Spanglish Day
Diego Martín Velázquez Caballero
October 12th, a date historically laden with narratives, contrasts, and even clashes between Hispanist and Indigenous perspectives in Latin America, seems to require a new perspective today.
Instead of perpetuating the polarization between these dimensions, perhaps it is time to observe a phenomenon that is profoundly transforming cultural and social dynamics: the experience of Mexicans in the United States.
North America is currently one of the main centers of Latino concentration outside of Latin American territories.
However, little attention is paid to the sociocultural and demographic impacts that the Mexican presence is generating in the United States.
Authors such as Samuel Huntington and George Friedman, from a markedly Anglo-Saxon conservative standpoint, have analyzed the impact of the Mexican presence on the American cultural landscape.
Although their approaches tend to be alarmist and tinged with racism, they conceal a reality that few observe closely: an increasingly profound integration that is transforming both Mexico and the United States.
Mexican influence not only transcends physical borders but also redefines what it means to be part of the American fabric.
In this context, the Mexico-United States relationship becomes a fascinating example of forced but mutually necessary adaptation.
Even under the nationalist-populist government of the Morena party in Mexico, collaboration between the two nations remains unavoidable, more as an act of survival than out of mere political affinity.
From this relationship emerges a powerful and complex phenomenon: Spanglish.
This term encompasses the growing cultural blending of Mexican and American elements, a symbiosis that goes beyond language and permeates the economic, social, and political spheres.
Mexico, the real Mexico, is now more American than Hispanic.
The speed with which the United States exerts its influence over Mexico presents a difficult path for the Latin American country to navigate.
In this scenario, perhaps contemplating a complete break from Hispanic influences is not unreasonable.
Mexico could end up playing a role in the "Latin American sea" similar to the one the Philippines played in the Asian context.
What does this imply? On the one hand, there is an intellectual and scientific challenge in understanding how more than half of present-day Mexicans have some essential connection to the United States; immigration to North America is more than just a family matter.
On the other hand, an optimistic possibility emerges: Mexicans in the United States have demonstrated their ability to adapt to liberal economic contexts, learn English, embrace democratic values, and achieve income levels sufficient to position themselves within the middle classes without depending on the political patronage so deeply rooted in their country of origin.
Internal debates about the national direction in Mexico seem to be wearing thin in an ideological back-and-forth that contributes little to addressing the practical realities of its proximity to the United States.
Perhaps it's time to rethink these projects from a perspective more aligned with North American cooperation, which has ultimately achieved tangible, successful, and operational results.
While the Mexican political class wastes time debating Hispanicity and nationalism, technocracy and populism, left and right, Mexicans in the United States work to save their communities; they always do so despite the fact that this country has given them little, almost nothing.
North America has been the true father of Mexico.
In this context, Spanglish should cease to be seen as a threat or a loss of identity and begin to be celebrated as a meeting point between cultures.
It is a creative and realistic response to the dilemmas of October 12th, transcending the tension between Hispanists and Indigenous rights activists.
In the end, the American context has proven to be a space where that idealized vision of the "American way of life" thrives, accessible not only to Latinos, but also to Spaniards and other communities around the world.
The United States seems to welcome this cultural hybridization as part of its multicultural strength.
Perhaps it's time for Mexico to do the same and embrace its growing role as a bridge between two increasingly interconnected worlds.
It's necessary to celebrate Spanglish and assimilate its anthropological effects, which translates into observing concrete reality.
Millions of Mexicans have responded to the gravitational pull of North America and have contributed significantly to the development of their families, regions, and the country, regardless of governments or ideologies.
The power of interaction between Mexico and the United States is simply inevitable, and it is best to address it.
