Latinx Files: We are all breakfast tacos

Cue that meme of Carl “CJ” Johnson walking down an alleyway because for the second week in a row, this newsletter is all about taco talk. And you have no one but the National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists to blame for that.

On Monday, a clip of Jill Biden speaking at a UnidosUS conference went viral because the first lady compared the uniqueness of the Latinx community to the breakfast tacos of San Antonio, where the event took place.

The gaffe was unintentionally hilarious, particularly her mispronunciation of “bodega,” which was on par with her less than stellar attempt at uttering the United Farm Workers’ slogan “Sí se puede” at an event celebrating Cesar Chavez’s birthday last year.

The first lady tried poorly to explain how the Latinx community isn’t a monolith. What she didn’t do was directly compare Latinxs to tacos.

But because this is Twitter we’re talking about, this latter point didn’t matter to right-wing provocateurs acting in bad faith. They saw an opportunity to attack and dove right in.

As my colleague Gustavo Arellano notes in his latest column, which doubles as a primer on the relationship between Mexican food and presidential campaigning, “conservatives are all of a sudden doing their worst woke impersonation and claiming that Biden and the Democrats are racist for supposedly saying Latinos are tacos.”

“The taco is no longer neutral,” he adds. “It’s become weaponized in the name of owning the other side.”

It’s true.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a man known more for his failed presidential bids than for his familiarity with internet culture, changed his Twitter profile photo to a picture of what passes for a taco in Florida as a means to troll the Bidens. The Republican National Committee, in hopes of capitalizing on the unforced error, is now selling taco-related merch.

This isn’t how Latinx Twitter saw it. On the contrary, my feed — anecdotal, I know — was full of people roasting the first lady for her misguided attempt at hispandering. Much like when J.D. Vance asked if you hate Mexicans, my particular subset of the internet was having a laugh at this moment of cringe.

Not NAHJ, though.

On Monday, the organization posted a tweet encouraging the first lady and her team “to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities.”

“We are not tacos,” NAHJ said.

“Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures & food traditions. Do not reduce us to stereotypes.”

Interestingly enough, a cursory search didn’t find a demand for an apology from then-candidate Donald Trump after he tweeted a photo of himself with a taco bowl for Cinco de Mayo in 2016.

Beyond purporting to know what the more than 60 million Latinxs (or Hispanics if that’s your thing) want, NAHJ’s tweet didn’t actually accomplish anything beyond legitimizing the ridiculous claims that the first lady said anything racist.

It is unfortunate that an organization for journalists ignored a very basic principle of journalism: Do not become the story.

And yet, that’s precisely what NAHJ did. The tweet was central to reports published by the Washington Post, the Hill, the Guardian and Politico.

Congrats NAHJ. Y’all played yourselves.

Also, if I were to be a breakfast taco, I’d be a chicharron taco from the Laredo Taco Co.: flaky, doughy and spicy.

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Things we read this week that we think you should read

— It’s been 51 days since the tragic mass killing in Uvalde, Texas, and many questions about what exactly happened that day still remain unanswered. On Tuesday, the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE provided some answers by releasing an edited video from inside Robb Elementary School. Here’s Statesman Executive Editor Manny Garcia explaining why they chose to publish the video.

—Leaked surveillance video obtained by The Times shows Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies beating an inmate at the county jail. Again.

— Oakland-based news outlet El Tímpano has teamed up with Latino USA to report the stories of undocumented Latinxs who became unhoused during the pandemic.

—Q.E.P.D.: Longtime Dodger scout Mike Brito, credited for bringing Fernando Valenzuela to Los Angeles, died last week at 87. Sports columnist Bill Plaschke wrote a very lovely tribute for the Cuban native.

— Earlier this month, Laura Rodríguez Presa of the Chicago Tribune wrote this beautiful eulogy for her estranged alcoholic father, who died last year. This part has me crying all over my keyboard:

“I hope he knows he was loved. I would remind him of that whenever he answered the phone. Though he tried to recover, he couldn’t. The shame in his eyes every time I would drop off food or clean clothes helped me understand, over time, that he wasn’t avoiding me because he didn’t love me — he loved me so much he would rather stay distant to avoid hurting me or my siblings.”

—Those who know me personally know that I am a big fan of karaoke. My go-to songs include Kris Kristofferson’s “Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again),” Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life,” Bobby Pulido’s “Desvelado,” Juan Gabriel’s “Querida,” and Shakira’s “Ciega, Sordomuda” (yes, really). What are yours? The Times’ utility desk wants to know.

— ICYMI: The minions are Latinx. No, I will not be taking follow-up questions.

— On Tuesday, NASA unveiled the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope and they are awesome in the truest sense of the word. They serve not only as a great reminder that we are nothing more than a speck of dust in the vastness of the universe but also as inspiration for some top-notch memes. My personal favorite was this Juan.