Yeah, we know: 2016 was a crazy year, but instead of lamenting it, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the 6 most popular opinion pieces we had the honor to publish. You might not know that this site has more than 250 contributors, and the following op-eds represent just a sample of the pieces we try to produce every day. Here’s the list, from 6 to 1:
Tío Tomás’ Cabin: Marco Rubio and White Cubanidad by Jason Nichols
Marco Rubio, U.S. senator from Florida (Marc Nozell/Flickr)
“While Rubio rails on about entitlement culture and how the War on Poverty programs were a failure, he fails to recognize that Cuban refugees received financial assistance from the government, unlike any other immigrant group. The presidential hopeful has little sympathy for people fleeing violence in Central America, while Cubans are given automatic political refugee status and asylum. Over the years, more repressive regimes were found in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but they were never treated with the same concern by the United States. Needless to say, the majority of people coming from the aforementioned countries would have been of African descent.”
Read more here.
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Mexico’s ‘Puto’ Soccer Chant Is Wrong and This Is What We Can Do About It by Joel Tena
Mexico vs United States CONCACAF Cup, October 10, 2015, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA (Photo Credit: Joel Tena)
“These sentiments didn’t just spring forth in a vacuum. Mexican culture, like all other post-colonial cultures in our Américas, has traditionally frowned upon, dismissed, ridiculed and attacked its queer sisters and brothers. In our patriarchal societies, men are seen as superior and dominating, and woman are seen as submissive and inferior. To be gay meant to be no longer on the level of other straight men, but to be on level with women. Someone to be dominated, ridiculed and, deep down, threatened by.”
Read more here.
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White Latino Racism on the Rise: It’s Time for a Serious Conversation on Euro-Diasporic Whiteness by William García
“A common misconnection that exists today rests on the notion that there are no racial hierarchies in Latin American countries or within the Latino communities in the United States. In other words, Latino (or Hispanic) is itself a race. For many, this conversation is a pointless squabble that halts the true need for unity amongst marginalized groups in the United States. Unfortunately, overlooking the importance of this issue has in fact delineated separation and a lack of interest in each other’s problems.”
Read more here.
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The Case FOR ‘Latinx’: Why Intersectionality Is Not a Choice by María R. Scharrón-Del Río and Alan A. Aja
“And once again, opposition to this newer term, however imperfect it is, comes from a place of unexamined intersectionality of privilege and oppression, one that completely furthers oppression and marginalization of non-binary and trans people from Latin American descent. Recognizing the intersectionality of our identities as well as our locations within the various systems of privilege and oppression —on a personal and social level— fosters solidarity with all of our Latinx community and is also necessary to engage in liberatory praxis.”
Read more here.
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Why Puerto Rico’s Black Olympic Athletes Need to Speak Out Against Island’s Racism by William García
“In addition, as Puerto Ricans, we need to come together and stop pretending we don’t see race. We simply can’t change our views on the Puerto Rican diaspora without discussing systemic racism. No country that has ever had enslaved Africans and racial hierarchies has been exempted of this enduring problem and Puerto Rico is not an exception.”
Read more here.
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Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Latino Vote by Hector Luis Alamo
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
“Any Latino planning to vote for Hillary based primarily on name recognition must first understand what the name Clinton really means to Latinos at home and Latin Americans abroad.”
