Topic > "The Sellouts" by Luis Valdez: How Stereotypes Affect Attitudes About the Entire Race

Imagine a stranger, someone who knows nothing about you, judging you because of your race. They assume they know who you are and that your destiny is based on what they believe to be true. However, what they believe is fact is simply a racial bias away from the truth. This is known as a stereotype of person or thing” (Oxford). basis of what people see, not what they know. Vendidos, a play written by Luis Valdez, highlights the typical stereotypes that the Mexican race experiences by creating characters that portray the labels held against the race 1960's Chicano, Los Vendidos, or "The Sellouts", shows how the Mexican race felt perceived by American society by exaggerating the typical stereotypes and prejudices they experienced to show the impact of misrepresentation. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Los Vendidos is set in Honest Sancho's Mexican used lot and Mexican curio shop. The store, resembling a used car lot, sells “products” or “models” of stereotypical Mexican characters, designed to suit the buyer's whims and controlled simply with a snap of the fingers. Each character represents a stereotypical label that the Mexican race was experiencing during the Chicano Movement. Miss Jimenez, secretary to Governor R. Regan, visits the Mexican lot used to purchase a "Mexican type for the administration" (Valdez 1) who will show the diversity within the administration. Although Miss Jimenez is Mexican-American herself, she does not recognize stereotypes and appears ignorant about her own culture. Even though the models wear clothes that portray the stereotype they embody, Miss Jimenez has no idea what their respective roles are. Honest Sancho shows Miss Jimenez several types of Mexican models who exemplify the main stereotypes: a farm laborer, a Mexican gangster, and a revolutionary. The identity of each model embodies the stereotype it represents. The farm laborer has an extra feature, a wide-brimmed sombrero that keeps "away from the sun, rain and dust" (Valdez 2) and although he is hard-working, durable and economical, Miss Jimenez disapproves of the fact that he does not can speak English. The more “urban” model (Valdez 4), also known as Johnny Pancho, capable of speaking English, is also capable of knife fighting, resisting arrest and swearing. While Johnny Pancho speaks English, Miss Jimenez does not purchase this model due to its connection to gang-related activity and arrests. Miss Jimenez, frustrated with the honest Sancho, says she is looking for "something more traditional, more romantic" (Valdez 6) that will "attract female voters" (Valdez 6). The revolutionary is a romanticized, more traditional model of Mexican depicted in films as a romantic on horseback who starts revolutions While he meets some of the qualifications Miss Jimenez is looking for, the revolutionary is from Mexico and tells honest Sancho, "I don't we can buy nothing but American-made products" ( Valdez 7).Honest Sancho, finally understanding what Miss Jimenez is looking for, introduces him to Eric García, a Mexican-American role model. Eric García represents the Mexican-American stereotype that Miss Jimenez is looking. It is described as “. a clean-shaven bourgeois guy, in a suit and tie and with glasses” (Valdez 8). Being very sophisticated, bilingual and college educated, he can fill all the roles Miss Jimenez is looking for after paying.