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03/27/2005 Entry: "Nacos!"
February 1998, a thick cloud of smoke and deafening music is surrounding me. My first time in Mexico and I’m already becoming a pillar of some dodgy club in Zona Rosa. Someone is talking next to me, his voice crashing against the rhythm of merengue. Through the vapors of tequila I recognize a Mexican friend of mine. He keeps repeating a strange word all the time “naco … blah blah naco…”. What is a “naco” I wondered?
According to the dictionary of the Spanish "Real Academia" a “naco” is an indigenous person from Mexico. However, such a brief description does not convey the emotional content attached to this word, it explains nothing. Another Mexican friend of mine told me that the population of Mexico City is split between “naco” and “fresa” people. More mystery! How can somebody be a person and a fruit at the same time?!
To a tourist like I used to be, it would come as somewhat of a surprise to learn that the Mexican society is plagued with entrenched prejudices stemming from deep gaps between social classes. In a nutshell, a “naco” is a Mexican with darker skin, Indian features, coming from a lower social class (there are other definitions of the word “naco” ). Upper class, generally white skinned and well-off, “fresa” people can tell a “naco” faster than I could distinguish a turnip from a carrot.
This benign form of racism is like an invisible barrier that prevents “nacos” from climbing to the highest positions of corporations, from marrying girls of upscale neighborhoods, and even getting through the entrance door of some clubs like the elitist “Cluv” in Bosques de las Lomas. If you don’t believe me, I invite you to watch the drama Amar te Duele that vividly depicts the impossible love between a “naco” boy and a “fresa” girl (a Mexican Romeo and Juliet of sorts).
Chapultepec zoo, the historic center of Mexico City and outlying suburbs like Ecatepec or Itzapalapa are some natural habitats of “nacos”, while Bosques de las Lomas, the Santa Fe mall, or Pedregal are “fresa” territories. Often you discover “naco” enclaves amidst “fresa” strongholds, like the village of El Olivo stuck between the fancy high rises of Bosques and Interlomas. In reality, “fresas” need “nacos” to survive: the latter provide the cheap workforce that build the houses, clean the rooms and provide the sweat that the formers need to live a normal life.
As a European, I believe that we are all born equal in rights and it distresses me to see that the majority of the population of Mexico’s capital is destined from birth to become “nacos”. Poverty, lack of education, family genes cast a dark spell that will stick to their skins for the rest of their lives like leprosy – they are marked, forever and without cure. In such adverse conditions, how can anyone rise above his destiny and break the vicious circle that precludes Mexico from engendering a generation that will lift this country out of its developing world status.
However, in an interesting twist of events, I sense that “nacos” are creating their own sub-culture, a fascinating blend of weird clothing (I confess being blown away by the fashion un-orthodoxy of “naco” girls – their “fresa” counterparts are content with following the pre-masticated style from Miami, while these “nacas” dare wearing orange hair with green clothes and tinted blue contact lenses), strange language that would give the honorable Señores from the Real Academia a heart attack, and a healthy dose of cynicism and pride in their own identity. Strolling in downtown Mexico City you may see guys with t-shirts showing the infamous four letters “NaCo”, a nice exercise in derision and the beginning of a change in the connotation of that word.
I’m convinced that Mexico needs a middle class, and it will be made from the ranks of today’s “nacos”. Boys and girls studying at Unitec in Ecatepec might not have the “right” skin color or drive BMW’s, but trust me they show more eagerness and interest than most “fresa” kids playing games on their laptops while pseudo-attending courses at the TEC de Monterrey campuses. Love them or hate them, “nacos” are both the foundation of today’s Mexico and its future – let’s hope it’ll be bright.
Oh, and if you ever woke up in the middle of the night with cold sweat streaming down your naked back, tortured by that recurrent question "am I a naco or ain't I?" then you can always determine your degree of "nacoismo" by answering this questionnaire "bien chido".
Replies: 8 comments
I think naco is equal to the American term 'white trash'- poor, indigenous, morenos arent all nacos (though the more fresones racistas will attest to this), a TRUE naco is a person with bad taste, the worst cases of which are Mexico's nouveau riche- with their newfound money they spend every dime they can on the most tacky thing possible, sometimes only becasue it is expensive and they want to show it off.
The fresas on the other hand, are the more caustic of the two groups, as far as I am concerned. They are so obsessed with NOT looking naco that tehy go to great lenghts to pepper their speech with english words, listen to ONLY pop music, do everything they can to emulate telenovela stars.
Sadly, though the mexican middle class is starting to evolve, the fresas still think of them as nacos, no matter what.
This is what i have gathered after living in Merida for 3 years with a Chilango.
Posted by Sonja @ 06/17/2005 02:57 PM MEX
i like ur bizarre way of commenting on issues that not many foreign people have knowledge of,ans yes i agree in some of ur assertions bout the "nacos",i consider myself one of them,and it goes beyond a race,color or economic status, it's a lifestyle. n e way but my question to u, what brought u to mexico? what keeps u here?? without noticing ur becoming part of the same cancer, r u getting infected from the same disease?
Posted by Rigo @ 06/11/2005 10:16 PM MEX
Totalmente de acuerdo con los comentarios a cerca de que "naco es un estado mental" jamas habia oido una definicion mas acertada. Nada tiene que ver con raza, color, capacidad economica, nivel de estudios...
Es muy facil saber si se es naco o no: si esta palabra te resulta ofensiva o te sientes aludido, incomodo, enojado, etc. Entonces SI eres naco, acomplejado o traumado, ASI DE FACIL, si te la dicen y te da risa, entonces NO eres naco. Gracias.
Posted by Tere @ 05/15/2005 11:03 PM MEX
what ever
Posted by sgf @ 05/13/2005 02:49 PM MEX
Serge:
I have admired most of your posts for being so candid and brash and honest and brave. In this case though I must disagree with you in the sense that, even though you do briefly comment that Nack could mean other things, the subtext and general message of your entry is that "Naco" is a term to describe an income level and a race. That is simply not so. Juliana is right in saying that you briefly allude to other definitions, but honestly, anyone who reads your entry will get the idea that naco is indeed a mixture of race and economic situation. What is strange is that after stating that you posted a link to an online "naco test" where the questions asked never relate to race nor to economic position but rather to social and education-related topics.
Your further research into what is to be a naco will yield the right definition. A naco is generally a person of any income level and race who lacks education and whose closest Enlglish translation is a mixture of "Tacky" and "Trashy". In the United States the terms for naco are 'White trash', "Black trash", or "Brown trash" (depending on what race you belong to), but just like the MExican term, it has nothing to do with race. I am sorry, but you did miss this one. The good thing is that I know that besides being very smart you are also humble and will take this constructive criticism with a grain of salt! Nice post otherwise!
Posted by L'Ombre d'une vague @ 05/09/2005 07:07 PM MEX
Estatus social que se les da a los vulgares??? Que mamon se oye eso. Lo vulgar es vulgar, y lo naco es naco. Muy diferente.
Definitivamente no tan mal como el significado del Diccionario de la Real Academia! que pena ajena! As you must know by now: NACO IS A STATE OF MIND. You can't grow your way out of it, you can't study your way out of it, and certainly you can't buy your way out! (although some nacos try to, sadly they just feed it.
Posted by an3 @ 04/25/2005 04:16 PM MEX
El verdadero valor de una critica es cuando esta se realiza con algo de trasfondo. Es simpatico 'ver' como hay personas que responden, escriben los comentarios con tan solo leer un par de frases.
Al leer mas de una vez este 'post' en el blog, jamas lei que Serge haya comentado especificamente, con toda su conviccion que Naco es una raza indigena. Lo que se publico es lo siguiente: "In a nutshell, a “naco” is a Mexican with darker skin, Indian features, coming from a lower social class (there are other definitions of the word “naco” )" (Serge, 2005). Lo cual infiere que el autor ha cuestionado las raices culturales de lo que significa "naco", y como resultado de esta investigacion (utilizando entre otros la Definicion de la Real Academia de la Lengua). Si se pudiera decir que las personas que tienen raices indigenas, que por conflictos culturales y sociales fueron 'desplazados' de la sociedad en formacion por mas de 500 años, al interactuar con la sociedad de 'avanzada' son denominados "nacos", debo admitir que no veo la ignorancia de Serge en su comentario.
No hay que hacer un Doctorado al respecto, para entender el contenido y critica que en este blog se realiza. Es sin embargo un excellente estudio el leer los comentarios aqui anotados: el cuestionarse que impulsa a los lectores a responder a un 'blog publicado' con tan solo leer un par de frases...
Ahora, me queda la pregunta... A quienes se refiere como vulgares el ilustradisimo Char?
Posted by Juliana @ 04/22/2005 01:17 PM MEX
QUE EQUIVOCADO ESTAS NACO NO ES UNA RAZA INDIGENA...ES UN ESTATUS SOCIAL QUE SE LE DA A LOS VULGARES..
Posted by CHAR @ 04/12/2005 07:23 PM MEX
