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ALBUQUERQUE, NM (AP) – Yalitza Aparicio, an Oscar-nominated actress for the first time in Roma, finds strong support among Mexican-American women who identify with their indigenous roots in spite of the negative reactions that they have. she receives in Mexico.
Some Mexican-American women say they are happy that Aparicio's leading role challenges the typical images of light-skinned Latinas in Spanish-language films and television shows, and they are proud of the fact that they are the only ones in the world. be the first Aboriginal woman to be nominated for the best actress at the Oscars.
Fans of Latina Latin America Aparicio organize parties devoted to the surveillance of the Oscars, comment enthusiastically online and share on social networks all decisions made by Aparicio.
"She has the magic of the brunette girl," said Jennie Luna, a professor of studies at Chicana / o at the Channel Islands of California State University in Camarillo, California. "My students can not stop talking to her."
The praises north of the US-Mexican border among fans of Mexican origin come as Aparicio, a native of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, faces racist online attacks in his country originally and in defiance of some Mexican actors. More recently, Mexican actor Sergio Goyri was filmed in a video criticizing the appointment of Aparicio and using a racial insult to describe it. He later apologized.
After appearing on the cover of Vogue México last year, Aparicio was hit by a tirade of racist comments online criticizing her physical appearance.
"I am proud to be an indigenous woman from Oaxaca and it saddens me that there are people who do not know the correct meaning of the words," said Aparicio, of offspring Mixtec, in a statement released earlier this month.
In "Roma", Aparicio plays Cleo, a domestic worker from a middle class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s. She speaks in an indigenous dialect and Spanish and works to navigate the different worlds for his own survival.
Aparicio, a 25-year-old elementary school teacher, is nominated alongside Glenn Close, Lady Gaga, Olivia Colman and Melissa McCarthy at Sunday's Oscars.
Astrid Silva, an immigrant rights activist in Las Vegas whose parents are Mexican, said that many American women of Mexican descent and Mexican immigrants to the United States see each other in Aparicio for a variety of reasons.
"It's a dark-skinned woman (who) comes from a poor area of Mexico, like many of our families," said Silva. "Not only does she question the old notions of beauty that always involved fair hair and fair skin. She threatens them. "
The popularity of Aparicio is particularly strong in California, where many Americans of Mexican origin can find their roots in migrants from the states of Oaxaca, Michoacán and Guerrero, in southern Mexico. These states have diverse and vibrant indigenous peoples who have historically faced discrimination in Mexico.
"We are working to rediscover our indigenous roots and Aparicio's presence shows that we are counting," said Lilia Soto, a professor of American Studies at the University of Wyoming, who grew up in Napa, California. "The racism she faces in Mexico is also an attack on us."
Soto said that Aparicio was also popular among Mexican immigrants in New York, who came mostly from Puebla – another Mexican state with an indigenous population.
When Aparicio visited New York last year, she was welcomed as a hero by the Mexican immigrants she met.
Silva said she did not plan to watch the Oscars until she heard about Aparicio's nomination and the best "Roma" photo.
"It's hard to describe. We do not just feel the pride we feel, "said Silva. "Yalitza is just … us."
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Associate Press Editor Russell Contreras is a member of the Associated Press Race and Ethnicity Team. Follow Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras
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For full coverage of the Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/AcademyAwards
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This story has been corrected to identify the Mexican state as Puebla not Pueblo.
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