Episode: America

A group of co-hosts discuss stereotypes and their experiences as people of color in America. They also talk about songs that highlight social issues, such as police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. They share personal stories about racial discrimination and unfair treatment by law enforcement. The co-hosts also discuss their perceptions of America and how their culture mixes with American culture. They talk about differences in holiday celebrations and greetings between their countries of origin and the US. They also touch on interracial relationships and the challenges of integrating into different cultural backgrounds. The episode ends with a discussion on what holds America back, including resentment, racism, and ignorance. Good evening guys, my name is Andre Farrell and I will be your host on today's first podcast episode called America, and I have a few co-hosts here. Introduce yourself. My name is Diana Corrado. My name is Alexa Sahin. My name is Enrique Reynoso. My name is Bella Paz. So the first question that I will be introducing to you guys is, what are stereotypes and what does that mean to you? Yeah, so to me, stereotypes I think are just kind of prejudices or like something that someone infers about your race or ethnicity and it's usually something negative. Do any of you guys have any stereotypes that you guys have been labeled? Um, I think definitely there's a lot about Hispanics and how a lot of people think Hispanics are all just the same or like calling everybody Mexican. Yeah, especially a lot of Americans that I've met and just believe that all Hispanics are just Mexicans and they like to label us as uh... Lazy, junkie, and alien. Nah, lump. Lump. So the reason I picked this song was, um, it's sang by a person, it's sang by a Chavez Cambino. It's called This America and he goes over a lot of just basically what it's like to be an American in today's society, especially as a person of color. And I think it just kind of fits the podcast episode. But another song that I would like to introduce is All Right by Kenneth Lamar. Does anyone want to kind of give feedback on what they think of that song? I'll start it off. I think this song reminds me a lot of 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement. I think especially like in social media this song really highlighted the way a lot of people of color felt when there was a big wave of police brutality. Um, and I think also too, like, yeah, this song is also like very catchy and like some people may not understand the message, but I think if you really like listen to the words, like it's very like motivating and like it really puts a perspective on the struggles that people of color like have to deal with. On a day-to-day basis, yeah. There's a bunch of other songs like Smellin' the Blood by J.Cole kind of just establishing the same thing, just as a person of color, but we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis in America. There's stereotypes, targeted racism acts, and things of such. I agree. Just kind of going off of that, as a person that has a lot of African American friends, especially in that time period, they felt very not safe throughout the BLM movement. So, you know, going outside and especially seeing cop cars, I can tell you a couple stories where my friends felt very unsettled because they think a lot of times, this is like with the George Floyd thing, a situation would occur to them out of basically nothing, but I know they live with a lot of fear in their heart and I felt for them with that as well, because I feel that a lot of people of color kind of just have to have that struggle. Anyone kind of want to go based off of what I said? Anyone else have had kind of experiences or like funny stories they want to share? Yeah, one time, I was in a target, and I had a water gun on me, playing a game of senior assassin with my friends. There was one guy, his name was Josh, he gave me a shot with a water gun, and then the next thing I knew, I had the cops calling me for bringing a weapon into target, and I got detained for 30 minutes and they were questioning me about everything, and I was about to get arrested. And he got let go, correct? Yeah, he got let go. Without a slap on the wrist? Yeah. He kind of just said he had to go to work, and then the cops were like, okay, you guys are bonded. Yeah, so those are kind of just like one of the instances that like, as people of color have to face in America, you know, our Caucasian friend, Josh, will be violating a law without a slap on the wrist, while Adam, having a water gun, was being detained for 30 minutes, and got questioned at, and that triggered him for the way that he looked. Yeah, and that's a smaller instance. There are times where that could be taken a lot further, and worse repercussions could come from that. I think that police are supposed to be something that makes people safe, and that hasn't been the case for a long time now. That makes me pose the question of how do people view America, and what's your perception on America? Like, what does it stand for, and how has that changed? Okay, so, for us, I guess, as Hispanics, and when my grandmother came here, it's always just been seen as like the land of the free, and we always, like, come here wishing for more opportunities, more, like, freedom, but, like, I feel like we all just have someone watching because of our color, because of what we are, instead of just, like, white, you know, Americans, and it definitely feels like we're free, and we have more opportunities, but other people have more opportunities than we do just because of the way they look. Yeah, I agree. My mom, actually, she cleans houses, and a lot of the time, that isn't really a job that you necessarily need a resume, or your social security, or you need to bring your driver's license. That's usually just something you come in, and you do the job, but a lot of times, she has been asked for her social security, and it's usually based on the fact that she's just a Hispanic woman. So, I'm actually playing the song that I mentioned earlier called Son of the Bluffs, but I have a other co-host here that I want to introduce. Jessica Valdez, how do you feel to be here? Hi, guys. My name's Jess, and I'm actually really excited to be here. Alright, now that we've introduced her, I want to ask you guys another question. What are some parts of being an American that you identify with, especially being a Latino descendant? How do you guys feel that our culture mixes with American culture? Well, for me, I feel like Christmas is a big thing that stands out for us because back where I'm from, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th, but here in the U.S., it's the 25th, so with my family, we celebrate the 24th. We open gifts, and then on the 25th, we all hang out with family, but we celebrate both days because it's part of all of us here. Yeah, that's definitely common. I mean, for me, the same thing. Actually, the way that we do it, we kind of just open at 12, and then after that, we go to sleep, and then the rest of the day, we just kind of hang out and eat food. But, yeah, that's just how we celebrate Christmas. Just have a family day. Yeah, have a family day. Yeah, I agree. It's the same for me. I think there's a lot of other holidays that my family back home doesn't understand, so I'm Salvadorian, and there's Fourth of July, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, all holidays that we've learned to really celebrate here and really go all out, that just doesn't really exist or maybe exists on different days back home. I don't have much of a meme. Yeah. But it's really big here in America. Jess, is there anything that you feel is different when it comes to culture? I would say culture-wise, I think also it's greetings, how you greet people here in the United States, as well as how you would back, let's say, in our country of origin. So I'm Guatemalan, and in Guatemala, usually every summer when I go, I'll see my aunts, uncles, cousins, and usually kiss them on the cheek and hug them. But here, even if it's a random stranger back home, you would kind of do that. But here, you kind of just say your name, greet them, shake their hand, and then that's it. So it's kind of a bit more informal. Yeah, it's kind of like, at least back home, it's more of a respectful American thing that we do, and I feel like if we were to kind of introduce ourselves in an American way back at home, they'd kind of take that as disrespect. So it's definitely a culture shock when a lot of our grandparents or anyone that comes from our country of origin come here. Especially because I feel like where we're from, it's so small. Everybody knows each other. So they're all like, oh, hey, let's have a conversation. And you'd be like someone you just met. But here, everybody's like, stay away. When it comes to relationships, how do you feel about interracial relationships and mixing those types of cultures? So for me, my boyfriend is half Venezuelan, half American. So his mom's from Pennsylvania. Culturally, it's a lot different because I feel like I can really resonate with his father, and I'll talk to him in Spanish and stuff. But his mom, she's like a really sweet person, really nice. But I had a really hard time kind of integrating myself to his mom's side of the family just because culturally it's so different. We come from a really rural area, and it was just kind of hard at first. But other than that, we all come together and bond over it. So this song is actually by Lil Baby, one that I chose to introduce earlier called The Bigger Picture. This leads to my last question of today's episode, and that is what holds America back in your guys' opinion? I think something that holds America back is a lot of resentment. I think especially as a lot of these issues, especially involving race and ethnicity, they don't tend to go away, and they're very ongoing. I think there's a lot of resentment that people hold, and it continues to push the problem forward. And I think there isn't any way to stop it besides racism stopping, and that doesn't seem like it's going to happen in the near future. I feel like we should embrace each other's differences instead of just looking at it as it being weird. If we all embrace each other's cultural differences, then I feel like it would be so much better. I think also ignorance kind of holds America back a lot, because there are some people that are still setting their ways. I feel like they can't open their mind to the melting pot that America is becoming, and I think that takes a toll on how we progress in the future. Alright, thank you guys for sharing your opinions. We've got time for you guys today on the first podcast episode called America, and that'll be a wrap. Signing off, Andrew Thurl.