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[quote=Anonymous]Oh my Lord this was 100% a ChatGPT cut and paste job by Brandon. Who else would spend that much energy defending this? It also reads just like his stubstack.

Brandon, if you're reading here (and we know you are) give it a rest. No one is buying your defenses and it's just absolutely embarassing to watch you try. Maybe take a break from the internet and go to therapy or a 12 step group.

[quote]
Hi Brandon and Tina. Did you guys seriously just use ChatGPT to help write this sorry excuse for your bad behavior? It really looks that way.

Thanks so for the cultural history lesson, truly groundbreaking stuff. The issue isn’t whether Mexican culture is rich or meaningful (it obviously is). The problem is a bunch of white people playing dress-up as their idea of Cholos which means mimicking the most stereotyped, criminalized version of that culture. It’s not appreciation when your costume relies on caricatures that have been used for decades to demonize actual Latino communities. This is literally no different than white people participating in a gangsta and thug party. Neither version is ok.

You can write three paragraphs about César Chávez and lowrider culture, but it doesn’t erase the fact that you're cosplaying built on stereotypes that have been weaponized against Mexican-Americans. Let’s not pretend the “cholo look” exists in a vacuum. That image is the same one cops and media have used for years to criminalize brown kids. So when you turn it into a costume, it is not celebrating the culture, you’re recycling a racist caricature. And please, spare us the “we had a Latino friend there” defense. You don’t get cultural immunity by association.

You’re literally arguing that the problem is people connecting Chicano culture to gangs while defending your decision to dress up as the most stereotyped version of that culture. And then photographing yourselves with an ICE agent for laughs as if that is not a huge trauma for the very community you're lecturing us about.

So yeah. you don’t get points for being racist, getting called on it, and then trying to moralize about it afterward. Just like you don't get points for cheating on your wife, getting outed for it, and then trying to minimize and blame-shift.

There's so much ignorance on this thread. What IS racist or at minimum ignorant is a bunch of non-latino's negatively and intuitively connecting a subculture within the Latino/Latina culture with gang bangers and illegal immigrants.

Tina certainly could have explained it more for context, but If you read in her comments, this was hosted by a Latino friend as a themed birthday party celebrating him and where he came from.

I agree the ICE costume comes across as insensitive, but have you ever been responsible for a costume choices someone else wears? It obviously wasn't an ICE party or a deportation party it was a birthday party.

Read up maybe this will help you...

Chicano culture is not synonymous with gang culture or illegal immigration. In fact, it’s a rich, deeply rooted American subculture that emerged from Mexican-American identity, particularly in the Southwest (especially Southern California, Texas, and Arizona). Here’s the breakdown:

⸻

1. What Chicano Culture Really Is

Chicano refers to people of Mexican descent who were born or raised in the United States — not immigrants. The term grew out of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement as an expression of cultural pride and political empowerment.
It celebrates:
• Family and faith
• Community activism and social justice
• Lowrider and car club culture (a form of creative pride, art, and self-expression)
• Distinct fashion, music, art, and tattoo styles
• Mexican-American heritage — blending Mexican roots with American life.

In short, Chicano culture is about identity, art, resistance, and pride, not crime.

⸻

2. The Misconception About Crime or Immigration

Because some gang members have historically come from Chicano neighborhoods — often due to poverty, discrimination, and systemic neglect — the media has sometimes blurred the line between Chicano culture and gang life. But they are not the same thing.
• Illegal immigrants are people who came to the U.S. without authorization, from any Latin American country — that’s a legal/immigration status, not a culture.
• Gang members exist in many ethnic groups and are typically tied to socioeconomic conditions, not ethnicity or culture itself.

So, while some gang imagery (like tattoos, bandanas, or lowriders) overlaps stylistically with Chicano aesthetics, most Chicanos are not gang-affiliated at all — they’re proud Mexican-Americans keeping cultural traditions alive through art, music, cars, food, and family.

⸻

3. The Heart of Chicano Culture

If you walk into a Chicano neighborhood or event, what you’ll find is:
• Murals celebrating heroes like César Chávez and Frida Kahlo
• Lowrider car shows and art exhibitions
• Family gatherings with mariachi and Tejano music
• Cultural pride in neighborhoods that helped shape Los Angeles, San Diego, and East L.A.

At its best, it’s a movement of beauty, resilience, and community, not crime or illegality.[/quote][/quote]

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