Yalitza Aparicio says the rejection of indigenous peoples in Mexico has been slowly changing

Mexico City. The Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio, Noted this Thursday that rejection and discrimination against the indigenous population in Mexico, especially towards women, has been changing in recent years, but this change is happening slowly.

“We’re making a bit of a slow progress, but I’ve always said it’s better to move slowly from being stuck”, Said Aparicio, 27, who participated in a master class on indigenous women and youth in the creative economy.

“It has been incredible to see how Mexican society has reacted to this issue (…) and if it changes, a little slow, but we are moving forward.”, Added the actress at the meeting promoted by the Unesco office in Mexico, in collaboration with the television channel Lifetime and the private Anáhuac University.

She explained that for her it was surprising to see the whole debate in Mexican society that led to her participation in the film “Roma” (2018).

“It was hard and strong that I had to live, but it was harder to discover that in our country we did not know about indigenous communities and we cruelly rejected it.”, He pointed out.

He explained that fortunately, cinema has fulfilled a function, in this case, of “impacting people’s lives on such a big social issue and has left a seed to people (…) although a social change brings a lot of time “.

Aparicio participated this Thursday in the talk together with his colleague Sotera Cruz, 17 years old, who like Yalitza, was born in the state of Oaxaca.

The two actresses starred in two films starring indigenous women in the state of Oaxaca, in the case of Cruz in the film “Guie’dani’s navel” (2018), the director’s debut Xavi Sala.

The story in which Cruz acted is that of a girl and her mother, originally from an indigenous community in Oaxaca, who travel to Mexico City to work as domestic workers for a wealthy family.

“The film made me aware of what indigenous domestic workers live in”, Said Cruz, who defended and showed pride in the artistic and cultural expressions of the Isthmus region of Tehuantepec (Oaxaca).

On indigenous representation, sometimes stereotyped in the media, Aparicio considered that the media should show this population “as such, as human beings, because they often take us to another point and beyond to motivate- they give us a message against it, as they continue to show us in idealized images. “

The native actress from Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, who studied to be a teacher, received harsh criticism and praise from the public and people in the industry after her participation in “Rome”.

In addition to being racist on several occasions, Aparicio was attacked for not studying acting, but she has remained present as an activist and promoter of women’s rights, and is currently a goodwill ambassador for women. Unesco.

The actress also has a Youtube channel in which she shows a personal and little-known face of her, which has served as a platform for her to spread her culture, the talent of indigenous women and talk about social issues.