When I Remind Racists that I’m Latina

“You’re the exception. You’re one of the good ones.”

“Yeah, but your family did things the right way.”

“You know what I mean.”

“But you’re not like, really Latina.”

“If you had kids with a white man, your kids could look white.”

“You’re pretty light-skinned.”

“You look exotic, but not ghetto.”

“I thought you were Indian? Indian girls are smart.”

“I thought you were Muslim?”

“Where did you learn to speak English?”

“Do you speak the real Spanish? Like, from Spain?”

“You could pass for Italian.”

“Is that how you got into NYU?”

“You should change your last name to sound more ethnic. Then you’d get more job offers because of affirmative action.”

“Are all Colombian girls hot?”

“You have the perfect body type for having babies.”

“You’re allowed to weigh more because you’re Latina. You don’t understand the pressure to be thin.”

Uh-huh.