Spanish Radio Station Says Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui Can’t Call Herself Latina

“You’re not Latina and I’m telling everyone!” That seems to be Spanish radio station Happy FM’s motto now, as they have started challenging the Latino roots of many artists who are based in the United States. Their latest target is now Lauren Jauregui, a Cuban-American singer part of famous girl group Fifth Harmony. Just like Camila Mendes and Gina Rodriguez before her, Jauregui has been put on trial by this radio station, to fight for her right to claim her Latino heritage.

“Many point people started pointing their fingers at Bella Thorne or Lauren Jauregui as examples of celebrities who have jumped on the the trendy bandwagon of the the Latin world,” wrote Happy FM on their website. These people don’t understand how they can be so proud of being Latino, when they firmly believe they don’t have the right to call themselves that.”

https://twitter.com/littlesatanic/status/915023308172726273

The tweet above was also posted in the article if you can’t understand it, allow us to translate. “Girls like Bella T, Lauren J who call themselves Latino just for having a Latino relative can suck it, they’ve lived their entire lives in the U.S. and don’t know what it feels like to be oppressed or rejected, by claiming something that will never be theirs. There I said it”

https://twitter.com/stylesoulmatex/status/914598876350435328

Another harsh tweet came from Lourdes, who despite her self-proclaimed hate for Americans, she uses a picture of the late Michael Jackson as her Twitter profile pic. Her diatribe reads like this, “Lauren Jauregui and Bella Thorne calling themselves Latina is the same reason why I hate Americans and I’m fed up with them claiming something that is not theirs.”

While cultural appropriation is a real thing and these women have every right to their opinion, targeting Jauregui might have been a mistake, there is more to being Latino than just your birthplace, and the singer who has always been very outspoken about her opinions and culture, blasted the radio station with numerous Tweets written in Spanish to defend her posture.

“In response to this opinion article. I feel Latino because I was born in a Latino family. I speak the language and cook the food,”

“I’ve been part of the Latino community in Miami since birth; They’ve always been around me.”

“Everyone that lives in Miami can vouch for me, even those without Latino blood (That I do possess because my mother and all my grandparents were born in CUBA).”

“Nobody can decide what my roots are, nor can they tell me how I decide to declare myself because I don’t choose based on what you want. Thank you.”

It’s always nice when talented people claim their Latino roots, it empowers our community, and is a reminder that there is no use for others telling us who can claim their heritage and who can not.