Series
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When You’re an Arab Latina

April 26, 2024
Mexican-Lebanese creator Aiszah Rangel shares how her cultures intersect – and why Jenny might not want to date one of her relatives.
Show transcript
00:00
OK. Does your mom say that?
00:02
She does? And it's funny because the word is actually Arabic
00:05
Really? What the heck?
00:07
So, Oka is actually an evolution of an Arabic phrase that
00:10
translates to God willing.
00:12
Ah, Allah. 00,
00:16
what? Allah. Yeah.
00:18
Exactly. Mind blown.
00:21
It's not just the language though.
00:22
Tacos past actually come from le as well,
00:26
but the culture go so much more deeper than that.
00:30
The Moors actually colonized Spain.
00:33
Oh, so they colonized Spain and before Spain colonized me.
00:37
Exactly. And so then they were already kind of,
00:40
you know, they had their little mix going on and they
00:41
brought it over to Mexico.
00:43
For example, there's like other words that we see this influence
00:46
in, right? We see Ace Oil Azucar.
00:51
I thought that was Celia Cruz.
00:53
I'm just kidding. She,
00:57
she coined it derived from an Arabic word Alon.
01:04
OK. Yeah, they have all those words have Arabic origins
01:09
Is that why I'm attracted to Arabics?
01:11
I'm just kidding. That might just be,
01:13
yeah, I mean,
01:14
your type is a whole another situation.
01:16
I mean, who knows?
01:18
Let's find out. I mean,
01:19
there's a science there.
01:20
Yeah, maybe so we found the perfect person to break down
01:23
this culture fusion. Let's welcome our Arabic Latina queen Aisha ra
01:27
aha. So we wanted to ask,
01:33
what was it like growing up as a kid who was mixed
01:36
both Latina and Arabic?
01:39
How was that? Definitely chaotic being a mixed kid is something
01:43
that's more normalized now.
01:45
But definitely growing up,
01:46
I was the only Latino Arab that I knew aside from other
01:49
celebrities. That's cool though.
01:52
I love that. I love that mix.
01:54
I mean a little personal but like,
01:57
I, I don't know why I'm really attracted to Arabic men
02:01
I'm like, that's my thing.
02:03
I want to have BB king girl.
02:05
I hear this from a lot of Latinas and I say the
02:08
same thing to all of them be care,
02:10
care why, why,
02:11
what's the red flag Arab men are just as toxic as Latinos
02:14
OK? You have a brother.
02:16
I'm just kidding. I'm joking.
02:19
No, I actually I have three sisters.
02:20
Sorry for her. OK.
02:26
We'll get back into it,
02:27
girl. So who are some celebs that are mixed?
02:31
So more commonly known is definitely Shakira.
02:34
She's Korean and Lebanese Salma Hayek,
02:38
Jaime Camil and Peso Puma whose real name is actually Hassan Hasan
02:44
And speaking of you said Peso Puma.
02:46
So that makes me think parties de Madre,
02:48
which side part is harder.
02:50
That's a really good question because for my mix specifically,
02:54
we all know Mexicans know how to party but Lebanese in the
02:58
Middle East are also known as the partier.
03:02
So I would say for my mix specifically,
03:04
it's a little bit harder.
03:06
Maybe with different countries in Latin America or the Middle East,
03:09
it would be a little easier.
03:10
But both of my countries are known as the party countries.
03:14
And speaking of parties,
03:16
the food also, right?
03:18
What things, I guess you have you noticed like food
03:22
wise or even just language wise that like,
03:23
people don't notice that they're in both cultures or like how similar
03:28
they are like a dish.
03:29
Like again, the tacos Ara a pastor is the first one
03:31
that comes to mind.
03:32
But yeah, actually Tacos Del Pastor was brought over by the
03:36
Lebanese when a large flux of Lebanese immigrants came over to Latin
03:40
America. They originally used sheep like lamb meat for it.
03:45
But then the Mexicans changed it to pork meat.
03:48
But that's why it's called El Pastor because this name Pastor comes
03:51
for like the name of the pastors that would raise the sheep
03:56
and things like this.
03:57
And I think there's no denying that things like PICO de gallo
04:01
and Tabula, the tastes are different.
04:04
The setup and the ingredients that are used is very similar as
04:08
well. Wait, what was the dish you said PICO de
04:10
gallo? What was the other one?
04:12
Bu Oh Yeah. OK.
04:14
I saw your post and it was basically referring to how both
04:19
cultures you get it from both cultures about having kids and like
04:22
the pressure to have kids.
04:23
Can you explain more about that?
04:25
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's common in both Latin and
04:29
in, out of culture for you to get young,
04:32
to get married to have babies.
04:35
And I obviously I'm feeling that pressure as well even though
04:38
I'm young and in my twenties,
04:40
but I would say the biggest issue that I come across is
04:43
someone accepting me fully as I am as we know in
04:46
Latin culture. and the same exists in,
04:49
out of culture as well.
04:50
Like racial purity is a big thing.
04:52
So oftentimes when I get recommended or if I find somebody that
04:57
I'm interested in, usually their families are a little bit hesitant
05:01
like, oh, she's half Mexican.
05:03
We're not interested in that or the same thing on my Latino
05:07
side. If I find someone who's a Latino partner,
05:09
it's kind of the same thing.
05:11
Wow, that's interesting.
05:14
That's still a thing in 2024.
05:16
Which side is putting more pressure on you to have the kids
05:18
like ASAP? Is it like Mexican side or Arabic side?
05:21
You know, that's a really good question because I feel like
05:24
the pressure more so comes from my communities than it does my
05:27
families individualistically because my mother already broke so many rules marrying a
05:32
Mexican man like she was supposed to have an arranged marriage two
05:36
different times. She didn't want them,
05:38
you know, and then all of a sudden she brings this
05:41
Mexican guy around and was shunned from the community,
05:44
was shunned from family,
05:45
you know. So,
05:47
I think for me,
05:48
I was given different perspectives from both of my individual families that
05:53
that the communities,
05:54
people who come from one race,
05:56
one ethnicity, they're not as familiar with.
05:59
So, my parents,
06:00
they always tell me the most important thing is to find someone
06:02
who respects you, who loves you for who you are.
06:05
All of you, the Mexican side,
06:06
the out of side,
06:08
you know, everything in between.
06:10
So I think that's,
06:11
that's really my experience,
06:13
I can't say for anybody else's.
06:15
But the pressure definitely comes from the individual communities.
06:20
People don't even know what's going on,
06:21
but they always have something to say.
06:22
Yeah, but anyhoo,
06:27
thank you so much Asia.
06:28
we wanted to ask how can people find you on social
06:31
media? Yeah, absolutely.
06:32
I'm la underscore Latina underscore Arabia.
06:37
So that's La Latina Arabia,
06:39
Aisha Maria range on all social media platforms.
06:43
And I'm excited to do more content about what it's like being
06:46
a mixed woman for Arab Heritage Month,
06:48
but also for Cinco de Mayo and all of the future things
06:52
coming up. Awesome.
06:53
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time and
06:55
we'll see you around.
06:56
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys so much for having me
06:59
much is Gracia Shukran and Jazil and hopefully we can do this
07:02
again sometime. Definitely,
07:04
we love that.