Mexican wrestling legend Konnan recently spoke with Vice about racism in wrestling, using rap music, the formation of the LAX and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On the reaction in the locker room towards rap music:
“They didn’t like it, you know, there were a lot of racial comments made toward that type of music, but I always considered the source. I always said to myself, ‘You know, these guys are from the south, they probably went to school where all whites went to one, all blacks went to another. I’m sure they’re still getting over the shock that Tiger Woods is better than any white golfer.’ You know, that’s how it was back then. They were kind of a little bit narrow minded when it comes to that. Right now, we’re living in a multi-ethnic world, with so many mixed marriages and so many things that are crossing the boundaries that just weren’t accepted then. They didn’t have gay marriage in their day. So I just always considered the source, bro.”
On forming LAX:
“That’s exactly where it came from. I love a lot of the great civil rights leaders, and their militancy, and I looked at some of the Latino activists. I started LAX (Latin Americans Exchange) and basically the whole crux of the group was: if you weren’t Latino you couldn’t be with us. We were kind of reverse racist: just like whites hated minorities, we were Latinos that hated anything that wasn’t Latino.”
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