Comments on: Not Down with the Cholos http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/ Just a child stuck in adulthood Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:44:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Cholo Blanco http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-355323 Cholo Blanco Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:11:23 +0000 http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-355323 The sucky thing about this is that he probably knew very well you you speaking Spanish and was trying to shut you down for pretending to be in the club without being brown enough. I get this all the time. I'm kinda stuck in the middle, gabacho who grew up wit da cholos in LA then found that bicultural doesn't buy you crap with people who don't know you. We're not Americans any more, we're "communities" trying frantically to feel like we belong to something. According to Sherman Alexie, American Indians obsess over who's Indian enough to deserve the label (and the glamor I guess). So I finally had to invent my own ethnicity, and if I like you enough, I might let you in. The sucky thing about this is that he probably knew very well you you speaking Spanish and was trying to shut you down for pretending to be in the club without being brown enough.

I get this all the time. I’m kinda stuck in the middle, gabacho who grew up wit da cholos in LA then found that bicultural doesn’t buy you crap with people who don’t know you.

We’re not Americans any more, we’re “communities” trying frantically to feel like we belong to something. According to Sherman Alexie, American Indians obsess over who’s Indian enough to deserve the label (and the glamor I guess).

So I finally had to invent my own ethnicity, and if I like you enough, I might let you in.

]]> By: Becky http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354444 Becky Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:46:12 +0000 http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354444 Strangely, there's a mexican restaurant on the North Shore on Oahu called Cholo's. I think the only reason they get away with it is due to the extremely low percentage of Hispanics that live on the island. The people that were like the cholos that you described were the Samoans in our school. I swear, I had friends that literally just happened to look over at them and then the Samoans would be harassing them forever and threatening to kick their asses for giving "stink eye." It was a scary threat, since the Samoans were larger than most of the men on our football team. Strangely, there’s a mexican restaurant on the North Shore on Oahu called Cholo’s. I think the only reason they get away with it is due to the extremely low percentage of Hispanics that live on the island. The people that were like the cholos that you described were the Samoans in our school. I swear, I had friends that literally just happened to look over at them and then the Samoans would be harassing them forever and threatening to kick their asses for giving “stink eye.” It was a scary threat, since the Samoans were larger than most of the men on our football team.

]]> By: trumwill http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354258 trumwill Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:31:59 +0000 http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354258 I'm not familiar with the term "cholos". Do they use that label for themselves or is it something that outsiders use to describe them? Back home we had a group we called kikkers. They were basically suburbanites, often but not always from the lower class suburbs, that embraced country or cowboy culture. They wore the hats and the belt-buckles and the boots. They exaggerated their drawl and spit a lot. They were mostly looked upon as poseurs, though, because their interest in hickdom pretty much ended with their appearance and demeanor. It sounds like your cholos are a bit more authentic than that, albeit in a way that's harder to simply grow out of than for kikkers. I’m not familiar with the term “cholos”. Do they use that label for themselves or is it something that outsiders use to describe them?

Back home we had a group we called kikkers. They were basically suburbanites, often but not always from the lower class suburbs, that embraced country or cowboy culture. They wore the hats and the belt-buckles and the boots. They exaggerated their drawl and spit a lot. They were mostly looked upon as poseurs, though, because their interest in hickdom pretty much ended with their appearance and demeanor. It sounds like your cholos are a bit more authentic than that, albeit in a way that’s harder to simply grow out of than for kikkers.

]]> By: Mark http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354256 Mark Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:58:13 +0000 http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354256 Well, I'm glad you didn't have to break out your mad kung fu skills on them in the mall in front of God and everybody!! =) Well, I’m glad you didn’t have to break out your mad kung fu skills on them in the mall in front of God and everybody!! =)

]]> By: billy http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354255 billy Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:38:43 +0000 http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354255 i understand your vibes. the world can be a real tricky place. you might find your friends so far removed from your experience. i understand your vibes. the world can be a real tricky place. you might find your friends so far removed from your experience.

]]> By: HispanicPundit http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354239 HispanicPundit Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:54:23 +0000 http://blog.logtar.com/2007/11/29/not-down-with-the-cholos/#comment-354239 The ironic thing about the whole situation is that they probably have the exact opposite perception of how others see them. I grew up in Compton, an area filled with Cholos and black gangsters. Naturally, I become friends with many of them, and it was always the case that when we went to an area that had a lower level of Cholos, they always walked proud and it was almost like an ego boost. Thoughts of superiority and being more in tune with the 'manly side' were common. It wasn't until later, much later really, that I realized that dressing like a cholo, wearing size 50+ pants, and mad dogging people was not something that others highly admired - and most people that didn't accept the challenge didn't do so not necessarily because they were scared, but because they didn't want to 'waste their time' on someone they see as lost, in a dead end life. Quite a culture shock really, and one I still have flashbacks of and still need getting used to. The ironic thing about the whole situation is that they probably have the exact opposite perception of how others see them. I grew up in Compton, an area filled with Cholos and black gangsters. Naturally, I become friends with many of them, and it was always the case that when we went to an area that had a lower level of Cholos, they always walked proud and it was almost like an ego boost. Thoughts of superiority and being more in tune with the ‘manly side’ were common.

It wasn’t until later, much later really, that I realized that dressing like a cholo, wearing size 50+ pants, and mad dogging people was not something that others highly admired - and most people that didn’t accept the challenge didn’t do so not necessarily because they were scared, but because they didn’t want to ‘waste their time’ on someone they see as lost, in a dead end life. Quite a culture shock really, and one I still have flashbacks of and still need getting used to.

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