What does Richard's mother say matters to the "los gringos"--Americans in "Complexion"?

His Mother believes that looks is what matters to Americans and because Richard had black skin, she worries that he will be harshly judged.

Explanation:

In "Hunger of memory" by Richard Rodriguez, His mother worries that Richard would be judged harshly because of his dark skin, she has the opinion that looks is what matters to Americans. In Richard's memories from childhood where his mother would react angrily to his dark skin caused by the sun.

His mother told him he was careless and reprimanded him by telling him "you know how important looks are in this country. with los gringos looks are all that they judge on." They are from Mexican ancestry and Him and his older sister were the only dark complexioned ones in the family. Richard experienced a handful of name-calling incidents which made him sensitive to the "connection between dark skin and poverty."