Ever since Chino decided to exact revenge on Tony in West Side Story, Latinos have been on the receiving end of bad stereotypes. We’re all hot heads, gang bangers and menacing bad guys.

 For the record, The Jets were troublemakers too! But do you see Latinos  calling the police whenever a group of Italians Americans take the streets and bust out threatening, synchronized dance routines? No, of course not! 

Stereotypes are not just inaccurate, but outright offensive. They can even result in less opportunities. Whether it’s Hollywood portraying us as criminals or being called “invaders” by the President of The United States, stereotypes are dangerous. I’m here to explain how true or false some common stereotypes are,, with some humor of course, to show just how ridiculous most of them are.

We are all immigrants

Not all Latinos are newly arrived immigrants. Many of us are second, third, fourth and fifth generation Americans. Heck, lots of Latinos have such deep American roots these younger generations barely speak Spanish. As a matter of fact, many of our Latin American ancestors migrated up and down this continent before the pilgrims showed up and decided to designate them immigrants. Oh the irony. So before you assume a Latino you meet is new to America remember that they’ve probably been here longer than you and people of your ilk. Respect the natives.

We steal jobs

Yeah because college graduates are just lining up for those highly coveted factory farm positions. You know,  where working in hazardous conditions with no health insurance is the name of the game. Please. And just because a Latino has an Italian Ices cart in the barrio doesn’t mean he stole that profession from an actual Italian, man. If that was the case all them white folks selling tacos from their trucks would have some explaining to do as well.

We are all lazy

We’re lazy, we steal jobs – make up your mind and pick one already! You can’t have it both ways and accuse us of being two things at once. It’s like a man calling a woman a “prude” and “easy” in the same sentence. We know you’re mad but at least by consistent with your slander.

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