The Lies of Latinidad

No, Latinidad does not assume a Mexican nationality. No, it does not include Spain. And no, it does not make you not-white. It also does not mean you speak Spanish. Think of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” and its cast, with its pale shades of brown and white people dancing to Afro-beats — not Latinidad.

The political identity has worn many hats throughout its history: Latin-American, Hispanic, Latino, Latinx, and most recently, Latine. We rally to change its name time after time, to rebrand ourselves to fit the politics of the current ruling ideology. But perhaps the time has come to retire Latinidad, for it is nothing but a facade meant to erase the Black, Indigenous, poor, and other oppressed peoples of Latin America beneath the crushing weight of its long, colonial structure.

The problem with Latinidad is not in its name, but in its function to reinforce a monolith of more than 660 million people into one identity, excluding — and killing, but more on that later on — those who do not fit its image. During the 2020 Presidential election, President Biden and his campaign made strong efforts to win over what has come to be known as the “Latino Vote” — quite literally the ballot of a person identifying as Latino. Humorously, they ran on promises of immigration reform, which included returning the caged children to their parents; Dreamers’ protection; and Latine Cabinet officials. However, Biden’s campaign was surprised when there was significant — or quite frankly, any — Latine support for Trump after his notorious xenophobic remarks. Biden and his team had assumed that all Latinos care about issues of immigration, poverty, and race. They had reached for a monolith too tall for even the presidency.

I had once held a similar notion of blanket Latine identity. I went to high school with a majority of Mexican students. Of course, we had many white Mexicans, but it was not until I got to Harvard that I saw the degree of whiteness that Latinos could reach. I met my first set of Argentines and Cubans with winter white skin, sky blue eyes, and sun blonde hair.

Mexican poet and Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz once famously said, “Mexicans are descended from the Aztecs, Peruvains from the Incas, and Argentinians from ships.” These are the general origin stories of three Latin American nations, the last alluding to the heavy European presence in Argentina, especially from Germany.

I am not saying that all Argentines and Cubans are white. I know they are not. However, for only up to 9 percent of Argentinians today to hold African ancestry, despite the country importing about half as many enslaved people as the U.S. did, is shocking. Harvard’s Cubans shocked me because the only Cuban I “knew” all of my life was Black — Celia Cruz. It was upon meeting Harvard’s Argentines and Cubans that I learned of the thousands of Nazis that fled to Argentina and of the wealthy, landowning, majority-white Cubans that fled from communism to areas like Miami. Mexico, too, has ongoing violence against its Black and Indigienous populations, the majority of whom live in poverty.

Latinidad, rather than representing all the peoples it is meant to, assumes one experience from the white, Spanish-speaking, and Catholic-Christian people from Latin American nations, actively erasing and killing its Black, Indigenous, and poor people. Latinidad, in this violent, colonial form, must end.

I championed Latinidad growing up, raised on myths of our ability to work hard and committed to represent the richness of Mexico. But when I set foot at this school, the monolith began to crumble. Latinidad has written its own undoing. It cannot synthesize all the people of Latin America into one identity. Yes, we can just begin using Latinidad to mean from a Latin American country, but what then? Will systemic racism and ethnic and racial cleansing cease in these countries? Will the material conditions of its Black, Indigneous, and poor people better and allow them joy and life?

At Harvard, there are multiple Latine clubs. Yet these clubs have visibly subpar membership from Brown Latines, let alone the negligible amount from Black Latines. In fact, some of these clubs are led by white Latines. There may even be a Spanish student in the Harvard Organization of Latin America, despite Spain being a European country. Latinidad at Harvard is nothing more than a lie.

The lies of Latinidad go far back, surround us, and cut deep. They kill. To not question Latinidad, even with the hope to better it, if not end it, is to perpetuate its colonial violence. Let us retire the term for the time being while it is questioned and speak on subjects with specificity. Before we can address issues faced disproportionately by Black, Indigenous, and poor people in Latin American countries, the colonial tower of Latinidad must be toppled.

Brian Baltazar Pimentel ’23, is a Crimson Editorial editor in Eliot House concentrating in English.