Gina Rodriguez Questions What It Means To Be ‘Latino Enough’

“No, I’m going to talk about this, we’re going to open this bad boy up. Let’s open the can of worms,” Rodriguez said, speaking to The Huffington Post about what she’s described as “interracial Latino racism,”

The “Jane The Virgin” star experienced it first-handPeople En Español cover storyan Instagram post

Rodriguez says she wrote the Spanish caption because she felt it was appropriate when sharing her People En Español cover, adding that she also wanted to do something for her Latino fans who only spoke Spanish or were bilingual. She even sent it to her father for approval first.

But soon after she put it online, Rodriguez began receiving hateful comments

“I posted the picture and I looked at it and I go ‘oh, you know my toes look really weird’,” she said. “Boom! [Commenters started saying] “Weird toes,” “weird toes.”

“Yo hablo español, yo puedo hablar español y también entiendo todo (I speak Spanish, I can speak Spanish and I also understand everything),” Rodriguez said in Spanish before continuing in English. “But during interviews I get nervous, so I don’t always say it very well. And I, grammatically, don’t write Spanish very well but I understand everything.” She added with a laugh, “If you want to talk shit about me, I can understand everything that you’re saying, which is the only thing that counts.”

Rodriguez chalks up the experience to the negative criticism some Latinos direct at other Latinos, adding that the topic is “never” discussed out of fear. That’s why she decided to bust open that can of worms and eventually called her bullies out in a follow-up Instagram post.

You know what saddens my heart, is when you try and celebrate an accomplishment with those that have helped you achieve it and no matter what, someone, anyone, has something negative to say. Whether it was from the way my toes curled under to the way I typed my spanish. We desire to project our own insecurities and hatred on another. When did we decide social media was for hating, for putting others down rather than lifting them up. I refuse to participate in that kind of world. Before you write a comment today on anyone’s picture or anyone’s page ask yourself would you want others to say that about yourself? What am I getting out of being mean to another person I have never met? Yesterday I shared my joy for the cover of @peopleenespanol and I was blown away at the immediate hate projected on my page. My question to you today is this, do you know the power you have in this world and do you desire to use it for good? I do. #NoToKeyboardCourage

A photo posted by Gina Rodriguez (@hereisgina) on Aug 6, 2015 at 8:12am PDT

“Then I opened the can of worms and I saw so much about like, ‘oh I’m only half-Mexican and half Scottish, people say I’m not Latino enough and other people say if you don’t speak Spanish you’re not Latino at all.’ And this and that,” Rodriguez said. “I’m like, when did this happen? When did we decide there are certain criteria that make you Latino enough?”

“I’m sorry no, I don’t agree with that,” she continued. “It’s like anybody turning to you and being ‘You ain’t human enough, you ain’t pretty enough, you ain’t tall enough, you ain’t big enough.’ What do you mean I’m not enough? No, I am enough. I am fully enough. And you’re enough. And the girl that’s half and half is enough. And the girl that only speaks Spanish is enough.”

This rift she sees within the community worries her, particularly when it comes to the upcoming presidential election.

“Because they all try to lump us into one little group, we’re all Latino,” Rodriguez said. “But we go like this: ‘I’m not Dominican, I’m Puerto Rican.’ ‘I’m not Puerto Rican, I’m Cuban.’ ‘I’m not Cuban, I’m Mexican.’ What are we doing?”

“We are the most powerful force in this country, we hands down could put somebody in office, 55 million plus

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