A group of Latino journalists berated First Lady Jill Biden after she said Latinos are as unique as “breakfast tacos” during a speech in San Antonio on Monday.
Jill Biden was eulogizing civil rights icon Raul Yzaguirre at the annual UnidosUS conference when she made the odd compliment.
Yzaguirre led the advocacy organization formerly known as the National Council of La Raza for three decades.
“Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community — as different as a bodega in the Bronx, as beautiful as the colors of Miami and as unique as breakfast tacos here in San Antonio — is your strength,” Biden said.
However, when she addressed the stores in the Bronx, she mispronounced convenience stores and said “bogedas.”
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists criticized the remarks, saying, “We’re not tacos.”
“Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region,” the association wrote.
Raul Izaguirre receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony on July 7, 2022. AFP via Getty Images
“NAHJ encourages Dr. Biden and her speechwriting team to take time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities. We are not tacos.
“Our heritage as Latin Americans is shaped by different diasporas, cultures and food traditions and should not be reduced to a stereotype.”
San Antonio has a population of about 1.5 million people, which is 65 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data.
Conservatives also criticized Biden and wondered what liberal outrage would follow if a Republican made those comments.
“No wonder Latinos are fleeing the Democratic Party!” House Representative Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., tweeted.
With pole cables
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