Posted on 06/29/2005 3:13:43 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
MEXICO CITY The Mexican government has issued postage stamps depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin (search), just weeks after remarks by President Vicente Fox (search) angered U.S. blacks. The series of five stamps released Wednesday depicts a hapless boy 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, which started in the 1940s and is still published in Mexico. Activists criticized the stamps as offensive, though officials denied it. "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. In May, Fox riled many by saying Mexican migrants take jobs in the United States that "not even blacks" want. Fox later expressed regret for any offense the remarks may have caused, but insisted his comments had been misinterpreted. Carlos Caballero, assistant marketing director for the Mexican Postal Service, said the new stamps are not offensive, nor were they intended to be.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Same as in Brazil and probably most of Central and South America, and even in many parts of Asia, including the Philippines (which also was a part of Spain's dominance).
You will see more black models on American TV than you would on Brazilian, Mexican, or Filipino TV.
Every region of every Spanish-speaking country has its own way of speaking, its own slang, and sometimes its own separate language.
My husband, who is from Chile, in the course of his work one time ran across some Hispanic construction workers who were so Indian, he said, they didn't even speak Spanish, but some Mayan dialect.
Even in Spain they have four separate languages: Castilian (what we know as 'Spanish'), Catalan (what they speak in Barcelona, which is in Catalonia), Galician (what they speak in the region of Galicia, which is near Portugal and is similar to Portuguese), and Basque (which is unrelated to any other known language).
In Latin America, the class system still exists, and it largely parallels the ethnic divisions. Those of European origin are at the top, mestizos (mixed European and Indian) are usually the largest group and are somewhat in the middle, and the Indians are pretty much on the bottom.
SNL had Al Gore on in one episode of that. One character kept putting a chihuahua named "Gary" into his face and asking him to "Kiss Gary". I used to have it saved as a video file but it got lost somewhere.
Ah, the Frito Bandito! I remember him from when I was a kid.
Actually he does look a lot like Vincente Fox.

check this out y'all
Didn't some coach get fired for showing up like this?
Now you know why the term just rolled off Vicente Fox's tongue--That is his perception of black people.
"The people who scream about racism in America don't have a clue how racist the rest of the world is."
That's for sure. However, having said that, racism is EVIL.
Yeah, and that's El Frito Bandito AFTER they removed his Arafat-style five o'clock shadow and generally cleaned up his image. This was in 1970!
"Ay, ay, ay ay...
I am the Frito Bandito!
Give me Fritos Corn Chips and I'll be your friend,
The Frito Bandito you must not offend!"
It's US they call racists!!?
I watch Univision with the sound off....
They've got the prettiest actresses I ever saw! Unfortunately, the actresses don't bear any resemblance to the ladies I see along Buford Highway in Atlanta! :(
My wife and I vacationed in Cancun in 1991. When we watched local cable TV, we noticed two things: U.S. cities with substantial Hispanic populations were covered by the Mexican media as `local news', and the Mexican soap operas (`las telenovelas') featured European-looking characters who were blond blond blond enough to make Aryan Germans feel inferior.
And WE are the RACISTS!!?
I nominate the Frito Bandito.
By the looks of their new stamps, I'd say that was pretty obvious.
I think I'll hire them the next time I do the termite control.
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