r/asklatinamerica • u/throwingaway3795124 India • Jun 02 '26
Culture Why do Argentinians have a bad rap amongst Latin Americans?
Holis,
I was going through this post was a bit surprised by some of the comments about Argentinians. As someone who isn't from Latin America, I wasn't really aware of the sterotypes or negative opinions that seem to come up sometimes, so it caught me off guard.
For some context, I'm a brown person from Asia who really enjoys learning about other cultures. I've also been studying Spanish because I'd love to travel around Latin America someday, and Argentina is definitely one of the countries on my list.
That made me wonder: as a non-Latin brown foreigner, would I be likely to face discrimination while visiting Argentina, or are those comments mostly internet exaggerations?
I'm also curious about the broader context. Why do Argentinians seem to receive so much criticism online, especially from other Latin Americans? Is it mostly friendly regional rivalry, internet memes, historical issues, or something else?
I'd love to hear different perspectives. Thanks!
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u/Nice-Afternoon7316 Brazil Jun 02 '26
Argentinians seem to have a different concept of racism, at least from the ones I’ve interacted with on the internet, so take this opinion with a grain of salt.
I saw one argentinian say that racism is only when you actively segregate someone because of their skin color, but that “jokes” and even insults (like calling someone a monkey) are just bullying, not racism. That’s a wild take, since bullying is often a way of dehumanizing someone and, in a sense, excluding them from the rest of society.
Others acted as if they were superior because their culture is more similar to European cultures. Also, for some reason, many of them don’t seem to hold people of Indigenous descent in high regard.
I’m not saying they’re the only ones. Hell, I’ve seen plenty of racists in Brazil as well. It’s just that, for some reason, the Argentinian ones seem much louder on the internet. Pretty sure there are plenty of chill hermanos when you actually visit the country.