‘We Are Not Tacos’: Hispanic Journalists Hit Back at Jill Biden Over Odd Comment
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists encouraged First Lady Jill Biden to educate herself after she said Latino voters were as “unique” as “breakfast tacos” earlier in the day.
Biden was addressing the progressive UnidosUS Annual Conference in San Antonio when she made a comment that went viral online. She said,
[Raul Yzaguirre] helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bogedas of The Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength.
A video of the comment shared by Jorge Bonilla of the the conservative Media Research Center quickly racked up more than 1.1 million views. Biden also pronounced “bodega” as “bogeda.”
Once again, Dr. Jill Biden butchers the Spanish language in furtherance of pandering to a client constituency (the org FKA National Council of La Raza). I hereby bless your timelines with Dr. Jill’s rendering of “bodega”. pic.twitter.com/Z4FSXtlUMe
— Jorge Bonilla, Bowgedah Bro (@BonillaJL) July 11, 2022
The NAHJ issued a Twitter statement about the comment at around 7 p.m. ET.
NAHJ encourages @FLOTUS & her communications team to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities.
We are not tacos.
Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures & food traditions.
Do not reduce us to stereotypes. pic.twitter.com/KQIq5gwsht
— NAHJ (@NAHJ) July 12, 2022
A full statement from the association reads,
Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of latinos in san antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of latinos in the region. NAHJ encourages Dr. Biden and her speech writing team to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities.
We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype.
