Source: Rodrigo Varela / Getty
WTF, Premios Juventud (PJ)?
For those who might not be familiar with the PJs, the award show is basically the Latinx equivalent of the Teen Choice Awards. The annual show airs on Univision, a proper nod to the second and third generation of Latinx teens who live in both cultures.
But last night the popular award show included an extremely controversial personality: Iggy Azalea.
The queen of culture vultures herself performed her new single “Switch” and introduced talent Maluma. Viewers watching at home quickly took to Twitter to demonstrate their confusion and downright disapproval.
https://twitter.com/Martell_04/status/883330339980095488
https://twitter.com/mariayolis/status/883141014806024192
https://twitter.com/alevisionaria/status/883139235817164801
While many people were tweeting their disdain, the official Premios Juventud account made matters worse by having the audacity to compare her to the iconic Jennifer Lopez. Whet!?!
Again, Latinx Twitter took the chance to check them with the quickness.
https://twitter.com/JLos_Gay_Son/status/883215354738212868
https://twitter.com/omniJLO/status/883215139176038400
While it’s incredibly frustrating for many in the Latinx community, it definitely doesn’t come as a surprise either. Mainstream Latinx content, whether the coverage appears in media within the United States or native lands, consistently and actively panders to whiteness. From telenovelas to the people featured on song remixes, consumers of this content are reminded that Black culture has no place in mainstream Latinx culture unless it’s a white woman performing it. This toxic notion negates Afro-Latinx identity and the impact of Blackness on Latin origin and culture.
Particularly when it comes to those who have migrated to the United States, communities are force fed this narrative of assimilation such that the very foundation of Afro-Latinx culture is forgotten. The inclusion of such an offensive figure like Iggy Azalea in the line up of a show like Premios Juventud isn’t just appalling, it’s embarrassing.
Team CASSIUS is calling y’all out — do better.
