How does seeing a "Mexican Goods" aisle at the supermarket where you also find canned beans and other Latin American products make you feel? Are you indifferent? It brought forth a deep wave of resentment in me.
Arranging a grocery store so that all the beans and Latin products fall in the same aisle, which you then label "Mexican Goods," is, at the very minimum, tone-deaf AF.
For starters:
Latin America and the Caribbean are made up of 33 different countries. Lumping them all together under "Mexican Goods" diminishes 32 other cultures. It's like labeling all the aisles at a grocery store "Californian Foods" because that's the state with the largest population in our country.
Second:
The last three years have seen double-digit surges in hate crimes against Latinos. One of the most well-known derogatory remarks against all Latinos, especially Mexicans, is to call them "beaners". So why encourage the stereotype, and in turn, that slur, by putting our goods in the bean aisle?
Third:
It's ridiculous that I have to shop for my Puerto Rican ingredients in the "International" or "Mexican" aisle. Puerto Ricans are a part of the US and have been for almost 125 years. So why are our ingredients segregated?
I suppose it has to do with the Spanish colonists that ruled over Puerto Rico over 200 years ago. But then, by the same logic, you should also see gumbo in the international section, as France and Spain both took turns owning Louisiana before the US got its hands on it.
For me, the Mexican, International, Latin, and Ethnic Foods aisles- whatever you want to call them- are a low-key way of saying- you don't belong. You are OTHER.
Don't get me wrong; I understand why these aisles exist. They came to be in the '50s when soldiers returning from war abroad wanted access to the new foods they had discovered in the countries in which they’d been stationed. But that was the '50s.
In the '50s, we were "other." Heck, in the '50s, Italians were "other." Can you imagine if the pasta, Italian bread, and marinara were all still in the "International" aisle? Fun Fact: Italians make up 5% of the US population, while Latinos make up 20%.
It's time to assimilate our foods.
Latinos are here, and we aren't going anywhere. Our grocery stores should reflect that. We’re not just a small “part” of this country. We’re an integral thread in its fabric.
And this isn’t about convenience. Grocery stores are the one place everyone has in common. No matter where you're from or what language you speak, we all go to the supermarket. When grocers stop low-key segregation and give Latino ingredients a chance to be discovered in more heavily trafficked aisles by people that aren't Latino, they are doing more than rearranging a few cans and boxes.
Normalizing Latino ingredients is a step towards normalizing our existence in this country so we aren't considered foreigners in our own land. A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Let’s take it.
What do you think?
What's Wrong With The Mexican Food Aisle