Diana Flores was the first Mexican player to compete directly in a Pro Bowl (Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images).
For all NFL fans see Diana Flores Being the first Mexican to go straight to a Pro Bowl as the offensive coordinator of the American Conference Team and as the emblem of the NFL in an ad in the middle of the Super Bowl was a recognition for all athletes.
Not only does the admiration come from all women, some men have also admired the 24-year-old’s talent and have not been afraid to express it like her Actor tenoch huerta who recalled that her sister and Flores shared the gridiron at some point in her childhood (the athlete began playing the flag at the age of 8 with the Águilas Blancas of the National Polytechnic Institute).
But the praise for Dianita’s talent (as she calls it) was just a trigger for the Wakanda Forever actor to remember an uncomfortable truth: There is no inclusion in the performing arts in Mexico. “Dianita was on the same team as my sister, she was the offensive coordinator in the All-Star game a week ago. Mexican, the best player in the world, dark from the polytechnic. The NFL is more inclusive than Mexican theater“.
The memory of the activists from Poder Prieto – a group of actors and professionals from different industries trying to raise awareness about discrimination in the audiovisual industry and demanding that everyone has worthy representation – drew all kinds of reactions from those who do question the color of skin with a person’s success, that Diana’s efforts came from dedication and talent, and that it wasn’t an inclusion fee.
Tenoch refused to be provoked, and his tweet has garnered more than a thousand replies, more than 13,000 “likes” and more than half a million views.
What’s happening behind the curtain
For the past December holidays, Poder Prieto has issued a “white Christmas” congratulations, alluding to situations that have become normal in Mexico over the years, but which affect people with brown skin greatly. One of those lines “as white as most Mexican theaters” now seems to be saved by the actor.
Continue reading the story
At the 2021 Metro Awards, where they recognize the best in Mexican theater, actors Conchi León and César Enriquez – also from the collective – put on a performance with their characters “Mestiza Power” and “La Prietty Guoman” to illustrate the situation show brown-haired actor face when looking for a job.
“You even think that the producers are going to give these important characters. Don’t you see that you are black? They only give us black people as murderers, thieves, servants,” said León during his speech, to regret this despite acting talent, those who hold the reins of Mexican theater pay only attention to the color of certain characters’ skin.
“We want to tell you that this is not a discussion, it really is not a discussion and it is not an issue between blacks and whites, we are simply planting a seed … that makes discrimination based on the color of our skin visible. . let’s make our Mexico a country that allows us all to grow freely towards our destiny,” the actors added.
According to the 2017 Social Mobility Survey (Emovi), which relates skin tone to socioeconomic variables such as education, employment, income level and social mobility, more than 60% of Mexicans are brown and 11% are dark brown a fact that advertising and movies are biased in favor of whites.
Several productions in Mexico are trying to diversify their talent, but in several plays that have seen greater involvement of people from the LGBTQ+ community or with disabilities, most of the actors are white.
This was noted by Maya Zapata, one of Podre Prieto’s voice actresses, in 2022 when she criticized the sold-out play Hamlet starring Irene Azuela and denounced the lack of brown people in the production. “We are exhausted from so many Mexican theater productions that are so absolutely white! We seem more English than the English theater productions themselves, I like that! Enough celebrating this exclusive and deeply racist Mexican theater!”
And while Zapata was tired of clarifying that this wasn’t an attack on her colleague, she just wanted to reiterate the norm that governs cinema, theater, and even advertising in Mexico, where mostly whites are shown . .
Marisol García, MP from Morena, wants to reverse the scenario, at least in the film industry: last October, she presented an initiative on film production in Mexico, with which she wants to reform article 14 of the federal law on cinematography so that productions in the country are free of stereotypes and non-discrimination is promoted by the faces of the actors.
“(Seeks) a way to express Mexican culture and thereby help strengthen the ties of national identity between the diverse groups that make it up,” says his initiative, which has had no impact so far .