Hispanic Countries Have Differences Too
My name is Alejandra Roman. I was born in the United States, but my parents immigrated from Colombia. Yes, the color of my skin is brown, but that does not give people the right to make assumptions about my culture.
The demographic of Hispanics that go to WVU is very small, but here I am representing them. Going to a prominently white school, people automatically assume that I’m Mexican because the color of my skin. I come from a Colombian decent and even though there are some similarities between Mexicans and Colombians, there are more differences than one could imagine.
Every Hispanic country has a different accent and pronounces things differently, just like Americans and the British. When Colombians say yo (which means “me” in Spanish) we pronounce it “jo”. If you ask an Argentinian how to say yo, they would say it like “cho”. If you ask a Puerto Rican how to say yo, they would pronounce it straight up as “yo”.
Every Hispanic Country also has different food platters that are unique to their country. Not every country eats tacos, and especially in Mexico the tacos aren’t anything like Taco Bell. In Colombia, we have a platter called the “bandeja paisa” which is platter that contains rice, beans, fried plantains, flank steak, chicharron (very thick slices of bacon), and much more. In Honduras, you can have a dish called a “pupasa”, which is similar to the concept of a quesadilla, but instead it is a type corn pancake with melted cheese that is blended in the middle.
It’s sometimes hard explaining the differences to people who grew up without a diverse background. I’m not explaining my culture to call out anyone for being ignorant, but to tell people to be aware that there are differences that make every country unique. When people ask me, “What are you?”, I love to respond that I’m Colombian because in the end it opens up the mind that not just one Hispanic race exists.