In your own quiet time think about your honest response to these questions:
Why do some white people mock or mistreat Black people, yell go back to Africa, yet pay to plump their lips, tan their skin, and enhance their curves?
Why do some white people roll their eyes at Hispanic immigrants, yell mass deportation, yet can’t wait to post selfies from Cancún, Puerto Rico, or Cozumel?
It’s a contradiction, but it’s also a pattern. Because what’s really happening is this: They want the culture, not the community. They want the flavor, not the faces. They want the beauty, but not the burden.
Let’s start with the Black culture. For centuries, Black features full lips, dark skin, natural hair were ridiculed, even criminalized.
Yet today, those same features are copied, filtered, and celebrated when they’re on someone else.
What does it say when the world profits off your style, but ignores your struggle? When Black people wear box braids or speak boldly, they’re “too ghetto.” But when someone else does it? It’s “trendy,” “fearless,” “high fashion.”
Let me be clear: Being black is not a costume it is a culture and a daily experience you cannot take off at the end of the day.
And the same is true with Hispanic culture.
White people flock to Latin America for the music, the food, the sun, and the salsa. They sip margaritas in Cancún while demanding walls at the border. They praise the hospitality of Puerto Ricans on vacation then ignore the lack of representation and resources they face back home.
How can you vacation in a place… but vote against the people who live there? How can you eat the tacos… but disrespect the hands that made them? It’s not appreciation if it doesn’t come with respect.
Here’s the truth white people need to face: You cannot truly love the culture if you do not love, honor, and protect the people behind it.
It’s not just about what you wear, where you travel, or what music is on your playlist. It’s about what you believe. How you act. And who you’re willing to stand up for when it matters most.
So, if you love Black music, support Black lives. If you love Latin food, respect Latin families. If you admire the rhythm, honor the roots.
Because admiring someone’s culture, while rejecting their humanity, is not admiration it’s exploitation.
I’ll leave you with this: Don’t just enjoy the flavor learn the story. Don’t just borrow the beauty embrace and stand up for the people. And if you truly love the culture prove it by loving the community.