This study exposes ‘gringo Spanish’ as a discursive site for the reproduction of privilege, racism and social order in White public spaces. It begins by exploring Whiteness, doing so by unpacking what the term ‘Gringoism’, which involves the active celebration of a White, monolingual (un)consciousness through particular linguistic and cultural performance. Brief analysis of one particular educational text (Harvey 1990/2003) supports greater discussions of indexicality, intersubjectivity, the elevation of Whiteness and discourses of ‘making sense’ of Spanish-speaking Others. The study closes with implications for the field of Mexican American studies, which in turn offers considerations for scholars studying Spanish within greater educational, anthropological and socio-cultural contexts.