Friday, March 31, 2006
Poor Sap, He Just Doesn't Get It
Trolling through LexisNexis for the latest news, I found an op-ed by a fellow Cuban in the Houston Chronicle. The poor guy just doesn't get it. Folks in Texas don't like Spics; and it doesn't matter if you're Cuban with a grandpappy from the Old World.
To more than a few Texans, if you're a Latino, you're either a wetback or a Spic or both; even if you never crossed the Rio Grande, you, too, are eligible for their hateful slurs.
Oh yes, the writer's letter took me back to happy joyous days of living in the Bayou City with Southern charm and their narrow-minded scorching jokes.
Well, here's what Señor Pete Herrada had to say, beginning with his declaration that he has mistakenly been identified as a Mexican. The horror. THE HORROR.
Where has this guy been living?!? Listen to any conversation for more than a few minutes in Texas, and you'll hear racist slurs, racist jokes and racist comments about some wetback or foreigner or other ethnic minority.It is unsettling to me when immigration policy is the issue of the day. I am fully in support of the rule of law, and illegal immigration is not acceptable, no matter how you view it. What I have a problem with is the nagging feeling that some will use this to justify their anti-Latino sentiments.
Texans are equal opportunity bigots. For Italians, their pet names is either Diego or Wop; English, Limey; Mexican, Wetback; Cajun, Coonass; Spanish, Spic; Jew, Hebe; African-American, Nigger; Northerners, Damn Yankees; Arabs, Sand Nigger; Vietnamese, Gook.
Have I left anyone out...?
My fellow Cuban is obviously living in full denial. Although his clan may run things in Miami, it's quite a different story in the Lone Star State; and I'm sure it's quite a shock to his system to have to hear disparaging remarks about his ethnic roots.
Let's hear what else my new amigo has to say on the subject.
Oh dear, dear Pedro, er, I mean Pete. People in Texas don't give a rat's ass about Fidel Castro; to them he might as well be Zorro; and yes, that's commendable that you were in the Marine Corps, but hell, probably half the volunteers from Texas fighting in Iraq are minorities.I am a first-generation Cuban-American born of immigrant parents who were granted asylum from Fidel Castro's Cuba.
I am also a Marine Corps veteran who is fiercely loyal to this country. But in Texas, I am a Mexican.I say clean up immigration law, deport criminals and let hardworking people of all racial and cultural backgrounds prosper or fail, according to their abilities.
To the demonstrating students: Go back to class, where you can truly make a difference for your families.
Tell me why anyone should care more about your plight than the thousands upon thousands of Mexican-American soldiers who are discriminated against when they return from service?!?
Bigots don't need to justify anything to be bigots. They're red, white and blue baby; born in the USA; yes, born in the USA and so was their daddy and their daddy's daddy, or at least that's what they claim and no one is around to say any different.
