There is something to this.
I know a kid who, growing up latin in the US, had adopted all the gang-banger mannerisms thinking that was what it meant to be latin.
He came to stay with me in South America for a while, and saw what latin culture really was. Made friends with kids his own age. He was never the same after that. He was completely at ease with his “latinness” in a way he had never been, and completely at ease with his “americanness” in the same way.
In the US, “gangster” culture has infected both black and latin culture. Get the kids out of that, and you do them a huge favor.
I have been telling people for years, and had the discussion last night with friends: The most poisonous and dangerous things to black people are:
1.) Other Black people
2.) American Black Culture