There is a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Recently, videos on TikTok have been going viral because of a new “trend”, where white, non-Latino folks colonize and cultural appropriate the Latino culture. This has consisted of the renaming of popular Latino dishes. Some examples being esquites, agues frescas, and ceviche. These traditional dishes have been Americanized to Mexican street corn, spy water, and cowboy caviar. Along with foods, TikTok has been a platform culturally appropriating our makeup, hairstyles, and clothes. Offensive hashtags like “little Mexican girl aesthetic” and “clean girl aesthetic” were in the recent top ten trending. 

Latinos have been furious with this latest trend that encourages this hateful, disrespectful and ignorant behavior. Many who participate in online trends like these are also the people who harass local street vendors. Calling them slurs, making fun of our food, and telling us to go back to our country. It is ironic that we receive so much hate, yet people still want to fit the “Mexican girl aesthetic”. These attacks are inhumane. Their carts are being trashed; their food is being thrown away. They truly aren’t getting the respect they deserve. These street vendors are some of the most hardworking people I know. They live in a country that tries to keep them out, a country that tries to shut them up, and a country that pushes them down when they try to make it to the top. As Bad Bunny would put it, “Ahora todos quieren ser Latino pero les falta sazón”, which translates to, “Now everyone wants to be Latino, but they lack sazón.” 

Along with the colonization of Latino food came the cultural appropriation of the Chicano culture. There have been many videos posted of white, non-Chicano people thinking it’s okay to “cosplay” as them by wearing traditional Chicano clothing. “It’s just a style, it’s not that deep.” Chicanas have been wearing this style for years and have been beaten for wearing it, but when a white, non-Latino person wears it’s suddenly trendy and cool. Chicano is not a costume for you to put on. Chicano is having to fight decades worth of discrimination and racial profiling. Driving a lowrider, wearing bandanas and having a teardrop tattoo doesn’t make you Chicano. As poet Manuel Gonzalez said in his poem Chicanismo, “Chicano is the fire that feeds my soul, it’s the blood of my ancestors racing through my veins, it’s the passion in my heart, Chicano is the love for mi Familia… Chicano is the burning that’s inside me, that moves me, that motivates me, that makes me who I am.” 

Within the cultural appropriation of Chicano culture there has been the cultural appropriation of Zapotec and Oaxaca braids. These braids have been in Mexican culture since the Spaniards came and colonized them. It is frustrating to see non-Latinos wear these traditional braids when they don’t understand the strong meaning behind them. What’s even more disappointing is the fact that this traditional braid is better known as “Frida Kahlo braids.” Frida Kahlo was a woman who stole from Zapotec culture and turned it into her own. 

People participating in these trends aren’t just regular people, but famous celebrities too. An example of famous people who are profiting from the Latino culture are the Jenner sisters. Kendal Jenner, for one, is a strong example of culturally appropriating while playing into the stereotypes. In a recent video advertising her new tequila brand, she is seen dressed as a stereotypical Mexican farmer. She has made working in farms look appealing to the eye, while millions of immigrants must work in farms and fields to support their families. Along with Kendal Jenner, Hailey Bieber introduced her “brownie glazed lips” as a new trend on TikTok. While young women across the internet go crazy over this new look, I can only think of the Chicana women who have been wearing these lips and having these eyebrows since the 90s. Instead of being praised for their beauty, Chicana women were harassed and called ghetto. 

Our culture is not a trend or aesthetic for you to put on as a costume and take off at the end of the day. You can’t just pick and choose what you love and hate about our traditions. I have been bullied and harassed throughout the entirety of my life for being Latino. I have been called slurs for speaking Spanish, I have had my braids pulled and have been made fun of for mispronouncing English words. Latino cultural is more than what people see in this trend. My culture has more to it than what people love to claim as their own.