As a Latino kid living in Peru, I never thought much about representation. Being a Latino in Latin America, plus the overall conservative thinking of my society, I saw everyone as an equal. But the truth is, not everyone is equal. Certain social groups have been systematically oppressed over the years and continue to be in modern-day based on their race, class, gender, abilities, national origin, immigration status, among others.
A few years later, because of technology and globalization, I found out that, under certain circumstances, my Peruvian and Latin American origin could be a reason for discrimination. In addition, I realized other people who shared my Peruvian and Latin American origin had it much harder than me and were systematically oppressed because, in their cases, other social conditions (such as race, class, gender, abilities, etc.) intertwined and placed them in an even more vulnerable position.
Nowadays it is impossible to escape the race/ethnicity discussion. Unfortunately, it stopped being a matter of equal rights and treatment to become something political. Which always complicates things. The discussion changed from how to achieve fairness and equality between all people to who is right and who is wrong. But this topic is profound and it is not my goal, nor do I have the knowledge to discuss it, so I will pivot to tell you why Latinx (and every) representation matters, even for people like me living in Latin America.
I was lucky to be born into a family with resources that allowed me, from a young age, to dream of someday going to the US or Canada and establishing myself there. As a child, it was about having the best toys and technology. As an adult, it is about having a safer life with better health services for me and my family. Considering that the US has a big influence in Latin America with music, movies, and all western media, it is safe to say that all my life I’ve felt connected to this country.
In the past few years, I started noticing the misconceptions and mistreatments of some US people towards my fellow Latinxs. Lately, this has become more acute because hate speech has been legitimized by the government and the media. Fortunately, I have not been a victim of anything similar during my travels to the US, but I fear that if someday I want to live there, my family or I could have a bad experience with this issue. I also feel sorry for the many Latinx people (including my own family) that left their countries pursuing a better life, who could be at risk of any kind of aggression just because of their ethnicity. This is why correct Latinx representation matters to me1.
What do I mean by correct?
We Latinxs are very different among ourselves, as I’m sure people from different states in the US are, or people from different countries in Europe are. We have different customs, accents, food, ways of thinking, and priorities. We all speak Spanish (except Brazil) but each country has adapted the language to their own ways, so there are words you can say in a country that could mean something completely different in another one. Each country has a different government, currency, economic model, among others.
Nevertheless, we often get mistaken as Mexicans all over the world. It happens because of the influence of the US as the main source of Latinx representation. Mexico is a neighboring country, so it is logical that many Mexicans are living in the US and that the US take this country as their principal influence on who a Latinx is and what is their culture. The same goes for Central Americans that have migrated over the years. The US is closer to them, so they can travel there by land. On the other hand, South American people often migrate from less privileged countries to better ones within the region, depending on the year and the political and economic conditions2.
With that said, it is hard to represent all Latinxs accurately, without falling into stereotypes or misconceptions. I will never forget the scene in Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (2008) when they go to Nazca in Peru and upon arriving people are listening to Mexican music. Indy also mentions he learned Quechua (Peruvian language) from Pancho Villa (Mexican revolutionary general) which doesn’t make any sense. Luckily as years go by, representation accuracy has improved. This leads me to Home by Julio Anta and Anna Wieszczyk.
Home is the story of Mercedes and Juan, two Guatemalan immigrants (mother and boy) fleeing their country after the father of the family is killed by a local gang and they threaten Juan. They travel for one month to get to the Mexican-US border to ask for asylum. This happens in 2018, when the Zero Tolerance Immigration Policy started and conditions for immigrants were awful: law enforcers were separating families, putting people (including kids) in cages, and violating basic human rights. When Juan is separated from his mother, superhuman abilities awaken in him, giving a superhero component to the story.
First of all, as a superhero story, Home is a great origin tale that leaves my Marvel/DC loving side wanting more. But this book is not a superhero book. It goes far beyond that. It is an accurate representation of Latinxs, which for years seemed to be pretty hard to accomplish for any US media. It is a politically charged book that presents a harsh reality in a friendly, non-judgemental way for everyone to understand. It is a book that invites the readers to think about serious matters like immigration and racism. It is exactly what we need from a comic book in 2021.
I knew this comic book was a great Latinx representation from Issue 1, where an Argentinian and a Chilean kid talk about football (soccer). This may sound superficial but it is in the details where you see the accurate representation. Unfortunately, another characteristic of Latinx people, particularly immigrants, is their daily struggle caused by their faulty governments and societies, which is also depicted in the book.
In addition, Home creates relatable characters not only to the people of the nationalities pictured in the book (mostly Guatemalans) but to every Latinx, and even to the rest of the world. Because that is the whole point. By recognising the differences between Latinx themselves, we stop seeing them as a group and we start seeing them as individuals. And when we see them as individuals, anybody can relate. Everyone has desires, passions, and wants to achieve happiness, safety, and good health, just like Juan and Mercedes wanted.
Why is ALL of this important? Because there are many people, including myself, that envision themselves migrating to the United States (or Canada, or Europe) and do not want to be marginalized because of misconceptions. Or do not want to be stereotyped because of what they like, or what music they hear, or what language they prefer to use. In general, they want to be treated equally. Unfortunately, in this world, you need to prove you are equal, and showing our stories to the world in this kind of book allows Latinxs to be seen as humans, not stereotypes, not “the people taking our jobs”, not criminals. Just humans that have feelings. People who like football (soccer) and want a better life for themselves and their children.
Go buy the Home Vol. 1 TPB and support Latinx creators!
And remember, nobody wants to migrate. Nobody wants to leave their family, friends, and culture to begin a new life. But sometimes you need to do that to get better living conditions and opportunities. The important question is: why is there such a big difference in opportunities and way of living between countries? Why did my place of birth and luck need to define where I can live and where I can go? And what can we do to make it better for the least fortunate ones?
And it should matter to anyone that cares about people treating each other nicely.
For example, in the 80s/90s there was a migration of Peruvians to Chile, and in the last 20 years there has been a migration of Venezuelans towards various countries of the region.