- What's up, good humans? - Hello.
- I'm Ian. - I'm Michael.
- And stick around 'cause we're gonna talk
about some cool stuff at the end of the episode.
In the meanwhile, enjoy.
- I remember on my third day
in my first school here in the US,
this kid in the locker room was like,
"So what part of Mexico is Colombia in?"
And I was just like. (participants laughing)
(light upbeat music)
- [Michael] I celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Three, two, one, go.
(poll result beeps)
- I used to work at bars
and I would see, like, people who are not Mexican
completely disrespecting such an important part
of the history that I stay away from it.
- Part of why I'm so turned off by, like, the whole concept
of how we celebrate it in the US
is that it was like an excuse for people
to act really out of pocket and disrespectful,
and kinda make us feel like they were doing something
special for us at the same time.
And I was like, "Yo, I'm not even, like, Mexican
and this is not what the struggle is about."
- I like what you said about it's kind of disrespectful,
and I agree, and that's one of the big problems
that I have with other people who are Mexican American
saying like, "Well, I don't have a problem with it."
And it's like, well, one,
you probably don't have any ownership of it.
Like, it doesn't mean anything to you personally.
And two, they have this concept that like,
"Well, if more people are exposed to it,
then that means that they'll accept us."
And it's like, nah, that's not how that works.
It's a day for me to kind of think about my own experiences
and how I can teach other people.
- Are they really accepting us?
It's not really us.
That's not who we are.
We don't all wear sombreros,
and have handlebar mustaches,
and eat tacos every day.
- [Michael] People assume I'm Mexican.
Three, two, one, go.
(poll result beeps)
- Usually people find out that I'm Hispanic
or Mexican because of my name,
but it's never because of my appearance,
because I'm paler, I have blonde hair.
People just assume that all Mexicans
are dark, and shorter, and, like, have dark hair.
But the reality is, like, Mexicans
come in all sorts of colors,
just like America.
- I've never gotten like, "You look Mexican,"
even though I feel like in every Latino blog I read
it's like people always assume I'm Mexican as a Latino,
and I'm just like, "Well, it's not really true to me."
- I only get called Mexican because of what you said.
"Oh, you're Latina so you must be Mexican," you know?
And then, I go explain like,
"You know, there's a whole continent.
There's like many, many countries.
And, you know, and a lot of Latinos are from the US.
Like, we're the largest minority.
We didn't all just come, you know, last week.
We've been here."
So it's just ignorance.
- I super hear that,
because like I remember on my third day
in my first school here in the US,
this kid in the locker room was like,
"So what part of Mexico is Colombia in?"
I was like, "So from my third-world country
they teach us the effing world.
But out here, apparently in like the Silicon Valley,
you guys don't get a map."
- [Michael] I feel comfortable speaking
my native language in public.
Three, two, one, go.
- You bet.
(poll result beeps)
- Since I've moved to the bay,
I've had Mexican, Salvadorian,
and Honduran parents and students
literally act as if they don't understand me,
because I speak in a Black Spanish vernacular.
I'm just at the point where I'm just like,
I'm tired of like acting
as if our language is uneducated,
or acting as if our language comes from nothing.
Our language comes from literally everything.
- Even though I'm not fluent in Spanish, I'm conversational,
I still speak it at work.
Like, and all my customers, they come to me relieved
like, when they find out
that I can communicate to them in Spanish.
And even though I'm not fluent, I do, however,
see a little dishonor
kind of when I go visit family.
- Well, I mean, like for me, in my experience
I kind of had the same thing
where I grew up speaking Spanish,
and then I went to school, lost it,
and then I've regained it as I've gotten older.
But like, for me, I live in a fairly conservative area.
- Same. - Like people have
confederacy tattoos,
it can be really intense, you know what I mean?
And, for me, there is still a little bit of that fear.
- I love the instant affinity you have with people,
especially, I'm getting a little emotional,
but like people who've left everything to come here
and they're not even seen.
And when I speak to them in Spanish,
I feel that they feel seen for the first time.
And even though we're not from the same country,
we don't have the same experiences,
I just feel like I have to.
I feel so blessed that I can speak Spanish.
I just hope, like, we just honor our roots.
And not just Spanish, but like you said,
there's a lot of native languages
that we should honor and we should practice.
- [Michael] The word Latinx is offensive to me.
Three, two, one, go.
(poll result beeps)
- I kind of like have a bigger problem
with the word Hispanic.
While I'm not in love with the word Latinx,
like, I really do love that it's inclusive of all genders.
I'm waiting for the point where there will be another term,
because it just doesn't sit right.
- So I call myself a Latina, I'm proud to be a Latina.
Now I have very dear friends who are nonbinary
and they request that I call them Latinx.
Of course, I'm going to honor that.
And I am glad that there is a term that they embrace,
but I don't think I should have to change mine.
- I think people are gonna call themselves what they want
and they've been doing that forever.
I think it's the fact that when we say Latino or Latina,
we are excluding trans people in our language.
Like, our language is powerful.
And I think that I know what you're saying,
'cause I've had this conversation
with like my parents and my aunts.
Like, it's worth a tiny bit of discomfort
to include trans people.
- [Michael] Spanking your child
is not child abuse. - Oh man.
- [Michael] Three, two, one.
Go. - How hard.
- I think that's the thing, we gotta talk about that.
- Oh man.
- My parents are not like I went right here.
- I am a teacher, like Latinos,
at least my Latino parents that I see in my schools,
are so quick to like,
the kid could just say something back,
like, finish a sentence for the parent
and the parent's like blah, (speaks Spanish),
and it's like, but why though?
Because I see this other kid who's white
and is out here wallin'.
- I spanked my kids maybe twice their whole life
a little bit.
It wasn't even like that much.
I remember the one time my mom spanked me
and it stayed with me.
I don't recommend it.
I'm not here like, "Oh, pro spanking."
But I think it should be,
it's somebody's right to a certain point.
- I think that some of, you know,
my family members who haven't had the privileges
of education and the kind of lifestyle
that I have don't have that space.
Because I remember when I first got to the US,
like in Colombia,
like, one, we're a very violent country,
and I think a lot of what we see
is just that being replicated into our families.
But there was a certain point
where my mom was gonna smack me like that.
Like, I would like talk back to her and she just,
and when I was like 13
I just grabbed her hand midair one time.
And I was like, "You know, we're not doing it
like this anymore."
And I think a lot of that was coming from my American side.
- Spanking to me is a tool that is easiest.
It's like if they're old enough to have a conversation
about what they did wrong, then have the conversation.
And if they're not old enough
to understand what they did wrong,
then why would you hit them?
- Spanking is the hardest thing to do.
I agree with you, but spanking is the hardest thing to do.
- [Michael] I feel connected with my culture.
Three, two, one, go.
(poll result beeps)
- You guys remember in the movie "Selena,"
when they're in the van and Abraham is talking to Selena?
- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. - Yeah.
- You know, and he's saying,
like, being Mexican American is hard.
You know, "You have to be twice as Mexican for the Mexicans,
twice as American for the Americans,
you know, and it's exhausting."
And that's more or less where I am right now,
and that's why I moved completely away
from national identities.
Like, that's why I don't identify as Mexican,
because to Mexicans who are from Mexico
I'm not Mexican enough.
- That's another thing that I also have an issue
with is just because I'm paler, I'm guera,
I get thrown into that white supremacist kind of category
that no one really likes and I,
literally, it destroys me mentally.
Like, it's just no one has the right
to tell you what you are or assume what you are,
and it's really just frustrating.
- I really like that you bring up that point,
because I think as a community
we need to do a lot of work around that,
in the sense that I have noticed in my own experience
how me having light skin
has definitely yielded me different results.
Or I've been able to push different boundaries
of I've had different access.
- 'Cause we do have a lot of things in common, you know?
- We do. - As a people,
we have, I know it's not just language,
because if you don't speak Spanish,
you're still gonna be fully embracive of the culture.
So I just love finding those commonalities
between different, you know, nationalities.
It makes me happy.
(everyone cheering) - Damn!
- I'm enjoying our group hug.
Group hug. - Yeah.
- Hey. - Thank you so much.
- Hey, guys, my name is Michael.
- I'm Ian.
- Thank you so much for watching this episode of "Spectrum."
It's so amazing to see where people will stand on the lines.
- Michael's the director of all the "Spectrum" episodes
you've ever seen in your life.
- You know, someone told me today
that I have a really good voice.
- Really? That's great.
In the process of making "Spectrum" as a series,
what do you think is something you've learned
or something that's changed within you?
- Oh, every time I do this series I learn something new.
But the biggest thing I learned is like,
no, everyone doesn't think the same.
- Thank you for watching, you guys.
Follow us on Instagram @jubileemedia.
We post a lot of different kind of stuff for you guys,
and we also love just interacting with you
and hearing your opinions, and epiphanies,
and your stories, and all that kind of stuff.
We have so much more that we want to give to you guys.
So yeah, follow us on everywhere.
- Everywhere. - And we'll see you around.
- See ya. - Bye.
(gentle mellow music)