Saw an episode of “60 Minutes a week or so ago where one of the anchors set up a couple of actors to act like a babysitter and a little boy. The lady actor was supposed to berate the little boy actor in public places and the film crew was going to see what happened. What happened was that very few people stopped the verbal abuse to the little boy.
This got me to thinking about an ongoing event here at Lakeside. It is fairly regular that you can hear certain folks berating Mexicans in general and the Mexican society in particular. Most of us have at one time on another stated that that type of person should go back to where he came from, but we don’t actually stop them in the moment. I suppose we feel embarrassed or maybe we feel it would be impolite to confront someone with such obvious bile in their system.
The following is a compilation of statements which many of us have heard many times. The next time I hear such a statement I think I am going to have to correct the speaker and I hope you join me. Some of the statements are rather benign but they show a tendency toward prejudice which simply has no place in any society, especially not in a society which prides itself on freedom as Americans do.
“Be careful of all mechanics. They don’t know how to fix your car. They are all wearing masks and probably have a gun in their pockets. You can’t get good tires here either. I don’t know how these people manage to keep their cars on the road. Clearly no one has ever heard of replacing burned out lights of any variety on a vehicle. And big trucks!!! Lord, you know that those things never have any brakes. I think they all get their driver’s licenses from a vending machine. If you don’t believe me just watch how they back those things into spaces that clearly weren’t designed to have big trucks.”
“By the way, you should know that Mexican law is not applied equally to gringos. This may be the only country in the world which doesn’t apply its laws equally to all comers. If a gringo and a Mexican should have a legal dispute the Mexican always wins. It isn’t that the gringo doesn’t understand the law he is disputing, it is that Mexican judges are always bought off.”
“You should also know that all Mexicans are all highly prejudiced against anyone with white skin. It has nothing to do with our attitudes they are just inborn with those bad feelings. While I’m on this subject, you should also know that Mexicans are a warm people. They have the prettiest babies in the world. Just cute as they can be, you know. Something about the physiology of the Mexican allows him to eat only rice and beans, too. They get used to it, you know. “
“Never eat at a taco stand. You don’t know what they are serving. You can get Montezuma’s Revenge from anything. You never get it in your own home but you can get it from all restaurants and taco stands in particular.”
“Whenever there is a fiesta in town they always shoot off fireworks to aggravate the gringos. They waste all that money on fireworks and don’t feed their kids. Don’t listen to anyone who suggests that the fiestas are for religious purposes. They just need an excuse to party and get drunk. Be aware that all Mexican music is just noise with loud drums. No party ever ends before everyone is drunk and never before four in the morning.”
“All 6,000,000 people in Guadalajara bring their pets to Ajijic and drop them off for the gringos to take in. They all know that without the money from the Gringos in Ajijic that Jalisco would soon cease to exist. We are guests here in their country. They don’t understand that we all live on fixed incomes. You can trust any Mexican who speaks English with your life.”
“You have to go to Wal-Mart or Sam’s in order to survive here. The local food is just not edible. The freshest produce is at the tianguis. Be sure to take your camera and you will be rewarded with a few snapshots to send home of local Huicholes in full regalia. José Cuerva is the only tequila there is. Nothing the government does is adequate.”
I hope our Mexican readers will not be offended by me airing this despicable tendency by my fellow Americans. We are not all so callous.
