Black and Asian Latinx influencers discuss lack of representation
Ren Fernandez-Kim has always struggled to reconcile their two cultures; their father is Peruvian and their mother is Korean. Fernandez-Kim stated that it was difficult to accept themselves as Asian Latinos because they were never seen or talked about.
Fernandez-Kim was not Korean enough on one hand, and they were “too Asian to be Hispanic” on the other.
“Because I didn’t fit in, I grew up never really enjoying all aspects of myself. No one who resembled me spoke Spanish “Fernandez-Kim explained to USA TODAY. “It was difficult to adore something Latino, and the media in the United States never showed it.”
Ilianna Ayala grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York, surrounded by Black and brown Latinas, but she never saw them in the news or on television. According to Ayala, far too often, Latinas are represented as “thin, white, or light-skinned,” alienating millions of “melaninated Latinas.”
Ayala and Fernandez-Kim are two of many Latinos who have historically been marginalised in mainstream culture. They’ve stated that they don’t fit the “accepted” stereotype of a Hispanic.
However, they are rapidly increasing, as evidenced by the 2020 U.S. Census, indicating that the identity of Latinos and Hispanics is evolving. Latinos who classified as “other” increased from 37% to 42%, while those who identified as two or more races increased from 6% to 33%.
