If you ever wondered whether Selena Gomez is a Mexican, you are not alone. There are many rumors on the internet about her heritage and even some interviews in which she talks about it. So, is she a Mexican?
Selena Gomez is not a Mexican citizen but is an American with Mexican heritage. To be precise, she is what both Americans and Mexicans call “Texicana.” By definition, Texicans are people who have traceable roots to Mexican Texas.
She also stated that her Mexican heritage is extremely important to her, but on the other hand, she is not satisfied with her Spanish skills. However, since she is learning to speak Spanish, we can say that it’s a sign of affection towards her heritage. So, what are Selena’s roots when it comes to Mexico?
Some History Behind Her Heritage
At first, let’s mention that Selena Gomez was born in Grand Prairie in Texas. Her father, Ricardo Joel Gomez, is of Mexican descent, so we can conclude that Selena has Mexican roots. On the other hand, her mother and former stage actress, Amanda Dawn Cornett, has Italian ancestry.
An interesting fact is that Selena was named after Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a famous Tejano singer who died in 1995, only three years after Selena was born.
Does She Qualify to be a Mexican Citizen?
We concluded that Selena is, by definition, not a Mexican. However, according to Mexican law, every citizen with at least one parent or two grandparents with Mexican citizenship can be considered a Mexican, so Selena definitely qualifies. She would only have to register her birth as “foreign birth of a Mexican.”
Although she is by law American, her family does have a bit of Latino tradition.
Celebrating Quinceañeras
Regarding her Mexican heritage, Selena stated that her family has Quinceañeras and regularly goes to the communion church. If you are wondering what Quinceañera is, it’s a celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, with roots in Mesoamerica. In other words, a 15th birthday is a transition from childhood to womanhood. Besides, Selena stated that her family doesn’t do anything else traditional, except having barbecues in the park on Sundays after church.
Although she grew up with her mother after her parents divorced, she still managed to maintain parts of Mexican tradition.
Representing Latinos
As Selena stated in a recent interview, she represents Latinos one thousand percent and is very vocal about her background. Selena appreciates her last name (which is definitely Mexican), and also, she referred to immigrant family separations as an “animalistic” thing. She definitely considers herself at least partly Latino.
We should also mention that in 2010, Selena released a Spanish-language version of her famous song A Year Without Rain. Since then, she released a few more translated tracks and stated that she would do it more in the future. It’s definitely a sign of affection to her Mexican heritage, and probably, a way of representing latinos around the world.
It’s easy to notice that Selena is representing Latinos with all her heart. As she said, her goal was to humanize people, because immigrants were being called aliens and criminals. She mentioned how hard it is for kids to grow up separated from their families, and that it’s something that can traumatize them for the rest of their lives – a scary thing that should be talked about.
Conclusion
Although there are many reasons to think that Selena Gomez is Mexican, she is not. She has Mexican roots, her family celebrates Quinceañera, and her Mexican heritage is extremely important to her. Still, Selena Gomez is considered to be an American, although she qualifies to be a Mexican citizen by the law.
Whether she is going to change her citizenship in the future is yet unknown. She never talked about that publicly, but for now, we can conclude that Selena is American.