Jill Biden, US First Lady, compares Latinos to ‘breakfast tacos’, draws flak

United States First Lady Jill Biden faced strong criticism on Monday after she compared the Latino community to “breakfast tacos.” She also mispronounced the word “bodegas”, which are convenience stores run by Dominican or Puerto Rican people. 

Speaking at the UnidosUS annual conference in San Antonio, Texas, the First Lady spoke about Raul Yzaguirre, who headed the civil rights organisation for roughly three decades.

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“Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bodegas (bogedas) of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength”, Jill Biden said on Monday.

Her comments come under strong criticism, specifically from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The organisation said that speech writers at the White House should do a better job at “understanding the complexities” of the Latino community. “We are not tacos”, the association said.

“Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype”, the NAHJ said in response to Jill Biden’s gaffe.

The First Lady was speaking in Texas’ San Antonio, a city that is densely populated with members of the Latino community. According to the United States Census, nearly 65% of the 1.5 million people of San Antonio belong to the Latino or Hispanic community.

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US President Joe Biden also had a similar goof-up while campaigning for the White House. He drew criticism from the Hispanic community of the United States after he played ‘Despacito’ on his phone while rallying. The song was a Spanish-language pop hit at the time.

Former President Trump had similar troubles. While campaigning for his term at the White House, the Republican uploaded a picture of himself eating tacos. The photo was captioned “I love Hispanics.”