Racism comes in many forms and even different languages, and for one Black woman in California, it allegedly came from some Spanish-speaking restaurant staff. One restaurant waitress allegedly called the Black woman “mayate grande,” which, according to her, is a Spanish slur similar to the racial slur commonly used against Black people. Unfortunately for the staff, the customer she supposedly insulted knew a bit of Spanish.
The incident allegedly occurred early in March 2026 in Long Beach, California. Instagram user Kat Branchman is the Black woman in question, and she merely went to Sirenita’s Restaurant for a bite when the waitress randomly and casually called her an alleged racial slur. “‘MyYate Grande’ is what she called me when one waitress asked if I ordered food… I was sitting there looking at the menu and they thought I couldn’t understand what they were saying,” recalls Branchman.
Branchman also had a Hispanic background, for the record, which apparently helped her understand the waitress banter, “My father was Panamanian, he was born in Panama… That is something he did teach me. I do know the word very well,” she explained. “When I called them out, their eyes got big as this! They knew that I knew what they were saying.”
So Branchman confronted the waitress, though the latter denied and tried to feign ignorance, supposedly. It’s not clear what became of the confrontation, but Branchman seems to have walked away in anger or disappointment. “As Black and Brown people, we keep preaching unity, but then these type of interactions keep happening. Come one now, y’all, it’s not right.”
People Online are Debating the Meaning of the Slur
Spanish-speaking people quickly chimed in across multiple comment sections, with some arguing that the word “mayate” has multiple meanings. It could refer to a beetle, a rude slang, a colloquial term, or a Spanish racial slur against Black people, though for Branchman, the Black woman in question felt that it was an insult towards her.
Some have given the waitresses the benefit of the doubt, by asking, “Are we sure she wasn’t saying Moyete?(It’s a Hispanic dish),” while others kept insisting that, “Mayate grande is not even a phrase latinos use. Although the word is a derogatory term, it is used on males not females.” It’s not clear whether Branchman plans to resort to legal action or not, though the restaurant has been review-bombed on Yelp already.
Despite the debate regarding the use of the word, Latinos and Hispanics have also shown some support for Branchman, though they also cautioned against generalization, “As someone with some hispanic/native roots, these people don’t represent all of us. Sorry this happened to you. 1❤️” and “That was that staff member at that place of business. This incident does not justify hate of all hispanic/latino people.”
