A Critical Perspective--Ezinne

The representation of one’s self gives insight on one’s beliefs and characteristics. My interviewee, Aldair Arriola, a recent graduate of Pomona College and my past room advisor for Pomona College Academy for Youth Success, portrays himself as someone who is comfortable with their identities, personality, approachable, and serious when needed.
Aldair sees himself representing his different cultures that he belongs to on a daily basis. One culture he belongs to is his Mexican culture. He was born in Veracruz, Mexico, thirty minutes from Mexico City and located off the Gulf Coast. Aldair appreciates the diversity of Mexico and how the culture from where he is from is different from somewhere else. More broadly, Aldair is part of the Latinx culture in the United States of America even though the label “Latinx” was not imposed by the Latinx people themselves, but the government to categorize people of that background. Despite this, he believes that the label creates a community solidarity because many of the ethnicities that fall under the Latinx category do share commonalities and struggles. Being in both the Latinx and Mexican culture reminds him of those who are deemed to be a part of the cultures. For example, the Mexican culture was made to cater to Mexican men and the Spanish without any say from indigenous Mexicans such as the Mayans and Aztecs. This causes him to analyze what it means to be part of the said cultures and the power it entails. He recalled that in media, Mexicans are representative of the Latinx community because they are the largest subgroup. Moreover, Aldair is part of the undocumented community, not having any documents to claim citizenship/culture. To him, being a part of that culture is very difficult, but it teaches him to be more empathetic and aware of the society we live in. Aldair values the diversity of the said culture due to the fact that many undocumented immigrants come from various backgrounds. Another culture Aldair said to be a part of is the first generation and low

income culture. Aldair had a lot of difficulties when applying and attending college because he is first generation, meaning he is the first person in his family to go to college. The burden of being low income also encumbered him when growing up and seeking higher education because he did not have the same resources as someone who is not low income. Regardless of these setbacks, Aldair is still still proud of his accomplishments and tries to remain humble. The last culture Aldair feels he is apart of is the LGBTQ+ culture. This culture causes him to be reflective of the privileges he has as a gay cisgender man. Aldair faces some “misunderstandings” between the various cultures he belongs to. He tries to understand the way different social categorizations overlap and connect, but sometimes falls short because he is human. With Aldair being a cisgender Mexican man, he is seen to be very strong, macho, and entitled to women. He attempts to challenge this notion in daily interactions.
Earlier in the interview, Aldair mentioned the privileges he has so I proceed to ask, “Do you consider yourself white passing?” White passing is when someone who is a person of color looks white and people assume they are just upon the first look at said person. He never questioned if he was white passing until he studied abroad in Brazil for six months and lived with a host family. His host dad was black Brazilian, his host mother was white Brazilian, and his host sister was black Brazilian. During the middle of his study abroad, his host family asked him to invite some of his friends that were also studying abroad who were all people of color except for one who was white. A conversation about race struck up during the dinner. Aldair’s host father commented on the fact that some Brazilians are considered white and others are not and proceeded to use Aldair and the other white friend as an example of someone who is white. This caused him to recollect on his experiences and the privileges he had in Brazil due to the

lightness of his skin and his appearance. No one would follow him around when he went into stores in Brazil. To him, this was peculiar because he was experiencing white privilege in another country even though he is not a white man. He then stated, “I understand why white people like it. It’s good... I hope that one day that won’t be a thing and we could change that and white privilege is just white and not privilege.” Aldair realized that his experience abroad would have been completely different if he was a black male or had a darker complexion. He recalled back to a time when he was younger and his family called him “el guero”, Spanish slang for someone with a fair complexion or light hair. He used to take pride when being called that growing up and felt as though it was a positive part of his identity. He now realizes, through his life experiences and going through college, that he was wrong. Aldair mentioned that he acknowledges that if he were to go back to Mexico and search for a job, his experience would be completely different for an Afro-Mexican or an indigenous Mexico because of the lightness of his skin. Aldair said it is important to recognize our privileges. At one point of this discussion, Aldair said “ For me, it’s what are you going to do with that privilege that you have to help other people of color who do not have that privilege?” This really struck me because I have recently realized that a lot of people of color are being invalidated for their experiences and struggles as a person of color just because they have light skin or “look white”.
After reflecting over my interview with Aldair Arriola, I have now been able to see the way he perceives himself and others through the lens of a person of color that is not black like myself. I have interpreted my experiences and connected them with Aldair’s and have seen the many commonalities.