Posted on 05/05/2014 12:26:32 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
Northwestern University continued to stumble over diversity issues this week as Mexican students voiced disagreement with a campuswide letter that advised students not to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by engaging in racially-offensive activities, such as eating tacos and drinking tequila.
The letter was sent to students via e-mail, and published in The Daily Northwestern last week. Leaders of Alianza, a Latino student group, and the Associated Student Government called on students to remember that Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico’s victory over France in the Battle of Puebla. It is not a day to throw a sombrero-themed party, they said.
“Some of our peers choose to throw ‘Mexican-themed’ parties that are culturally insensitive, offensive, and detrimental to the Northwestern community,” said the letter, which noted that this was a problem year after year. “Drinking tequila shots, eating tacos, and wearing sombreros do not commemorate Mexican culture; on the contrary, that offends, marginalizes, and isolates many of our friends, classmates, and community members, and casts our entire community in poor light.”
The two Alianza presidents who signed the letter are not Mexican, according to The Daily Northwestern.
Their recommendations were quite a shock to Northwestern students who actually came from Mexico. Several of them fired back recently.
“I’d like to say that I proudly embrace my tacos, tequila and sombreros,” wrote Ruben Antonio Marcos Bours, a Northwestern student, in a statement. “To me, they are a key part of my childhood, growing up in Monterrey, Mexico.”
Another student who grew up in Mexico called the letter “over the top.”
“The people who wrote it had a good intention, but their perspective is different,” said Pablo Garcia Romero, a Northwestern student, in a statement.
Alianza’s letter was no more popular among non-Latino students.
“I’ll probably still go to Chipotle and drink Corona tomorrow, but I do that like everyday is it still offensive?” asked one online commenter.
Realizing that the letter was poorly received, representatives for Alianza and ASG confirmed that they are drafting a new letter that will better explain their position on Cinco de Mayo sensitivity.
“We’re not trying to pass judgement on the role tequila or tacos have in the Mexican culture,” said ASG president Ani Ajith. “It comes down to context and intent.
And they call us puritans.
Who's "us"?
Oh, PLEASE! Get a serious cause people.
Hey, today is the 5th of May. Tomorrow, is the SIXTH!
The Mexican family who runs a taco stand near my home will not be pleased.
Well, I know what I'm having for dinner tonight.
Dear Students,
STFU!
Telling college students not to drink Coronas isn’t going get very far.
Is beating the French really something to celebrate? Who hasn’t beaten the French?
Uh, if they were back in their homeland instead of sneaking into ours and taking advantage of our generosity, they wouldn’t know what we were up to, right? Make it so, number one!
Yep, I’m gonna tell college students not to drink tequila because it’s ethnically offensive. That’ll work.
See I told you the Irish were cooler the Mexicans.
Gee thanks. Now I’m hungry for tacos.
Obviously, it should be against the law for Mexicans in the U.S. to eat anything but tacos and other Mexican fare.
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