For a second, you think this is something else, this is exotic, this is not normal. So, it would be like walking into a taco shop where everyone is speaking Spanish. If I’m entering into a context where I am not prepared for Spanish to be the norm in this environment, that this is what should be spoken and it catches me off guard, there is this reflex of “Oh, that’s other.” It has all of these different connotations. One big thing is even with Spanish itself. Give me an example of a knee-jerk reaction you’ve had. … I still have a lot of knee-jerk responses to certain things that are deeply conditioned. There’s a certain way of looking at the world - a mind frame of “There’s me and us, and then everyone else.” And you’re either closer to that or on some gradient other than that.Įven among the most well-meaning, it’s like an unconscious reflex, and I still find it within myself. They normalize their centrality within the world, within the universe. When I talk about that, I often get pushback from white people. But finally, I got to a point where I started to break away from that - I did not want to be that. It really gave me insight into the way white people think. I noticed a couple of times you referenced yourself as “the white, blue-eyed Mexican.” How did that influence your sense of identity, and how did you deal with this idea of “I don’t look Mexican”?įor me, much of my life has been lived as a white person - in the way that people interact with me because I can’t speak Spanish, because of the way that I look.
#Hispanic outlook identity crisis skin#
You mentioned your sister having darker skin than you. So, the idea is to abandon Spanish quickly. And it is very often a multigenerational Mexican American outlook to want to integrate and assimilate as much as possible. We were taught even as Mexican ourselves to look at other Mexicans as inferior. To say it outright, we were conditioned to think that stupid people spoke Spanish because that was the prejudice growing up in an upper-middle-class neighborhood. They didn’t pass it on to their children because of that. I ask because immigrants from a certain era were told not use it at all because they’d get unwanted attention. Tell me more about your view of Spanish when you were a kid. I think at that time, I had this perception, and it’s a line in the poem: “Spanish was the back side of a Latin coin never to turn up.” It was this very cowardly way of looking at the world, that French was a more useful language or a language that more people would accept or be interested in. She made this decision - I guess she took an interest in French culture - and she was always a huge influence on me. The eldest of my two sisters, who I was closest to early on, she had made a choice at a certain point to learn French. I specifically remember you talking about learning French instead of Spanish when you were a kid. Your poems I love most are the personal ones, particularly of you growing up and forming your identity. One identity will include us in something or exclude us from something else. And identity very often is that entryway or the thing that obstructs us - the gate - to a sense of belonging. I think belonging is what gives our life meaning and purpose. I think we all strive for a sense of belonging. Some ideal that you hold to that gives you purpose. It’s what gives life purpose, it’s what gives you joy - knowing that you are part of a family or group, or you have a cause larger than yourself. Why do you think it’s so much of a focus for everyone?ĭavid Romero grew up with his working-class Mexican American parents and three siblings in Diamond Bar, California. Tell me about this idea of identity and belonging. He spoke with USC Trojan Family writer Gustavo Solis about how he hopes his poetry’s honesty will inspire others to reflect on their unconscious biases and change the way we approach race and identity. In an era of cancel culture, Romero lays bare the conflicting feelings he had growing up as a Mexican American in Diamond Bar, California. His three poetry anthologies explore Latinx culture, identity and colonialism. Romero, who studied philosophy and film at USC, is a passionate activist and speaker on issues of immigration and economic justice. His recently published poetry collection with FlowerSong Press, My Name Is Romero, picks apart these views, bringing them into the open. Or his misguided belief that only “stupid people spoke Spanish,” which led him to study French instead. Like the time he sparked a huge fight by condemning his dad’s hairy arms. Today, the spoken word artist shares them honestly in his work.