Re: “That’s what this Puerto Rican has been saying for a longgggggggggggggggg time.”
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I have worked with and met on vacations many Latinos (other than Mexicans) who are sick to death of all the attention paid to Mexico. Once on a cruise ship from Miami into the Caribbean there was a huge group of Latinos and we got to talking with them; they spoke perfect English and were having a great time. This was long ago, around 1982.
Someone asked them if they were from Mexico and oh, the horror! The reaction was amazing — “NO, we are not Mexicans, we are CUBAN, from Miami!!!” They were not angry but really wanted others to know they were most definitely NOT Mexican.
Here in Los Angeles I worked with a young woman I thought at first was Mexican — lovely person, well spoken, attractive family, etc. Well, someone asked her about Mexico and she went nuts — again, not angry, but wanting to set us all straight — “I am from Guatemala, NOT Mexico!!”
She went on to criticize many of the millions of ‘cholos’ in L.A. who she saw as ruining life for other Latinos in America. Of course, this young woman and family were here legally, so she was ‘anti-illegal immigrants.’
One more example was the house painters I used recently — great group of guys, highly recommended, all related, but from Peru! To the uninitiated they could be from any Latino group. As I talked with them I found they, too, are proud citizens of the U.S., here legally, and wishing they could somehow remove the multitudes of Mexicans, espeially illegals.
So yes, I hear you re being irked by “Mexican dominance.” Clearly, you are not alone!
“I am from Guatemala, NOT Mexico!!”
I got the same reaction from a couple of Guatemalans who I worked with.
However they added,....” Mexico is sh!t” to their response.
Do you think Mexican illegals are the problem or something about Mexican culture that makes all other Hispanics deny their relation to them? This seems to be a convoluted subject no one of Hispanic/Latino descent seems willing to address.