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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Stamps Renew Racial Tensions With Mexico | |
| 2005-06-30 | |
| EFL: MEXICO CITY (AP) - U.S. activists called on the Mexican government to withdraw a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, saying the offense was worse than recent remarks about blacks made by President Vicente Fox. Mexico defended the series of five stamps released Wednesday, which depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico. But the Rev. Jesse Jackson said President Bush should pressure Mexico to withdraw the stamps from the market, saying they "insult people around the world." "The impact of this is worse than what the president said," Jackson noted, referring to Fox's May 13 comment that Mexican migrants take jobs in the United States that "not even blacks" want. Fox later met with Jackson and expressed regret but insisted his comments had been misinterpreted. The character on the stamp, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.Pictures of the stamps at the link. Mexico said that like Speedy Gonzalez - a cartoon mouse with a Mexican accent that debuted in the United States in 1953 - the Memin Pinguin character shouldn't be interpreted as a racial slur. "Just as Speedy Gonzalez has never been interpreted in a racial manner by the people in Mexico, because he is a cartoon character, I am certain that this commemorative postage stamp is not intended to be interpreted on a racial basis in Mexico or anywhere else," said Rafael Laveaga, the spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Washington.
The NAACP - the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - called the stamps "injurious to black people who live in the United States and Mexico." Jackson also said Mexico should "issue a complete and full apology." Activists in Mexico said the stamp was offensive but not unexpected. "One would hope the Mexican government would be a little more careful and avoid continually opening wounds," said Sergio Penalosa, an activist in Mexico's small black community on the southern Pacific coast. "But we've learned to expect anything from this government, just anything," Penalosa said. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #23 Jan, I see nothing wrong with hiring legal aliens because they can do the job and can speak a foreign language. No amount of superior skills will help if you have no idea what the patient is saying. Having a language skill can be just as useful to a hospital as having a special skill in surgery or some other specialty. Now if you said they were hiring illegal aliens or non-schooled nurses, it would be different. Sorry to but in, just my dos centavos |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-30 21:20 |
| #22 sorry for sidestepping the stamp issue. BH, yes the new grad was able to be oriented and trained further, but one more month of training was needed. And yes I'm sure it was a very valuable asset speaking both languages. Most of us understand spanish, as we get very few folks that understand english here where I work. The higher level of understanding the language is necessary for consents and the like. To get back on track a bit, refer back to my earlier comment about the company hiring mexicans at a lower wage that didn't pay insurance benefits that underbid the other company that paid it's workers more and gave insurance benefits. The CEO is earning the money and we have to pay the medical bills for them when they get hurt because they don't have insurance. Thanks to emergency medicaid. I don't like how that shakes out. Thanks for your insight I'm loving this site |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-06-30 19:29 |
| #21 Jan: Yes, I understand that the nurse who got the job had less experience than the one who didn't get the job. What I want to know is, was she able to perform her duties? Has she killed anybody? Caused problems in the workplace? Has she gained experience in the course of her employment or not? That she had less experience than the other person is not the same as saying she had no experience. And it's specious to say that she got the job only because of she spoke Spanish. If that were the case, the hospital needn't have hired a new grad - they could have simply hired some schmo who knew Spanish. And it's likely that, by hiring the bilingual nurse, they saved $15,000 by not having to hire a translator. Bottom line: if Spanish language ability is a factor in the hiring policies of hospitals, perhaps the other nurse should make herself more marketable by investing in a Spanish class. This is really getting away from the original point, because now you are comparing an American to another American who happens to have language skills. I have no doubt that the nursing field is competitive, but we started out talking about people who were so unskilled that someone could illegally enter the country with no English, no grasp of the culture, and no prior experience, and somehow manage to take a job away from them. That tends to make me wonder what choices they made in life, that they could be so unmarketable. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-06-30 17:52 |
| #20 Ha! Ha! Stamps ees berry fonny. |
| Posted by: Senor Jolson 2005-06-30 17:01 |
| #19 understood, while I agree that some features are something to consider, when looking for the best candidate for a position, I will try to be more specific; this was in a hospital, involving several very experienced nurses. The nurse that got the job was practically a new grad with very little experience. She got the job because she spoke spanish, not because of any of her skills as a nurse. In this case, I feel like it was a loss to the community. Now you tell me that having the "features" of the new grad, as compared to the more experienced nurses that applied is an advantage, I beg to differ, the more experienced nurse has more to bring to the table if you will. Would you rather have a nurse that speaks spanish fluently, or one that knows how to care for you in the best way. Remember, with the shortage of nurses, the requirements to get into schools, pass the exams have all been lowered in order to get more nurse candidates. We are seeing more incidents and it has brought our expertise level down over the years. This is a sad fact but true. I might add that this was in a city and county hospital, that pays $15,000 a month for spanish interpreters. |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-06-30 16:47 |
| #18 Whoa! But that's not fair BH! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-30 16:33 |
| #17 Jan: That the more qualified person lost the job to someone just because they couldn't speak spanish. Then the "more qualified person" wasn't, by definition, the more qualified person. I am not required, as an employer, to hire the most qualified person, any more than you are required to purchase, say, the highest quality mp3 player on the market. You pay for what is good enough for your needs, at the price you are willing to pay. And if the lower-priced model includes a nice-to-have feature, then so much the better. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-06-30 15:53 |
| #16 BH - Well, what about the engineers losing their jobs to Bangalore? C'mon, it's not just a lower income thing anymore. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-06-30 14:40 |
| #15 BH, I've seen jobs go to folks that are bilingual over more qualified workers. That the more qualified person lost the job to someone just because they couldn't speak spanish. Also we have some city county and government agencies paying upwards to $15,000 a month for spanish interpreters. We need English only, otherwise we'll be eaten alive with interpreters, needing spanish speakers at 911 etc.. I foresee lawsuits coming |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-06-30 14:36 |
| #14 If you're the guy who just lost a job to an illegal mexican willing to work for $2 per hour less and no benefits, it looks like an American problem. If you're an American who can lose your job to a non-English speaker who will work for $2 an hour and no benefits, you need to start thinking about making better life choices. That said, we still need to close the border. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-06-30 14:28 |
| #13 Im hope Mmurray is on to something. This is potentially the sort of thing that can trip the liberal nut button. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-30 14:26 |
| #12 what Mrs. D and Jan said. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-06-30 13:33 |
| #11 And for every Illegal Mexican that is getting shit for wages, without insurance I might add, when they need medical care they get emergency medicaid. All free. (when their baby is born here they are more interested in the social security card than the birth certificate) Recently it got down to 2 companies bidding on a construction job, Some of the jobs within the construction company I seem to remember hired Mexicans paying them 10 to 12 bucks an hour, the other union, paying the workers a more reasonable rate, with insurance benefits. There was only 5% difference in there bids, guess who was chosen for the job? Look at the profit margin difference. (sorry for not being able to find that article) This is so very wrong. At least they won't be able to use their stamp to mail in their out of country votes. |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-06-30 13:05 |
| #10 If you're the guy who just lost a job to an illegal mexican willing to work for $2 per hour less and no benefits, it looks like an American problem. I agree the problems originates in Mexico, but they're exporting it here. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-06-30 12:16 |
| #9 Mrs. Davis, another unintended consequence of illegal immigration is that the load they are placing on welfare is greatly increasing the probablility that benefits will be reduced in order to contain costs. This greatly aggravates those that Walter Williams calls "poverty pimps." Sharpton and Jackson fall into that category. |
| Posted by: RWV 2005-06-30 12:11 |
| #8 Can we close the border now and shoot anyone that tries to cross it? Will this finally piss off the libs enough? No? Crap. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-06-30 11:46 |
| #7 Racist Stamps Direct Link No one ever said there was intellegence in the Mexican Government bureaucracy. Only corruption... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-06-30 11:28 |
| #6 Damn, Al! Is this easy money, or what! Call Farrakhan and get him in on it! Keep hope alive! |
| Posted by: THE Rev. Jesse Jackson 2005-06-30 11:20 |
| #5 I agree BAR. Besides, making a big deal about past stereotypes only plays into the hands of racists, by reinforcing the idea that the caricatures constitute a slur. If it doesn't upset anybody, it's just another monkey. It's silly to educate a whole new generation to associate these images as racist. It benefits no one but the racists. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-30 11:16 |
| #4 Those stamps look like something from the 1930's and are an embarassment. Well yeah, it's an embarassment, but it's to them and it's happening within the confines of their territory, not ours. I dunno, I have this thing about people here getting involved in everybody else's business, regardless of however slight the consequences may be. I mean, this is a caricature on a postage stamp, which is basically a matter of bad taste, not Robert Mugabe-style tyranny. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-06-30 10:57 |
| #3 bar, It is not just a Mexican thing. Illegal immigrants are taking jobs from those at the bottom of the economic ladder, many of whom are black. Those stamps look like something from the 1930's and are an embarassment. I wish Bush would make it an issue. And build a fence. Good fences make good neighbors. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-06-30 10:16 |
| #2 U.S. activists called on the Mexican government to withdraw a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, saying the offense was worse than recent remarks about blacks made by President Vicente Fox. Why are these guys all up in arms over it? It's a Mexican thing, folks. They will deal with it, not us. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-06-30 10:05 |
| #1 Looks like another trip south for Shakedown Sharpton. I believe he failed to get his check last time, must be getting rusty. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-06-30 09:49 |
