![]() Or so they say.Īddressing a person by referring to their appearance is ubiquitous from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego: across Latin America, blondes are uniformly called rubio, portly persons gordo, and the vertical-challenged chico (the endings change to “a” when the subject is feminine, and the use of the diminutive “ito” or “ita” connotes affection). But the moment passed, slow-quick like sands through the hourglass, and I came to discover that the word whose counterpart in inglés evokes so much pain is actually a term of endearment in Latin America. In that moment, the time when I was walking to my university campus years before and some idiot in a car screamed “Nigger!” out their window as they drove past came flooding back the memory of the puzzlement, anger, and humiliation I felt surfaced anew, wild and raw as the first time. My context, upbringing, and cultural baggage made negrita feel like a sharp slap, a slur, a direct assault on an aspect of myself of which I am very proud. ![]() It sounded awfully close to the N-word, too close. But when he called me negrita I heard and understood the word with exceptional clarity and was unsure of whether or not I was supposed to be offended. This exercise was great for my shaky language skills but mentally exhausting– my head ached from trying to piece together meaning from his rapidly spoken words, a code coated in a thick regional accent. I was practicing my nascent Spanish with a new Mexican friend. I was living in Mexico the first time I heard the term “negrita”.
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