Opinions

Leave my fruterías be

Mexican-American was the first way I knew how to identify myself, even as a kid. My dad immigrated to San Diego from Tijuana when he was pretty young and applied for permanent residency after he got married, while my mom’s family had been rooted in Arizona for generations. This identifier worked for me, even though the only Spanish I’ve ever really known are the few phrases my tías taught me as a child — for those of you like me, you’ll understand what a pervasive barrier language can be in a culture that is as integrated as Latinx culture — though it isn’t the only one that many Mexican-Americans are afflicted by.

Really, this culture is everywhere. And everyone wants a piece of it, somehow and someway. Latinx culture (though in this instance, I will specifically talk about Mexican culture since that is what I have experience with) is sold every single day in the form of food, costume, style or labor — Mexicans might be abused by the federal government, but people love their taco trucks.

I will admit that I feel a twinge of annoyance whenever I meet a non-Mexican person who indulges in not only consuming, but re-distributing elements of Mexican culture that I myself have never felt entirely a part of.

This brings me to last Monday, when a video was posted on Kickstarter.com by a travel blogger named Jenny Niezgoda in hopes to fund her plant-based business venture located in San Diego. The video was deleted soon after being posted, but is now shared by online publication Mitú.

Well actually, this business is a “modern frutería” called La Gracia and Jenny was crowdsourcing money to build a location in Barrio Logan. The video consists of the self-proclaimed nomad elaborating on her search for the most “vibrant, history rich, artistic and food-centric neighborhoods.” Jenny makes a note to tell us that she’s traveled to a lot of places, but out of all these countries, Mexico stole her heart.

Jenny’s fixation with Mexico prompted her to find a neighborhood that suited her neo-colonial sensibilities. She describes Barrio Logan as being a “vibrant” and “up-and-coming” location for her concept, which, if you don’t know — is essentially gentrifier talk for “cheap rent.” Jenny gushes about her desire to share her fruit-based “wellness” lattes with the world while walking through Barrio Logan like she owns the place and striking poses by murals of Cesar Chavez and Frida Kahlo.

I grew up in North County San Diego — for those of you unfamiliar with the geographical layout of San Diego, North County basically translates to a population of working class people integrated into a respectable life. It includes Escondido, San Marcos (where I’m from), Vista and Oceanside — and is typically a 30-minute drive from the arguably more interesting world of central San Diego.

The only time I’ve been to Barrio Logan, which is located near Logan Heights in south central San Diego, was during a field trip to the heart of the neighborhood, Chicano Park. It’s not only filled with culturally-rich art, but it possesses a deep history of Chicano activism and is one of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods. Additionally, according to environmentalhealth.org, Barrio Logan is described as a “community of color created by racially discriminatory real estate covenants.” There is overcrowding and a basic encroachment of industry into residential areas.

Throughout the video, Jenny emphasizes that she wants to create an “urban sanctuary” in Barrio Logan. She asserts that La Gracia will be an “integral thread to this neighborhood’s fabric” and encourages viewers to pledge money to support her dream with a cringe-worthy declaration: “Help us bring variety — and a healthy option to the barrioooo!”

A traditional frutería is a neighborhood shop that will serve aguas frescas, bionicos, paletas and chicharrónes — among other things. Jenny describes a frutería as a “Mexican-inspired juice bar.” She describes La Gracia as a “Mexican-inspired juice bar — but so much more.” Sorry, but if you aren’t selling sandia or mango with Tajín, then how the f**k are you going to call yourself a frutería?

In an article published by Mitú, the backlash from Jenny’s video was instantaneous. Within a day, the original video was taken down from Kickstarter.com, and La Gracia’s Instagram page disabled the comment feature on their photos. She was accused of being both the poster child for gentrification and the embodiment of cultural appropriation — at first, Jenny responded like any other white person threatened with the r-word responds: defensively.

But by Tuesday, Jenny made a post on La Gracia’s Facebook page revealing that she would no longer be pursuing La Gracia as a business venture and that she was sad to hear the negative reaction to her dream concept, but that she understood and respected their perspective.

Good move. While I have nothing against the respectful sharing of culture, Jenny’s retribution was well-deserved. La Gracia isn’t the first time a bastardized version of a cultural staple has made its way into the free market. In a Sept. 14 article published by the New York Times, one start-up company boldly named “Bodega” asserted that its product (vending machine bodegas) would someday replace the traditional bodega, which is essentially a small grocery store/deli/liquor store hybrid (sometimes housing a store cat) native to New York. This didn’t sit well with New Yorkers, much like La Gracia’s kickstarter video roused the anger in Barrio Logan.

Bodega was criticized by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development in New York for naming their company after the very institutions they sought to displace. La Gracia more or less attempted to do the same thing.

When these business people feel entitled enough to pick apart Mexican culture for their own capital pursuits under the guise of modernity, they should never forget that these communities are their market — and these business venturers need to question whether they are supporting the people and culture, or exploiting them.

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