BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — On Dec. 11, the all-caps phrase ‘UN CHINO’ — or ‘a Chinese’ — began trending in Argentina on the social media platform X.
That night, the local spinoff of the “Big Brother” franchise aired the premiere of its latest season. Argentine television watchers were processing their surprise: For the first time in the hit show’s 11-season run, the cast of houseguests included an Asian contestant in the form of 24-year-old Martín Ku, the son of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants.
It was a seminal moment for Asian Argentine representation in mainstream media.
In this South American country of 45 million people, no TV show rivals the big-tent appeal of “Gran Hermano.” The reality juggernaut is the most-watched program on Argentine airwaves, with mainstream news publications regularly covering the intrigue and machinations of each season as it progresses.
So when Ku strode into the “Big Brother” house, luggage in hand, it was a resonant milestone.
“We’ve been waiting for this for years,” said Carlos Lin, 44, an event emcee who has become one of the faces of Buenos Aires’ Chinese diaspora. “It’s huge.”
The inaccurate notion that Argentina is a white nation has widespread buy-in. Just last year, U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., drew attention after praising Argentina for having “only one race” and being “completely homogenous” — a reference to the country’s perception as white.
It’s a misconception that is due in part to what experts, including Afro Latino scholars describe as a long-running “whitening process,” whereby the country’s leaders have boosted a European self-image while collapsing references to racial categories — the Argentine census bureau failed to collect racial information for much of its history.
In 1853, Argentina’s first constitution plainly stated that “the federal government shall foster European immigration.” Fast forward to the present day, a commitment…
Read the full article here
