In Defense of Colombianas and Cartagena

Working at a Manhattan jewelry store, the last thing my friend Claudia expected was confronting a new stereotype about her native Colombia.

“For many years, whenever some people discovered that I’m Colombian, I would have to put up with stupid comments,” she says. “They would ask me, ‘Do you know Pablo Escobar?’ or ‘Do you know where I can get some cocaine?'”

Yet she finds the new stereotype even more offensive. She says some people now think they have a license to question whether she is a prostitute. Read more >>