Latino/Latina Vignette #2

A white woman sees a construction crew starting to build something across the street from where she works.  She sees a few men standing in a circle who appear to be the crew-- one is a red-haired man with freckles, the others appear to be Latino.

Curious about what is being developed there, she approaches the group. Assuming that the red haired man is the foreman, she asks what is going to be built.  Behind her, a man with a heavy Latino accent answers in a friendly voice, “I just bought the property.  I'm building one house for my family and two other houses to be sold.”

Commentary to Latino/Latina Vignette #2

The white woman makes the mistake of automatically assuming that a white person, not a person of color, is going to be the one in charge.  When it becomes obvious that we have made this kind of mistaken assumption, we often feel embarrassed or even caught.  We have inadvertently expressed out loud what we, on some level, believe inside.  The most helpful response here is not to berate ourselves but to recognize that we probably need to examine our stereotypes regarding Latinos or people of color in general.

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