, once you state that you do, they continue to speak slowly and in a dumbed down way as if they were speaking to a child.
2. “Go back to where you came from.”
I’ve heard this a fair share of times and not in a joking matter. I’ve had people genuinely tell me to go back to where I came from, referring to Mexico, and at times I state that I am in fact from California. Which is when they respond “yes, but go to where you’re originally from.”
3. Being followed around in stores.
I don’t get this too often, but it happens to many people. You walk into a store to do some shopping and go about your business, and you notice the owner or a worker has been trailing behind you. Having someone following you around thinking you’re going to steal isn’t what a simple trip to the store should be like.
4. Looking “suspicious”
There is one case in particular that has happened to many of my family members: getting questioned by a cop because you look “suspicious.” My brother was on his way to the library, walking and minding his own business, when a cop decided to pull up next to him and question him because he looked suspicious.
5. “I can’t understand you.”
Working where I have to deal with many customers has gotten me this response many times. I don’t have an accent while speaking English, but I still have many people tell me they can’t understand me with my “accent.” I’ve even had one lady be very pleased with herself and say “I can understand you even with your accent.”
6. "You all look alike."
My first day at a new job I was talking to a coworker, who was Hispanic as well, and had a customer come up to us and ask about something she had talked to me about earlier, except that wasn’t me she talked to. Her response was simply “oh sorry, you all look alike to me.”
7. "I thought you all knew Spanish."
I personally do speak Spanish, but I know many who don’t and I’ve heard people tell them this. I’ve had someone talk to me about how shocked they were that so and so didn’t know Spanish because they thought we all did.
8. "You’ve gotten pretty far for someone in your situation."
This has interestingly happened quite a few times to me. I’ve had teachers tell me that they are proud of how far I’ve come considering where I came from, or that they are impressed I’ve gotten such good grades for someone in my situation.
9. Extra security
I've had any people tell me that security will decide to pat them down, but let all of their non-Hispanic friends go through without a pat down. It's like randomly getting selected for the TSA search or your car getting randomly selected for further search at the border.
10. Cop discrimination
This is more common than it should be. It's incredible how many stories I've heard about this. My dad, a man who has never disrespected a cop, has been beaten by one. My brother has been pulled over for "suspicious activity" when all he was doing was walking down the street. There have been many cases of police being brutal when it wasn't called for.
Growing up with these recurring incidents or hearing about them, you are sometimes told to just brush these things off. The fact that it's become almost "normal" says something about the problems with subtle racism.
