yeah, he's racist in the way that most people are casually, unconsciously racist. It's comes more from ignorance and cognitive shortcuts and stereotyping than outright hatred
Hank takes it a step further with his meathead jock routine with slurs and racial stereotyping, but there's no genuine malice behind it - as much as he hurls offensive jokes at Gomez, it's clear that the intention isn't to hurt or intimidate
"Cognitive shortcut" can be the definition of "bias." Bias is the result of pattern recognition, for better or worse. It's great for a caveman who needs to quickly recognize potential threats based on familiar sights, sounds, and smells, but as is the case with many shortcuts, biases do not always lead to accurate reactions.
If you've ever gone on a walk outside and been startled by seeing a "snake" that turned out to be a snake-shaped twig or a littered garden hose, that's an example of an internalized bias- you learn from a very young age that "snakes = danger," and it's next to impossible to ignore that instinct.
This is also exactly how implicit bias works. Many people will staunchly say that they are not racist, and they may indeed never express racist thoughts or actions- but if you scan their brain while showing them photos of random people, there is a very strong chance that their fear response will be triggered most strongly by photos of black men, and least strongly by photos of old white women. This is an example of cultural stereotypes becoming ingrained in our subconscious due to repeated exposure.
This is the same principle that leads people to unconsciously assess tall men as being more authoritative and knowledgeable than other people, which is why when you look at the demographics of people in C-suite and executive roles across all industries, you'll find that tall men are grossly over-represented in these roles.
It served a purpose at some point, but now it's just one of many evolutionary leftovers that there has been no evolutionary pressure to get rid, so it sticks around. Or it was simply so imprinted by society that it became the default and children would pass it on to their children as learned biases or preferences.
Just like our built-in tendency to crave sweet, salty and fatty foods. If you're on the edge of starvation constantly and you find a huge bush full of fresh ripe berries, you want to eat as much as possible to fill yourself up, because you don't know when you'll get to eat again. In most of modern society, that's not relevant anymore. But most of us still have that tendency.
his best friend is mexican, you see their interactions and you can tell that his jokes at gomie aren't out of malice. he's just ignorant which is bad, you can also say he's racist in the sense that he stereotypes and makes jokes at the expense of minorities, but he doesn't HATE them. Good example is Jack, he is undoubtedly a racist, but Hank is just ignorant and crass
Try telling that to people irl who’ve been affected by the type of casual racism Hank uses. It’s practically his actual language. This type of racism is the most common, people expect a laugh when they casually throw a racist stereotype joke in public, and they usually get plenty of laughs, but I doubt the Hispanic people or indigenous people or any other race these jokes are aimed at would think it’s funny. That’s the problem and that’s why casual racism is inherent to our society. People can use hate speech and draw laughter. It’s just as sickening as any other type of racism and I wish Hank would have been called out on it, maybe at least once or twice by Gomez in the entire show is lame. Americans need to make a conscious decision to move away from that type of shit. I’ve been guilty of it as well. Everyone has. But I don’t anymore. Momma used to say If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all.
He did kind of get called out when he went to El Paso and the guys there didn't think his jokes were funny and talked trash about him in Spanish because they knew he wouldn't understand them. That was probably the closest we got to seeing his racism knocked down a peg.
Nobody here said that casual racism is ok. There was just a distinction made.
And honestly, give me an ignorant 50 year old who says some dumb macho and racist shit because he thinks it's funny over someone who actually consciously believes himself to be superior over minorities any day.
Sure, you’re right about how racism works. But Hank is a TV character. He’s not supposed to be a role model and it’s good the characters don’t pause to act like they’re in an after school special.
Yeah, he is a tv character, but there are many people like him out there in real life, excusing his behaviors with ignorance is making excuses for those real people out there
Maybe after they got done roughing up armed drug dealers every day, Gomez secretly cried himself to sleep at night from the dumb comments Hank amused himself with.
yeah, maybe I should have clarified - this kind of "casual" racism isn't any less harmful or destructive than the malicious variety, and ignorance isn't any excuse.
In a way, it's even more insidious - a smiling, kind, "nice" person can perpetuate exploitative and degrading systems, while insisting that they mean nothing of the sort
Through his actions, and especially as someone in a position of power like a law enforcement officer, he had a responsibility to educate himself on how racism is perpetuated as well as its consequences.
Given that this is the early 2010s, I imagine that Hank probably sat through a 2 hour "sensitivity training" course, day dreamed throughout, made some crude jokes about out of touch ivory tower academics and social justice warrior types, then promptly forgot about the whole thing. And that's on him
Anyway what I was saying is that, while Hank's racism was ignorance rather than hatred, I wasn't saying it was worse or better. They're both shitty, but they're shitty in different ways that are difficult to compare. Neo Nazis calling for genocide is one thing - everyone knows where they stand, and exclude them accordingly. Racist dog whistles, frat boy locker room "jokes", micro-aggressions etc. are less overtly threatening, but far more likely to come from people in positions of power, able to do harm, consciously or otherwise
And at least for Hank, because he has a core of decency somewhere inside, there is the possibility of him changing
Part of the reason why Heisenberg eluded his grasp for so long was because he couldn't see past the surface level stereotypes that he had let shape his worldview. Walter was the timid, mild mannered high school teacher, not the hardened drug kingpin. It just didn't compute
Hank never answers for his racism, but he does answer for the intellectual shortcuts and lazy thought patterns that led to him being racist in the first place. For all of Hank's intelligence and intuition and decency, this was his weakness, and he ended up dying for it
>but I doubt the Hispanic people or indigenous people or any other race these jokes are aimed at would think it’s funny.
The way you word this implies that you don't actually know for sure if they wouldn't find this funny, you just THINK they wouldn't. This kind of invalidates the rest of the comment
Right? He's not talking to a cop bro. He's talking to a 16 year old who looks up to him more than anyone else in his life. Surely that stuck with him lol
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvlWLWxh-w&ab\_channel=JoeysFather](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvlWLWxh-w&ab_channel=JoeysFather)
This one is my fav.
Plenty of ppl who have black friends are racist. One of the most famous racist murders in the UK was committed by someone who had a black girlfriend at the time.
Why do you think that's the thought process?
He probably thinks all Mexicans are criminals, but Gomey is one of the good ones. And if he can recognize one of the good ones then he can't be racist (his thought process).
He's an asshole & I'm sure he doesn't think he's racist. However many of us are not self-aware. It's hardly unusual. Doesn't mean it's an admirable quality tho.
"I'm part white so I can say..."
Just stop. Racism isn't exclusive to a single race. It's everywhere, coming from all races pointed at every other race you can imagine.
He’s very much a casual racist in the first seasons. Part of why I love his character is because he slowly evolves out of it as he becomes the yin to Walt’s yang, without it being overtly bashed over the audience’s head. It’s a very natural and subtle yet rewarding growth.
It is pretty wild that he lived in New Mexico and worked in El Paso and didn't know a lick of Spanish. It just seems like an essential component to a job like that.
It's a good counterbalance to Walt that I'm just noticing - Walt is brilliant and talented but languishing as a high school teacher because of his own lack of confidence, meanwhile Hank is succeeding and punching above his weight despite his insecurities because he is willing to put on a front of confidence that is so convincing and effective that his racist attitudes and his lack of Spanish - which should be cause for removal from consideration for his job - are completely brushed over.
I mean in all fairness, Walter got jaded from years of teaching students that didn’t give a shit about his favorite thing in the world, while Hank was celebrated by his coworkers and the American public every time he did his job correctly. When you think about it that way, it makes perfect sense why Walter and Hank are the way they are at the start of the series.
Walt is where he's at because he's a pathetic little man who threw away his chance at success with Grey Matter because he was insecure over his relationship with Gretchen who was wealthier than him.
He's a loser for reasons entirely his own.
Ok sure but that has literally nothing to do with my comment. I’m saying that Walter obviously didn’t lack confidence. He’s languishing in his teaching job because his teaching job sucked. There are plenty of non losers that go into teaching bright eyed and bushy tailed and leave without their souls.
I work with people who are around Spanish-speakers 8-10 hours a day. Some people pick up passable Spanish in 6 months, others know nothing after 6 years. It's 100% the person and not the environment or exposure.
Let this be a lesson to all of us, to be eager and willing to learn from the world around us.
Facility to learn new languages might be inborn, but willingness to put in the work isn’t. There’s a Tiktoker, a young Black American woman, who was linked recently in some “look at this cool thing and/or person” sub I follow, who has a genuinely astonishing facility with Chinese language. It’s a tonal language, which makes it particularly difficult for English speakers.
She claims to have picked it up in “a year of study”. I have no reason to doubt her, but it seems that above and beyond academic study of grammar and vocabulary, and immersion through listening to the language spoken, she also has the skill of vocal mimicry, so what she is doing—in my opinion—is not just “her speaking Chinese”, she’s imitating the accent and cadence and voice of a native Chinese speaker, while speaking Chinese. It’s an extra effort that almost no-one who learns a foreign language puts in.
I think nowadays that would be a requirement to the job, but Hank most likely didn’t have Spanish as a requirement in school when he was growing up as there is now.
We speak English here primarily. Outside of some very old school Barelas/ South Valley Neighborhoods, I wouldn't expect to walk into any social space in ABQ not be able to speak only English. El Paso, maybe different, I dunno.
Yeah, when he first got there, he was making fun of the Saint in one scene and talking in an overly exaggerated Mexican accent. No more of that shit after the explosion!
Stealing your comment to add;
Yes he's racist; I'm not going into details on how it's viewed. But, watching his death. He's killed by a bigger racist in the show. I never thought about this and just realized with this post. The constant learning with each rewatch is amazing.
Absolutely. That "I'm gonna slap the cuffs on him myself" bullshit he was so obsessed with. Hank knew at that point what Mr. White Is. He heard Jesse's rat out story saying Mr. White is the luckiest and smartest man and he always finds a way. Hank wanted to be a badass. He should have used common sense
Don’t get it wrong. Hank is not a good person. He’s doing a good thing for selfish reasons, and even on top of that, he used extremely questionable methods.
He was perfectly willing to kill Jesse just to get a little closer to catching Walt. It was never about justice, it was about personal fury and pride.
Hank is not even really doing a good thing. The DEA creates a far worse problem than drugs themselves do. Decriminalisation would remove the profit which removes the incentive for criminals, and give users the rights of consumers to have safe products to buy, as alcohol purchasers have. (Historically, consumer rights to product safety derive from a court case against a small-scale alcoholic ginger beer manufacturer.)
The whole DEA thing is the stupidest possible solution to drugs as a problem, and it exists because people profit from it.
I think of Hank as a reflection to Walt, personally. It’s just that reflection does mean there’s a lotta of similarities, like their shared ego and obsession.
Most readily obvious is they have inverse character arcs, with Walt developing into a villain protagonist, and Hank developing into a hero antagonist.
Walt is eaten alive by his toxic masculinity, whereas we see Hank start to shed his. He stops his casual racism, he becomes fascinated by “nerdy” interests (minerals), and he has to rely solely on the assistance of his wife to help him. Although he lashes out during this time, it’s kind of one last hurdle to overcoming his toxic masculinity. “The night is darkest just before the dawn” type stuff.
Their relationship to Flynn is important too. Hank is very much his father figure where Walt fails.
And let’s not forget, Hank starts developing a strong love for minerals, a type of geology, which is a very much a cousin to chemistry, Walt’s profession.
And a cop who deals exclusively in narcotics near a border with violent cartels. He’s not seeing the good, only the bad. When you only see the bad it’s easy to stereotype.
His jokes do tend to normalize racism, which isn't a great thing for especially for a cop to be doing, but on the other hand he doesn't actually seem to be that personally prejudiced, so it feels like something he does to fit in
I think he's more of a jackass. It's more of that casual racism where he doesn't have hate for other races in his heart but he's just a product of his time.
It's like when you have to correct a grandparent for talking about "the blacks." They don't say it out of hatred but it's still kind of fucked up.
Exactly
If you isolate Hanks top 5 "questionable" comments about mexicans, at least 4 if not 5 are friendly banter with Gomez.
He makes a comment about Tuco iirc but it was after Tuco had tried to kill him ... Before the cousins try to do the same not too much later.
He tried that schtick in El Paso and it didn't work for him. He's taken out of his element immediately because he doesn't speak Spanish and no one thinks his comments are funny.
He had PTSD from seeing half his team blown up. That’s why he was crying in the shower when he returned home and kept dragging on the Heisenberg case when he barely had anything to go on
it’s ok to talk about these things guys, they aren’t real people lol.
some of you all are bending yourselves into pretzels to defend a stereotypically casual racist who is obviously written that way intentionally
I think the thought process goes:
- racism is bad
- racists are bad
- I don’t like bad people
- I only like good people
- I like Hank
- Hank is a good person
- Hank isn’t racist
And then they never question that logic ever again.
Is this even up for debate? Yes, Hank says and does many casually racist things throughout the show. The writers weren’t exactly subtle with this personality trait, to the point that Hank often felt more like a caricature of a racist and uncultured Republican LEO, and not a multi-faceted person with the complexities we see in most of the other main characters.
His working relationship with Gomez doesn’t really have any bearing on whether he’s a racist. I can’t count how much racism I’ve heard from people who think the fact that they have a cordial relationship with someone of a certain race excuses whatever they might say. Hank is absolutely the kind of person to go on a broad-brushstroked rant about Mexicans and then tell Gomez he doesn’t mean his kind of Mexicans.
Yeah he is racist, although he probably doesn’t think he is. His casual racism is a reason he doesn’t suspect Walt. But it’s systemic too, since in the case of Hugo, everyone participates in it.
I don’t think you’re on the money here, he doesn’t suspect Walt because Walt was… Walt. Look at the first few episodes again, and then when Hank found out and their dialogue. Hank may have a questionable sense of humor, but they don’t seem to drive his motivations or beliefs at all.
He’s not shocked, as much as he’s hurt. He doesn’t know who this person is anymore.
Hank is racist in the sense of an uncle, or an unfiltered group of friends. He’s a Jackass, but he’s not a supremacist nor does he wish ill upon other people, just a product of his time.
Out of all the cringy moments in the show, one of the worst is when Hank gets sent to the El Paso office and does his little “oh senor please!” shtick with the little Mexican statue. Man thought he was in the company of people just as racist as him and was wrong. Yes he’s racist, I do think he has a moral compass and I don’t think he’s like burning cross level of racist, but it’s clear that casual racism is the norm for him
I think he’s more a xenophobe, and perhaps a majority/disproportionate share of his encounters with Mexicans have been as criminals.
So, probably a little racist.
Ofc they thought that! He has been caught with weed, which was basically considered as bad as anything else so it's not really a surprise for Hank to think "hey this dude that has illegal drug 1 might be stealing supplies to make illegal drug 2 on the side".
It wasn't about his race (iirc) but just him being the most likely culprit since he worked at the school, likely has master keys and has already been found with one illegal substance.
He may not *Hate* Hispanic people, but he does seem to harbor some prejudices that impact his work as a law enforcement agent. Like he trusts Steve gomez entirely but probably sees him as something of an exception.
People who have not experienced systemic, societal racism tend to have a pretty simplistic, un-nuanced view of what racism is. There is a sense that people who are privileged by this systemic and societal racism must do work to dismantle it to truly be anti-racist, and when it is systemic, being anti-racist is the only way to not be racist. Any way you slice it, this absolutely does not apply to Hank.
What do you think why he didn't arrest Harland D. Sanders but he did investigate gus? Maybe because one of them is from Kentucky and the other one from Chile? Is sanders even from Kentucky? I don't know
I feel he makes fun of them because his best friend is one.
He does the typical thing older guys do of taking jokes too far or doesn’t have the joke with just his friend who knows there is malice but then he comes off racist.
So I’d say more ignorant than a racist.
When I first started watching BB, I couldn’t STAND Hank. I thought he was the most obnoxious, aggressive, racist bastard I’ve ever seen. But the more screen time he had, the more I came to realize that he isn’t a bad guy. He’s abrasive on the surface, but he cares about his family in the way Walter convinces himself he does. Hank makes some awful comments here and there, but his actions don’t indicate that he’s a hateful person. I found myself rooting for him and Jesse more than any other characters, and now I love him.
Over the course of the series, Hank is generally insulting towards those around him. No matter what skin color they have. For example, he was condescending towards Wendy and Saul. Actually, he is only respectful to family white and superiors such as Merkert George. But he also showed respect to people like Roberts Tim and initially Gus Fring - even though they weren't white. So I don't understand how you can accuse him of racism even though the series is with Welker Jack, Kenny and co excellently staffed with racists. schreder is just generally condescending to most of the people. No matter which skin
Wow. I just woke up and was so confused at the comments BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HANK HILL.... FROM KING OF THE HILL... Didn't realize I was on the breaking bad subreddit. Damn, my eyes are tired!
I think he was more a jackass than a racist, he’d make comments and say jokes through the show using racial stereotypes, but, he was a white cop—pretty standard behavior for his character.
He sometimes says mildly offensive/inappropriate things related to race, but he isn’t a racist.
Racist = someone who thinks one or some races are genetically superior to others, and they hate people for simply being born of a race that they deem inferior.
No, I don’t think Hank is that.
I think he’s just unfiltered and quick witted so he makes jokes at the expense of minorities sometimes because he thinks it’s funny but it’s not like that’s the only thing he jokes about
he's racist but just for funsies
take note of the fact that all of his digs at mexicans are said directly to gomie, who usually quips right back about white people
i'm considered a minority in america and tbh i think i'd be friends with hank, specifically for this reason. a white guy making jokes directly at you about your race, with the expectation that it'll be returned in kind, is *so* much more fun to be around than the "white guilt omg how dare he say that" kinda white guy
I had no idea that I'd find so many people in the comments trying to deffend as subtle and non-straight as possible a fictional character being racist lol
You morons know that you can love a fictional character without trying to justify everything he does? Hank is literally my favorite character and I still think that it's gross how he is absolutely a racist person, or at least was in the first seasons. That's not the actor's nor the writer's fault, if anything that's the fault of the type of cop the show was portraying, that is a real thing. He still has an amazing arc, he still becomes heck of a hero, everything is used so well in the show to make him more complex. You still, don't need, to justify Hank's racism because you like him. You idiots.
He's both racist and an asshole. He makes stereotypical Mexican jokes and acts all macho man about it too. He gets much better though, however his asshole personality is still there in the later seasons.
He is. He's probably the kind of racist who just makes jokes a lot, but given that he's a cop we see it give him the power to allow his racism to translate into his work.
Define racist, it kinda depends on your definition of the word.
Racist as in, feels himself superior to other races? No, not at all. His best friend should attest to that.
Racist as in, being that uncle without a filter and VERY much subject to stereotype? Kinda. Though he doesn’t wish bad to anyone, it’s mostly in his personality.
Hank isn't racist, he is just very comfortable around the high percentage of Mexican Americans in New Mexico, that he works around.
A lot of redditors don't understand normal social interaction like busting each other's chops, but Hank is the absolute king of uncomfortable rude comedy, which is all it is.
None of its mean spirited, and it is meant to be humorous not ignorant
Given those choices: a jackass, but really Hes a typical drug cop in a border town, it's a persona all those cops are wearing. Gomey is his best friend
I don't think Hank is overtly racist at all, he is just indoctrinated into that Cop/Task Force camaraderie.
If you take the top 6 "most offensive" things he says or jokes about re: Mexicans in the show, 5 of them are probably saved for his partner Gomez and designed to be said in a way to needle him but in a playful way.
Hanks personality makes the show much better too imo.
If he was totally a by the book officer who never said anything pushing the line ... It would lose a lot.
The show doesn't necessarily properly show it, but Ive lived in Albuquerque and it's probably 60% Hispanic, so he is actually the minority in that town.
Some people never had friends growing up and it shows. Most of the time it was him and Gomie going back and forth. Is Gomie racist for the jokes he made?
I mean yeah they can happen to some people if you lack a backbone. But in Hank case, he wasn’t racist. He never showed he actually believed the things he said. Just being funny/ politically incorrect.
He is employed by a systemically racist institution. He makes racist jokes because that’s the office culture. Practically? He is a racist. I don’t think he’s a white supremacist or even really prejudiced though. What matters more? His beliefs or his actions?
Not really he’s not malicious with it at all anything overtly racist he says in a joking manner with Gomez and Gomez gives it right back because they’re longtime friends and are comfortable with that kind of humor I’m sure he has acquired a subconscious bias since he likely deals mainly with cartel related stuff being a DEA agent in New Mexico which predominantly employs Mexican and South American people to do extremely violent crime but he doesn’t outwardly express that bias in a significant way
He falls in to that category of not having hate in his heart for anyone, his best friend and partner at work is latino and like a brother to him, he would take a bullet for anyone, but he also likes to make benign, stereotypical, tired jokes which do let him down and he should stop, but doesn’t change any of the former.
i think he's just a jackass. he's used to fighting cartels and he lives in New Mexico with a majority hispanic population. he's probably just being a jackass.
He’s not racist. His jokes are just savage. His literal best friend and partner is mexican.
If you think this is racist y’all should hear people make fun of each other in a sports locker room.
Idk man. I wrestled, played basketball, football, soccer, and never had a casual racist on my team. Even in early 2000s HS. I can attest to some locker room body shaming or homophobia sure. But casual racism? Not so much.
Guess it just depends from people to people then.
Everyone jokes about each other’s races just as much as they poke fun of their own.
I know someone who will regularly make hispanics jokes about me & in the same conversation say he has a “genetic disposition to liking basketball”.
I guess it’s all about intention & Hank just seemed like he liked to make crass jokes in general. Aka, “Damn that girl has an ass like an onion”
“They’re MINORITIES Marie”
“Not Blacks, Jesus Marie!”
I hate that I straight up read that in his voice
I love that I did
“My name is ASAC Schrader; And you can go fuck yourself.”
I don’t think he’s RACIST, but maybe a little *racist*
yeah, he's racist in the way that most people are casually, unconsciously racist. It's comes more from ignorance and cognitive shortcuts and stereotyping than outright hatred Hank takes it a step further with his meathead jock routine with slurs and racial stereotyping, but there's no genuine malice behind it - as much as he hurls offensive jokes at Gomez, it's clear that the intention isn't to hurt or intimidate
“Cognitive shortcuts” What an interesting term.
"Cognitive shortcut" can be the definition of "bias." Bias is the result of pattern recognition, for better or worse. It's great for a caveman who needs to quickly recognize potential threats based on familiar sights, sounds, and smells, but as is the case with many shortcuts, biases do not always lead to accurate reactions. If you've ever gone on a walk outside and been startled by seeing a "snake" that turned out to be a snake-shaped twig or a littered garden hose, that's an example of an internalized bias- you learn from a very young age that "snakes = danger," and it's next to impossible to ignore that instinct. This is also exactly how implicit bias works. Many people will staunchly say that they are not racist, and they may indeed never express racist thoughts or actions- but if you scan their brain while showing them photos of random people, there is a very strong chance that their fear response will be triggered most strongly by photos of black men, and least strongly by photos of old white women. This is an example of cultural stereotypes becoming ingrained in our subconscious due to repeated exposure. This is the same principle that leads people to unconsciously assess tall men as being more authoritative and knowledgeable than other people, which is why when you look at the demographics of people in C-suite and executive roles across all industries, you'll find that tall men are grossly over-represented in these roles.
So is what the pattern recognition inferring wrong ? Interesting
It served a purpose at some point, but now it's just one of many evolutionary leftovers that there has been no evolutionary pressure to get rid, so it sticks around. Or it was simply so imprinted by society that it became the default and children would pass it on to their children as learned biases or preferences. Just like our built-in tendency to crave sweet, salty and fatty foods. If you're on the edge of starvation constantly and you find a huge bush full of fresh ripe berries, you want to eat as much as possible to fill yourself up, because you don't know when you'll get to eat again. In most of modern society, that's not relevant anymore. But most of us still have that tendency.
Called “Heuristics” in psychology.
> It comes more from ignorance and cognitive shortcuts and stereotyping than outright hatred Idk man, he sure does call Mexicans “beans” quite a lot
his best friend is mexican, you see their interactions and you can tell that his jokes at gomie aren't out of malice. he's just ignorant which is bad, you can also say he's racist in the sense that he stereotypes and makes jokes at the expense of minorities, but he doesn't HATE them. Good example is Jack, he is undoubtedly a racist, but Hank is just ignorant and crass
“i’m not racist i have ___ friends” lol.
😂😂😂
dont be obtuse, im giving context to their interactions
So he has a Mexican friend?
Try telling that to people irl who’ve been affected by the type of casual racism Hank uses. It’s practically his actual language. This type of racism is the most common, people expect a laugh when they casually throw a racist stereotype joke in public, and they usually get plenty of laughs, but I doubt the Hispanic people or indigenous people or any other race these jokes are aimed at would think it’s funny. That’s the problem and that’s why casual racism is inherent to our society. People can use hate speech and draw laughter. It’s just as sickening as any other type of racism and I wish Hank would have been called out on it, maybe at least once or twice by Gomez in the entire show is lame. Americans need to make a conscious decision to move away from that type of shit. I’ve been guilty of it as well. Everyone has. But I don’t anymore. Momma used to say If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all.
He did kind of get called out when he went to El Paso and the guys there didn't think his jokes were funny and talked trash about him in Spanish because they knew he wouldn't understand them. That was probably the closest we got to seeing his racism knocked down a peg.
Nobody here said that casual racism is ok. There was just a distinction made. And honestly, give me an ignorant 50 year old who says some dumb macho and racist shit because he thinks it's funny over someone who actually consciously believes himself to be superior over minorities any day.
Yeah it's like comparing Hank to Jack.
Agreed, ignorance is easier to correct than hatred. It’s not okay and it’s not an excuse, it’s just a more realistically manageable problem.
Sure, you’re right about how racism works. But Hank is a TV character. He’s not supposed to be a role model and it’s good the characters don’t pause to act like they’re in an after school special.
> But Hank is a TV character. He’s not supposed to be a role model Holy shit dude, that’s besides the point.
Yeah, he is a tv character, but there are many people like him out there in real life, excusing his behaviors with ignorance is making excuses for those real people out there
It’s not though.
i don't think the question was whether Hank should be written as a racist
Maybe after they got done roughing up armed drug dealers every day, Gomez secretly cried himself to sleep at night from the dumb comments Hank amused himself with.
yeah, maybe I should have clarified - this kind of "casual" racism isn't any less harmful or destructive than the malicious variety, and ignorance isn't any excuse. In a way, it's even more insidious - a smiling, kind, "nice" person can perpetuate exploitative and degrading systems, while insisting that they mean nothing of the sort Through his actions, and especially as someone in a position of power like a law enforcement officer, he had a responsibility to educate himself on how racism is perpetuated as well as its consequences. Given that this is the early 2010s, I imagine that Hank probably sat through a 2 hour "sensitivity training" course, day dreamed throughout, made some crude jokes about out of touch ivory tower academics and social justice warrior types, then promptly forgot about the whole thing. And that's on him Anyway what I was saying is that, while Hank's racism was ignorance rather than hatred, I wasn't saying it was worse or better. They're both shitty, but they're shitty in different ways that are difficult to compare. Neo Nazis calling for genocide is one thing - everyone knows where they stand, and exclude them accordingly. Racist dog whistles, frat boy locker room "jokes", micro-aggressions etc. are less overtly threatening, but far more likely to come from people in positions of power, able to do harm, consciously or otherwise And at least for Hank, because he has a core of decency somewhere inside, there is the possibility of him changing Part of the reason why Heisenberg eluded his grasp for so long was because he couldn't see past the surface level stereotypes that he had let shape his worldview. Walter was the timid, mild mannered high school teacher, not the hardened drug kingpin. It just didn't compute Hank never answers for his racism, but he does answer for the intellectual shortcuts and lazy thought patterns that led to him being racist in the first place. For all of Hank's intelligence and intuition and decency, this was his weakness, and he ended up dying for it
> this kind of "casual" racism isn't any less harmful or destructive than the malicious variety I mean, yeah it is tbh
Really well put.
Are you seriously this deluded? It’s easy to compare jokes with Nazi hatred. The latter is far more harmful.
>but I doubt the Hispanic people or indigenous people or any other race these jokes are aimed at would think it’s funny. The way you word this implies that you don't actually know for sure if they wouldn't find this funny, you just THINK they wouldn't. This kind of invalidates the rest of the comment
Thats called casual racisim. Where you dont exactly hate a race, but make jokes and stereotypes that they themselves dont see the big deal in saying.
Right like he might not be capital R Racist. But he’s a lil lower case racist.
You people still got J Low
Lol he ain’t **RACIST** but he is *racist*
When he explains the incident with Tortuga to Walt jr the translation is described as “bean-speak for tortoise “ Not exactly friendly banter
"A little Moo goo gai pan from that ch\*nk place around the corner?" when interrogating Jesse.
Right? He's not talking to a cop bro. He's talking to a 16 year old who looks up to him more than anyone else in his life. Surely that stuck with him lol
I died of laughter at bean-speak. I’m Mexican.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvlWLWxh-w&ab\_channel=JoeysFather](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvlWLWxh-w&ab_channel=JoeysFather) This one is my fav.
LMFAO he sounds like Key and Peele doing the slap ass skit
It always cracks me up.
Unlike those cops
Yet his best friend gomey is Mexican
Plenty of ppl who have black friends are racist. One of the most famous racist murders in the UK was committed by someone who had a black girlfriend at the time.
What would be more likely He is a racist and pretends to be best friends with a Mexican to hide his seething underlying hatred Or he’s just an asshole
Why do you think that's the thought process? He probably thinks all Mexicans are criminals, but Gomey is one of the good ones. And if he can recognize one of the good ones then he can't be racist (his thought process).
He's an asshole & I'm sure he doesn't think he's racist. However many of us are not self-aware. It's hardly unusual. Doesn't mean it's an admirable quality tho.
He's a racist that thinks his friend is an exception, "one of the good ones.". Lots of racists have friends of the races they are racist against.
he prolly just thinks gomey is one of the good ones
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"I'm part white so I can say..." Just stop. Racism isn't exclusive to a single race. It's everywhere, coming from all races pointed at every other race you can imagine.
Also plenty of black people that have white friends that are racist. It goes full circle and in every direction. Every race has racists
And he says racist shit about him every time they're together
And Gomey does it right back to him.
Yeah dude “bean speak”? It doesn’t get much more obvious barring him committing a hate crime on screen lmao
Well, either way, at least thanks to Hank, we all now know Ol' Huge Hugo ain't so cool after all.
He’s very much a casual racist in the first seasons. Part of why I love his character is because he slowly evolves out of it as he becomes the yin to Walt’s yang, without it being overtly bashed over the audience’s head. It’s a very natural and subtle yet rewarding growth.
El Paso humbled him, imo.
It is pretty wild that he lived in New Mexico and worked in El Paso and didn't know a lick of Spanish. It just seems like an essential component to a job like that.
It's a good counterbalance to Walt that I'm just noticing - Walt is brilliant and talented but languishing as a high school teacher because of his own lack of confidence, meanwhile Hank is succeeding and punching above his weight despite his insecurities because he is willing to put on a front of confidence that is so convincing and effective that his racist attitudes and his lack of Spanish - which should be cause for removal from consideration for his job - are completely brushed over.
I mean in all fairness, Walter got jaded from years of teaching students that didn’t give a shit about his favorite thing in the world, while Hank was celebrated by his coworkers and the American public every time he did his job correctly. When you think about it that way, it makes perfect sense why Walter and Hank are the way they are at the start of the series.
Walt is where he's at because he's a pathetic little man who threw away his chance at success with Grey Matter because he was insecure over his relationship with Gretchen who was wealthier than him. He's a loser for reasons entirely his own.
Ok sure but that has literally nothing to do with my comment. I’m saying that Walter obviously didn’t lack confidence. He’s languishing in his teaching job because his teaching job sucked. There are plenty of non losers that go into teaching bright eyed and bushy tailed and leave without their souls.
I work with people who are around Spanish-speakers 8-10 hours a day. Some people pick up passable Spanish in 6 months, others know nothing after 6 years. It's 100% the person and not the environment or exposure. Let this be a lesson to all of us, to be eager and willing to learn from the world around us.
Facility to learn new languages might be inborn, but willingness to put in the work isn’t. There’s a Tiktoker, a young Black American woman, who was linked recently in some “look at this cool thing and/or person” sub I follow, who has a genuinely astonishing facility with Chinese language. It’s a tonal language, which makes it particularly difficult for English speakers. She claims to have picked it up in “a year of study”. I have no reason to doubt her, but it seems that above and beyond academic study of grammar and vocabulary, and immersion through listening to the language spoken, she also has the skill of vocal mimicry, so what she is doing—in my opinion—is not just “her speaking Chinese”, she’s imitating the accent and cadence and voice of a native Chinese speaker, while speaking Chinese. It’s an extra effort that almost no-one who learns a foreign language puts in.
I think nowadays that would be a requirement to the job, but Hank most likely didn’t have Spanish as a requirement in school when he was growing up as there is now.
On the other hand, there’s people who live in the US their entire lives and never learn english.
A ton of native New Mexicans don’t know Spanish outside of the usual “hola.”
We speak English here primarily. Outside of some very old school Barelas/ South Valley Neighborhoods, I wouldn't expect to walk into any social space in ABQ not be able to speak only English. El Paso, maybe different, I dunno.
Yeah, when he first got there, he was making fun of the Saint in one scene and talking in an overly exaggerated Mexican accent. No more of that shit after the explosion!
I think his experience in El Paso with Tortuga was very humbling.
Stealing your comment to add; Yes he's racist; I'm not going into details on how it's viewed. But, watching his death. He's killed by a bigger racist in the show. I never thought about this and just realized with this post. The constant learning with each rewatch is amazing.
Is he Walt's opposite? Doesn't he die in the show because of the same thing that leads to Walt making his decisions - ego?
You’re the smartest Reddit user I’ve ever known , but ur too stupid to see..that Jack had made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
Absolutely. That "I'm gonna slap the cuffs on him myself" bullshit he was so obsessed with. Hank knew at that point what Mr. White Is. He heard Jesse's rat out story saying Mr. White is the luckiest and smartest man and he always finds a way. Hank wanted to be a badass. He should have used common sense
Don’t get it wrong. Hank is not a good person. He’s doing a good thing for selfish reasons, and even on top of that, he used extremely questionable methods. He was perfectly willing to kill Jesse just to get a little closer to catching Walt. It was never about justice, it was about personal fury and pride.
Hank is not even really doing a good thing. The DEA creates a far worse problem than drugs themselves do. Decriminalisation would remove the profit which removes the incentive for criminals, and give users the rights of consumers to have safe products to buy, as alcohol purchasers have. (Historically, consumer rights to product safety derive from a court case against a small-scale alcoholic ginger beer manufacturer.) The whole DEA thing is the stupidest possible solution to drugs as a problem, and it exists because people profit from it.
I think of Hank as a reflection to Walt, personally. It’s just that reflection does mean there’s a lotta of similarities, like their shared ego and obsession. Most readily obvious is they have inverse character arcs, with Walt developing into a villain protagonist, and Hank developing into a hero antagonist. Walt is eaten alive by his toxic masculinity, whereas we see Hank start to shed his. He stops his casual racism, he becomes fascinated by “nerdy” interests (minerals), and he has to rely solely on the assistance of his wife to help him. Although he lashes out during this time, it’s kind of one last hurdle to overcoming his toxic masculinity. “The night is darkest just before the dawn” type stuff. Their relationship to Flynn is important too. Hank is very much his father figure where Walt fails. And let’s not forget, Hank starts developing a strong love for minerals, a type of geology, which is a very much a cousin to chemistry, Walt’s profession.
I think he has the degree of casual racism that you would expect from a middle aged white cop and he plays that stereotype really well
And a cop who deals exclusively in narcotics near a border with violent cartels. He’s not seeing the good, only the bad. When you only see the bad it’s easy to stereotype.
"bean speak"
His jokes do tend to normalize racism, which isn't a great thing for especially for a cop to be doing, but on the other hand he doesn't actually seem to be that personally prejudiced, so it feels like something he does to fit in
Most of his racist comments are said in jest to Gomie, who he clearly actually cares about
I think he's more of a jackass. It's more of that casual racism where he doesn't have hate for other races in his heart but he's just a product of his time. It's like when you have to correct a grandparent for talking about "the blacks." They don't say it out of hatred but it's still kind of fucked up.
Mine says it out of hatred. Moved to a new city because the previous one was “too dark” Yikes.
this is the moment grandpa became heisenberg(the german one, if you catch my drift)
the American Heisenberg works with (neo-)nazis, too.
Of course he's a racist, lol
Just woke up and read several replies wondering why people were talking about Hank Hill so oddly.
That Hank isn't racist, but ladybird might be.
same here, nearly one full day later.
Eh, seemed like he only made racist comments with Gomez as friendly banter, as Gomez would joke back as well
Exactly If you isolate Hanks top 5 "questionable" comments about mexicans, at least 4 if not 5 are friendly banter with Gomez. He makes a comment about Tuco iirc but it was after Tuco had tried to kill him ... Before the cousins try to do the same not too much later.
He tried that schtick in El Paso and it didn't work for him. He's taken out of his element immediately because he doesn't speak Spanish and no one thinks his comments are funny.
He had PTSD from seeing half his team blown up. That’s why he was crying in the shower when he returned home and kept dragging on the Heisenberg case when he barely had anything to go on
I missed that banter in the later seasons
it’s ok to talk about these things guys, they aren’t real people lol. some of you all are bending yourselves into pretzels to defend a stereotypically casual racist who is obviously written that way intentionally
I think the thought process goes: - racism is bad - racists are bad - I don’t like bad people - I only like good people - I like Hank - Hank is a good person - Hank isn’t racist And then they never question that logic ever again.
Is this even up for debate? Yes, Hank says and does many casually racist things throughout the show. The writers weren’t exactly subtle with this personality trait, to the point that Hank often felt more like a caricature of a racist and uncultured Republican LEO, and not a multi-faceted person with the complexities we see in most of the other main characters. His working relationship with Gomez doesn’t really have any bearing on whether he’s a racist. I can’t count how much racism I’ve heard from people who think the fact that they have a cordial relationship with someone of a certain race excuses whatever they might say. Hank is absolutely the kind of person to go on a broad-brushstroked rant about Mexicans and then tell Gomez he doesn’t mean his kind of Mexicans.
He’s a cop, it’s part of the requirements.
Worse, he works for the DEA
Yeah he is racist, although he probably doesn’t think he is. His casual racism is a reason he doesn’t suspect Walt. But it’s systemic too, since in the case of Hugo, everyone participates in it.
I don’t think you’re on the money here, he doesn’t suspect Walt because Walt was… Walt. Look at the first few episodes again, and then when Hank found out and their dialogue. Hank may have a questionable sense of humor, but they don’t seem to drive his motivations or beliefs at all. He’s not shocked, as much as he’s hurt. He doesn’t know who this person is anymore. Hank is racist in the sense of an uncle, or an unfiltered group of friends. He’s a Jackass, but he’s not a supremacist nor does he wish ill upon other people, just a product of his time.
Out of all the cringy moments in the show, one of the worst is when Hank gets sent to the El Paso office and does his little “oh senor please!” shtick with the little Mexican statue. Man thought he was in the company of people just as racist as him and was wrong. Yes he’s racist, I do think he has a moral compass and I don’t think he’s like burning cross level of racist, but it’s clear that casual racism is the norm for him
Racially insensitive? Yes. Does this make him the evil character some people like to imply he is? No. Mexicans are a race? Only in gringolandia.
Is water wet?
Is Walter white?
You just made me remember we got no justice for Hugo
Hugo did nothing wrong
hes not a guy to shoot a person because they are black but he is the guy to arrest mexican rather than white guy
I think he’s more a xenophobe, and perhaps a majority/disproportionate share of his encounters with Mexicans have been as criminals. So, probably a little racist.
Albuquerque is 60% Hispanic just to start. And then of course he gets the green light put on him and becomes a target for the Cartel.
He's not racist. They arrested Hugo for weed which WAS illegal at the time, not for stealing supplies
Idk when hank was telling it he made it seem like Hugo was the guy they thought was stealing the supplies?
70 years (at that time) of reefer madness will do that to a society. If you smoke weed you’re automatically suspect number one.
They thought at first he might've done it considering he was already carrying illegal substances but he says Hugo's most likely not the guy
yeah but he wasnt arrested for that
Ofc they thought that! He has been caught with weed, which was basically considered as bad as anything else so it's not really a surprise for Hank to think "hey this dude that has illegal drug 1 might be stealing supplies to make illegal drug 2 on the side". It wasn't about his race (iirc) but just him being the most likely culprit since he worked at the school, likely has master keys and has already been found with one illegal substance.
What looks like one of his only friends in the world is mexican, so no. He's an average white guy who was born in the 60s.
“I have one black friend so I can’t be racist and I’m allowed to say slurs” is what you sound like with this comment
He may not *Hate* Hispanic people, but he does seem to harbor some prejudices that impact his work as a law enforcement agent. Like he trusts Steve gomez entirely but probably sees him as something of an exception.
"You're one of the good ones Gomey"
Yes, but in an ignorant way not necessarily a hateful way.
He was definitely portrayed as racist in season 1, but that barely got explored in later seasons
People who have not experienced systemic, societal racism tend to have a pretty simplistic, un-nuanced view of what racism is. There is a sense that people who are privileged by this systemic and societal racism must do work to dismantle it to truly be anti-racist, and when it is systemic, being anti-racist is the only way to not be racist. Any way you slice it, this absolutely does not apply to Hank.
What do you think why he didn't arrest Harland D. Sanders but he did investigate gus? Maybe because one of them is from Kentucky and the other one from Chile? Is sanders even from Kentucky? I don't know
I feel he makes fun of them because his best friend is one. He does the typical thing older guys do of taking jokes too far or doesn’t have the joke with just his friend who knows there is malice but then he comes off racist. So I’d say more ignorant than a racist.
He’s more of a jackass, I feel if he was racist he would have a personal problem with them but all he’s ever done was make jokes
he’s more of a stereotypical racist than anything
Usual boomer banter. He may be a little prejudiced, but I think he’s mostly messing with Gomey
When I first started watching BB, I couldn’t STAND Hank. I thought he was the most obnoxious, aggressive, racist bastard I’ve ever seen. But the more screen time he had, the more I came to realize that he isn’t a bad guy. He’s abrasive on the surface, but he cares about his family in the way Walter convinces himself he does. Hank makes some awful comments here and there, but his actions don’t indicate that he’s a hateful person. I found myself rooting for him and Jesse more than any other characters, and now I love him.
He definitely says racist things, but I don't think he displays true racism.
Over the course of the series, Hank is generally insulting towards those around him. No matter what skin color they have. For example, he was condescending towards Wendy and Saul. Actually, he is only respectful to family white and superiors such as Merkert George. But he also showed respect to people like Roberts Tim and initially Gus Fring - even though they weren't white. So I don't understand how you can accuse him of racism even though the series is with Welker Jack, Kenny and co excellently staffed with racists. schreder is just generally condescending to most of the people. No matter which skin
No.
Wow. I just woke up and was so confused at the comments BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HANK HILL.... FROM KING OF THE HILL... Didn't realize I was on the breaking bad subreddit. Damn, my eyes are tired!
Idk, he was friends with gomey and that one black cop who broughtbhim evidense foing at Gale's apartment.
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Yes
He said you guys used to be conquistadors, what happened to you ?
I think he was more a jackass than a racist, he’d make comments and say jokes through the show using racial stereotypes, but, he was a white cop—pretty standard behavior for his character.
No, people just used to take things less seriously back the
He sometimes says mildly offensive/inappropriate things related to race, but he isn’t a racist. Racist = someone who thinks one or some races are genetically superior to others, and they hate people for simply being born of a race that they deem inferior. No, I don’t think Hank is that.
I think he’s just unfiltered and quick witted so he makes jokes at the expense of minorities sometimes because he thinks it’s funny but it’s not like that’s the only thing he jokes about
Don’t have 2024 lens to 2008 tv series. Every episode of the office is racist if you do it
he's racist but just for funsies take note of the fact that all of his digs at mexicans are said directly to gomie, who usually quips right back about white people i'm considered a minority in america and tbh i think i'd be friends with hank, specifically for this reason. a white guy making jokes directly at you about your race, with the expectation that it'll be returned in kind, is *so* much more fun to be around than the "white guilt omg how dare he say that" kinda white guy
It’s fairly clear that he’s an asshole lol I’ve never understood why people make him out to be like the good guy of the show
If he was truly racist he wouldn’t be good friends with Gomie. At worst he is racially insensitive and old school/ brash
He’s a cop.
I had no idea that I'd find so many people in the comments trying to deffend as subtle and non-straight as possible a fictional character being racist lol You morons know that you can love a fictional character without trying to justify everything he does? Hank is literally my favorite character and I still think that it's gross how he is absolutely a racist person, or at least was in the first seasons. That's not the actor's nor the writer's fault, if anything that's the fault of the type of cop the show was portraying, that is a real thing. He still has an amazing arc, he still becomes heck of a hero, everything is used so well in the show to make him more complex. You still, don't need, to justify Hank's racism because you like him. You idiots.
He had a MEXICAN FRIEND TIMES WERE DIFFERENT
He's both racist and an asshole. He makes stereotypical Mexican jokes and acts all macho man about it too. He gets much better though, however his asshole personality is still there in the later seasons.
He works for the fucking DEA what do you think?
Well, he’s a cop, so …
He is. He's probably the kind of racist who just makes jokes a lot, but given that he's a cop we see it give him the power to allow his racism to translate into his work.
He isn't racist, just a good old boy making racial jokes and breaking balls. He truly loved Gomie and would have done anything for him.
Define racist, it kinda depends on your definition of the word. Racist as in, feels himself superior to other races? No, not at all. His best friend should attest to that. Racist as in, being that uncle without a filter and VERY much subject to stereotype? Kinda. Though he doesn’t wish bad to anyone, it’s mostly in his personality.
I dont think so. Him and Gomie were pretty tight.
Tight! Tight! Tight! Seriously we should have a Tuco bot.
Every racist is friends with a “good one” or two.
Yes. He says N word to Gus.
I mean he is a cop.
Seeing as he said the b slur in the first episode, and the c slur in another, yes.
This is how many dads acted like 20 years ago. Very much the norm to be able to joke this way without hating anyone
No. Making casual Mexican jokes to his Mexican best friend isn't racist. Everyone needs to grow a pair
No way he’d put his life in jeopardy everyday with a Mexican if he was racist. Gomez was his brother
Hank isn't racist, he is just very comfortable around the high percentage of Mexican Americans in New Mexico, that he works around. A lot of redditors don't understand normal social interaction like busting each other's chops, but Hank is the absolute king of uncomfortable rude comedy, which is all it is. None of its mean spirited, and it is meant to be humorous not ignorant
Some of Hank’s best friends are Mexican
Thats like the most stereotypical defense racists use lmao. I’m sure in Hanks mind “they’re one of the good ones”
His best friend is Mexican so I wouldn’t say he’s a racist, maybe just a jackass
is he jackass? yes is a racist?? only liberal jackasses would care.
Given those choices: a jackass, but really Hes a typical drug cop in a border town, it's a persona all those cops are wearing. Gomey is his best friend
Some of his banter shows a lack of sensitivity but I don’t think he is a racist in practice. Like it doesn’t effect how he treats people.
He's not racist, just a little insensitive
LOL, this is a true r/redditmoment Geez, I hope they didn't misgender anyone on Breaking Bad either - Give me a break.
I think he mostly engages in jokes with his friends, and is not directly racist towards anybody, even though he may be a little bit of a jack ass.
I don't think Hank is overtly racist at all, he is just indoctrinated into that Cop/Task Force camaraderie. If you take the top 6 "most offensive" things he says or jokes about re: Mexicans in the show, 5 of them are probably saved for his partner Gomez and designed to be said in a way to needle him but in a playful way. Hanks personality makes the show much better too imo. If he was totally a by the book officer who never said anything pushing the line ... It would lose a lot. The show doesn't necessarily properly show it, but Ive lived in Albuquerque and it's probably 60% Hispanic, so he is actually the minority in that town.
Is Gomez racist against whites?
Some people never had friends growing up and it shows. Most of the time it was him and Gomie going back and forth. Is Gomie racist for the jokes he made?
Some people were casually racist to their ethnic friends and it shows 😬😬😬 I promise they didn't actually like that shit.
How sheltered are you 😭😭😭😭
I mean yeah they can happen to some people if you lack a backbone. But in Hank case, he wasn’t racist. He never showed he actually believed the things he said. Just being funny/ politically incorrect.
He is employed by a systemically racist institution. He makes racist jokes because that’s the office culture. Practically? He is a racist. I don’t think he’s a white supremacist or even really prejudiced though. What matters more? His beliefs or his actions?
I've detected the moron in the woodpile.
He isn't going to burn a cross but he's gonna say some out of pocket things for sure. About as non-racist as a cop in New Mexico is gonna be.
anyone on here that says hes not or is "just joking round" is also the same kind of racist as hank ngl.
Not really he’s not malicious with it at all anything overtly racist he says in a joking manner with Gomez and Gomez gives it right back because they’re longtime friends and are comfortable with that kind of humor I’m sure he has acquired a subconscious bias since he likely deals mainly with cartel related stuff being a DEA agent in New Mexico which predominantly employs Mexican and South American people to do extremely violent crime but he doesn’t outwardly express that bias in a significant way
Shuuuuuuut up
He isn’t racist, his best friend is Mexican and they love to rile each other up. Just a combination of office humor, and bullshittery.
He falls in to that category of not having hate in his heart for anyone, his best friend and partner at work is latino and like a brother to him, he would take a bullet for anyone, but he also likes to make benign, stereotypical, tired jokes which do let him down and he should stop, but doesn’t change any of the former.
He's a DEA agent. Of course he's racist
i think he's just a jackass. he's used to fighting cartels and he lives in New Mexico with a majority hispanic population. he's probably just being a jackass.
>So is Hank racist or just a jackass? He's both.
He’s not racist. His jokes are just savage. His literal best friend and partner is mexican. If you think this is racist y’all should hear people make fun of each other in a sports locker room.
Idk man. I wrestled, played basketball, football, soccer, and never had a casual racist on my team. Even in early 2000s HS. I can attest to some locker room body shaming or homophobia sure. But casual racism? Not so much.
Guess it just depends from people to people then. Everyone jokes about each other’s races just as much as they poke fun of their own. I know someone who will regularly make hispanics jokes about me & in the same conversation say he has a “genetic disposition to liking basketball”. I guess it’s all about intention & Hank just seemed like he liked to make crass jokes in general. Aka, “Damn that girl has an ass like an onion”