A derogatory slur referring to Mexican or Central American laborers, originally from the practice of crossing the Rio Grande.
From the 1920s-30s, referring to migrant workers whose backs would get wet crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States; it became a crude ethnic slur based on this origin.
This word represents how language can weaponize physical descriptions—what started as a literal observation about wet clothing evolved into a vicious slur that dehumanized entire populations and reflected American labor and immigration anxieties of the 20th century.
This slur emerged in the early 20th century as a dehumanizing term for Mexican and Central American laborers. Though not sex-specific, it weaponizes the gendered vulnerability of migrant workers, disproportionately affecting women in agricultural and domestic labor who lacked legal protection.
Never use. It is a slur with no reclamation or neutral context.
["migrant worker","farm worker","laborer"]
Recognize that migrant women have been central to agricultural economies while denied labor protections, dignity, and documented history.
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