How assimilated Latinos effectively recolonize our culture through their “rediscovery process.”

Popular Latino Youtube channel Pero like has become a staple in the Latino community, bringing in a diverse cast of Latinos from Puerto Rico to Mexico. More importantly, Pero like seems intent on being representative of the entire Latino experience, including the experiences of those who were not raised up in the culture. I think this is a good thing. The reality is the United States has effectively put pressure on ethnic groups to lose their culture with each generation. This assimilation is dangerous for Latinos who may read micro-aggressions and assimilative demands as a normal process of “becoming American.” It’s not.

To combat this assimilation, Pero Like has many of their “americanized” members come out with videos where they attempt to regain their culture through different means. In theory this sounds great, but in practice the videos themselves unintentionally water down Latino Culture. When someone without culture attempts to document that process in the medium of a 10 minute video, you often get fragmented, sometimes unintentionally stereotypical representation of the culture.

For example, a Pero like video of an “americanized” Puerto Rican attempting to reconnect with the culture through Nuyorican culture seemed to be created for Non-Puerto Ricans, rather than Puerto Ricans themselves. First, Nuyorican culture is a distinct subset of Puerto Rican culture and frankly is an odd place to go to “get in touch” with your Puerto Rican roots. Puerto Ricans who grew up in New York access Nuyorican culture because it is a unique flashpoint between the culture of the island and the culture of NYC. By substituting the history of some traditional Puerto Rican neighborhoods in NYC as a place to find Puerto Rican culture, you miss the context those neighborhoods grew up in.

Each of those neighborhoods had different people from different parts of the island, leading to very particular cultural trends that may not be true for the entirety of the island. The omission of native culture, which is important on the island is mentioned in passing, while using the typical Taino nomenclature, Boricua, for Puerto Ricans. How do you expect to even understand the dilemma of being Puerto Rican in New York, without understanding how the colonization of the island to this day has created a paradox in Nuyoricans?

The answer is you don’t. You get a few shots of “el barrio” a neighborhood that is looking less and less Puerto Rican these days. You ignore the fact that Puerto Ricans have been leaving NYC in droves for wealthier pastures and that the Puerto Ricans still in NYC are more likely to either have been stuck in generations of poverty or recently arrived.

But that does not make for good content. That would require people to care about Puerto Rico past a hurricane and past a revolution. It would require an americanized Puerto Rican to think long and hard and potentially realize that maybe they aren’t the ones who should be chiming in on the discussion.

We’re all assimilated a little bit. Hell, I don’t even speak Spanish. But I know my culture. I was raised in a family of Puerto Ricans with a Puerto Rican Mom and Dad, Puerto Rican grandma and grandpa. Puerto Rican Tios and Titis. Puerto Rican Madrina and Padrino. I remember when my mom sent my ass to the island for a month and a half because she did not know where to send me. I remember chanclas and pernil and Hector Lavoe playing in the hot New York City heat.

I remember all of that and I still would not make a “reclaim my culture video.” At least not for Puerto Rican culture. I would give the mic to those with the knowledge. I would let them speak and let them have their voices heard. I would omit myself from the process. That way those Latinos who want to reconnect with the culture can reconnect with the people carrying our culture instead.