Many of us believed that the controversy surrounding Hilaria Baldwin’s “Spanish” roots was over. But she returned to the limelight this week when her reality show, “The Baldwins”, with her husband Alec Baldwin, premiered at TLC. In it, Baldwin deals with criticism of her Spanish accent – she says The controversy put her in “very dark” places.
However, there have been very few consequences for Baldwin, a white, American -raised woman who was known as “Hillary” until 2009, According to The New York Times. She, as my mother, was born in Boston, Ma, a city known for her deep patriotism because of the part it played during the American Revolution. But Baldwin’s phenotype has placed her in a space completely different from my mother, who was born much darker. While my Puerto Rican and Dominican mother learned to hide their culture (learning when and where to speak Spanish), Baldwin has used his proximity to Spanish culture.
Since the conversation was resumed, I have reflected on how America seems comfortable with immigrants – just as long as they are rich and white. As Latins, our identities of people outside our communities are often police. Baldwin cosplays meanwhile the immigrant experience while many fight against tooth and nail to defend their right to exist here below mass deportation. She pretend to forget how to say the word cucumber (Feigation that her English is not strong) to stand out among the amount of whiteness. Until 2025, we still find ourselves that we must fight extremely harmful stereotypes of people who have the privilege (and brave) to move in and out of spaces freely and with impunity. Because we do not forget, this woman claims to be what she wants, whenever she wants. She is perceived as “unique” among other white people.
So many people today have strong opinions about the rights of immigrants, and ironically, the highest votes often come from Americans whose ancestors track back to the original pilgrims. It is astonishing how easily Baldwin has been dismissed as someone “who did not know better” or someone who just told a “white lie.” But when immigration policy takes the center of US politics, it is clear: America is only uncomfortable with immigration when it involves black, brown, poor and truly vulnerable people.
2018 was Baldwins on the cover of Hello! USA!And her CAA speaker’s biography still mistakenly stated that she was born in Mallorca, Spain. (She says she was raised in both Boston and Spain.) Meanwhile, my mother has struggled to make such waves in her career as an entertainer just because she is a Latina in the comedy space – an industry, much like America, very dominated by white men. For Baldwin to say that she did not even read the articles she was in is a bang on her face for the black and brown Latins who work tirelessly to be recognized by the press. This points to me to her privilege, which is only doubled by the fact that she pretends to be Spanish, which should not be confused with Latin. Fast -historical lesson: Spanish is Europeans, which brought devastation for the communities now called being part of the Latin diaspora.
Baldwin’s privilege does not stay there; She says she teaches her children Spanish at home. Meanwhile, for several years, Spanish -speaking immigrants have feared to teach their children their native language to avoid discrimination. When we show that we know more than one language, we are told to speak English or go back to our country. I am Puerto Rican, and while Baldwin feels characterized to show pride in Spain, Laws were adopted and prohibited us From being proud of the places we came from. In the end, Baldwin exemplifies something that has happened all my life – white people want closeness and ownership of the cultures they claim to despise. They are constantly struggling to be entitled to “culture” which is not their own, whether it is black culture, Latin culture, Asian culture, domestic culture or someone Other culture.
My relationship with blackness and being more than black is something completely different – It is the casing of shame and anti-black. When white people say they are more than just white, it has always come to me that they are comfortable embrace aspects of our cultures – our food, our music, our style, our celebrities and in some cases even our Beauty trends and featuresBecause it does not have the same consequences for them as for us.
Now Baldwin did not claim to be more than Spanish (Although she has taken it back), which, to repeat, is European. But in today’s political climate that has rolled back dei programs (that has Historically, white women helped The most, by the way), as much as I would like to laugh at what she does, we must all look at these issues deeper. While US citizens of states such as Texas must carry their birth certificate with them To prove his right to exist here and Trump says he wants to do each of us prove our citizenship to voteHilaria’s strange imitation of an immigrant is important. The president wants to Remove the citizenship from those who are American -born. This is a dangerous time for Baldwin to dance around with a false accent and a pretend to be a stammer so that she can claim herself “multicultural.”
Let’s call what is happening in the United States what is: racial profiling. It makes me encourage a lyric in Disney’s Pocahontor When she sings to John Smith, “Do you think the only people who are human beings are the people who think and look like you.” I don’t think we can put on the fact that her name is Hillary, and she has decided to leave Hilaria – evoke the English word funny. But this is not a laughing question. While Baldwin can avoid the issue of immigration, so many black and brown people face reality that many white Americans want to see them deported.
Akaylah Ellison is a screenwriter whose story mixes the poetic and long stories. By believing that empathy is a writer’s greatest asset, Akaylah creates characters who express realities and encourage people from different strata of society to get in touch with them emotionally. Akaylah wants to create content that reflects her real world, which is a mix of people with all the backgrounds who coexist without explaining who they are and who never apologize for it.
