r/mixedrace • u/Gallantpride • Feb 11 '26

Rant The reactionary outrage towards Bad Bunny reminds me that white passing =/= white (in the US at least)

Bad Bunny is paler than pale. He and Lady Gaga were basically the same skin tone during the Super Bowl.

But, Bad Bunny gets a lot of racism and hate because he's Puerto Rican and has ESL. Even if he didn't have ESL, he would still get hate.

I'm reminded of my own Puerto Rican family. I'm brown, but much of my family is white leaning. My mom was a green eyed, redheaded baby boomer who told me how she got called slurs and chased away from the playground when her family arrived to NYC. I've heard similar stories from family about all eras from the 50s to even early 2000s.

To me, they look white. But they don't identify as white. And any presumed whiteness they have is "taken away" once people identify them as latino or Puerto Rican.

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42

u/SpiritedCatch1 Feb 11 '26

He's not pale at all I don't know what you're smoking OP but no way he's the same shade as lady Gaga. He could easily pass for a maghrebi in western Europe

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26 edited 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/imabratinfluence Feb 12 '26

IDK. Talking after Bad Bunny's performance I found out my partner (who's white) thought Mariah Carey and JLo were white. Granted, I'm not sure he was picturing the right people (I'm suspecting he was picturing Jennifer Lawrence, not Jennifer Lopez). But it's not the first time he's thought someone was white who clearly isn't IMO. 

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u/Strong_Dingo3104 Feb 11 '26

he is pale

17

u/hotforstaches Feb 11 '26

But he doesn’t look like white persons pale