For Latinos, “Mojado” Loaded with Meaning
By Marisa Gerber, Los Angeles Times
When Boyle Heights shop owner Arturo Macias hears fellow Latinos use the Spanish word for “wetback,” he doesn’t necessarily take offense.
Macias, who crossed illegally into the U.S. through Tijuana two decades ago, has heard the term “mojado” for much of his life and sees it less as an insult than a description of a common immigrant experience.
“As a country of immigrants,” he says in Spanish, “in one way or another, we’re all mojados.”
Macias is very offended, however, when he hears a non-Latino say “wetback.” That distinction befuddles his 20-year-old daughter Karina.
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[Photo, Bendición Para Un Mojado, by gwen]