Picking apart racist caricatures at Orange County Latino grocery stores

Orange County Weekly ^ | 7/14/05 | Gustavo Arellano

[orangecountyboy]

Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez called the criticism regarding Memín “a total lack of respect for our culture.” We agree. Racist caricatures are a beloved tradition in Latin America—and where the hell do Americans get the gumption to attack our stereotyping of J**s, c***s, I****s and n****s? We love ’em—so much, we use them to hawk everything from flour to peanuts. Consider the following products, all purchased at local Latino grocery stores.

[orangecountyboy]

I don't know how to upload pictures to a posting, so if someone can, I'd appreciate it. These photos are VILE!!! And too common, unfortunately.

[dfwgator]

Mexico rivals apartheid-era South Africa for racism. If your family isn't from Spain, forget it over there, even though Indians are a vast portion of the populace. Why do you think Fox wants them all to immigrate to the US?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Well, then, I guess that Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez
won't mind if I call him an illiterate third world monkeyboy.

[orangecountyboy]

What's hilarious is how many Mexican intellectuals insist theirs isn't a racist society--just classist. I'd buy their argument if they all weren't so fair-skinned!

[BenLurkin]

Some are and some aren't.

The caricatures of Asians are bit bit much -- but far and away the worst are those of blacks!

Just like the postage stamps -- offensive caricatures that disappeared from American culture with the demise of Jim Crow.

[AppyPappy]

I have always found it interesting that most of the soap opera stars tend to be light-skinned in Mexican TV.

[freedomson]

Oh yeah, that's just awful.

[orangecountyboy]

Yeah, the Indian boy isn't too bad--but did you see that buck-toothed Japanese guy on the peanuts?

[Alexander Rubin]

How you post images is (img src="url" /img) but replace brackets with the hard line brackets (the greater than/less than symbols)

[MBB1984]

The stamps are bad, but I think in regards to the other products, some folks are too sensitive. Of course it seems everyone in America is too sensitive these days.

[orangecountyboy]

Thanks, Chenango! And for the guy who posted the Indian punch boy, my point is that the Mexican government gets up in arms when corporations like Taco Bell and others depict Mexicans in a caricaturized way. But when they do it? Gentle, child-like humor. That's one good thing you can say about Mexicans--they're not P.C. at all.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Millee]

LOL! That Emollient Drink kid looks like he's about to barf! Now that's truth in advertising! :-D

[orangecountyboy]

Yeah, I don't know what Emollient is, but it doesn't sound too appetizing. The peanuts, though, I'd like to try. Which raises the fascinating question: what's a Japanese-style peanut taste like?

[Dolphan]

This is not racist, it's just that this culture is hyper-sensitive.

I wonder how many of us are offended by the Quaker Oats guy...

[orangecountyboy]

Probably as many folks who thinks the Lucky Charm mascot isn't a real Irishman. Erin go Bragh!

[thulldud]

They're cartoons, not photos, for cryin' out loud. And the depiction of the "morena" is something more like a portrait than a cartoon. Not at all demeaning.

(Btw, if "morena" is a slam, then what is "brunette"? )

[hispanichoosier]

The stamps are bad, but I think in regards to the other products, some folks are too sensitive.

Look, my friends and I would always read Memin comics when we were growing up in Panama. To most kids that read it, it's not racist! Memin is a lovable yet hapless protagonist.

[thulldud]

Yeah, I don't know what Emollient is, but it doesn't sound too appetizing.

Appetizing it may not be, "soothing" is what it claims to be.

I must confess, I never thought of drinking an emollient; that's the sort of thing I smear on burns and cuts.