I got corrected by a person who was shocked, SHOCKED! at my describing Cinco de Mayo as a "Mexican" holiday instead of as a Latino or Hispanic holiday. I explained to her that Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday based on events in Mexican history,and is therefore a holiday of little or no interest or observance in other countries with populations considered Latino/Hispanic by North Americans. She actually believed that the very word Mexican is racist. In the 80's I was International Sales Manager for a Fortune 500 oilfield manufacturer. One day I needed some paperwork from our local domestic office in Houston and when I appeared at the appointed time it was not ready. I said "hurry up I need to pick up two Mexicans at the airport in an hour."
The receptionist and a secretary both told me to hush because they had two working there. I asked "two what" and they said "Mexicans."
My next question "well what should I call two guys from Mexico City, who work for Pemex" went unanswered.
I can remember the switch from Mexican-American to Chicano to Hispanic to Latino to-. I can understand someone getting upset if someone calls an American of Mexican descent a Mexican. But it seems that some people have gotten the idea that the very word Mexican is inherently racist or even somehow 'dirty'. I don't think that's what the PC activists wanted, and I'm sure citizens of the Mexican Federal Republic would find the idea that their nationality is a Bad Word offensive-but that's what's happened.
Is it possible the PC Patrol is so ignorant they FORGET there's a seperate idependent country of Mexico? Given what American citizens living in New Mexico have said, about people thinking they're immigrants because of the name of their state, I have to wonder.
I also wonder what the PC Patrol would do if they heard me call my chihuahua a Mexican dog. "No! He's a Latino dog!"