Ah! The ghetto bird for an alarm clock. Drives you nuts, doesn't it?
Posted on 05/17/2005 4:48:54 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
Fox haunted by comment about blacks
MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - After a scolding from north of the border, President Vicente Fox said he regretted any hurt feelings over a comment he made about blacks in the United States. But many Mexicans insist Americans overreacted.
In a speech Friday, Fox praised the dedication of Mexicans working in the United States, saying they're willing to take jobs that "even blacks" won't do.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the remark "very insensitive and inappropriate" and said the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City had raised the issue with the Mexican government.
African American leaders, including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, called on Fox to apologize.
At first the Mexican president refused, saying his remark had been misinterpreted. But on Monday, after a weekend of mounting criticism, he seemed eager to make amends.
In telephone conversations with Jackson and Sharpton, Fox said he "regretted any hurt feelings" and has great respect "for the African-American community in the United States," according to a statement from his administration.
He also invited the two leaders to Mexico for talks aimed at improving the sometimes tense relationship between blacks and Hispanics in the United States.
No date was set, but the president's office said the visit would be as soon as possible.
Still, many of Fox's countrymen, including the leader of his own party, said the United States had overreacted. They suggested the dispute was a case of overzealous political correctness.
"This is an exaggeration," said Manuel Espino, leader of the conservative National Action Party. "There have been a lot harsher comments that come from north of the border, and we don't scream and shout about it."
Mexicans are frequently themselves the victims of discrimination in the United States and are still smarting over the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigrants, including a border wall in California and limits on drivers' licenses for undocumented migrants.
The fact is many Mexicans didn't see the remark as offensive. Blackface comedy, while demeaning to many Americans, is still considered funny here and many people hand out nicknames based on skin color.
Even Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of Mexico City, criticized U.S. immigration policy as ridiculous and defended Fox's comments, saying: "The declaration had nothing to do with racism. It is a reality in the United States that anyone can prove."
In his phone calls, "the president stressed that the African-American community had led a series of movements against discrimination and in favor of the civil and human rights of minorities," the statement said. Fox "recognized that those movements also benefited Hispanics and Mexicans in the United States."
Jackson said he was sure the president had no racist intent, according to presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar. Earlier Jackson had called Fox's comment "inciting and divisive."
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said the Mexican government was expected to send a diplomatic letter to the United States on Monday protesting laws requiring driver's license applicants to prove they are in the country legally, and the construction of a border barrier wall.
Derbez also criticized U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, who has angered the Mexican government in part by warning tourists about ongoing violence here.
"What we have to make clear is that it would be best if (Garza's) opinions, which I understand are his own and not those of his government, are not expressed in a public manner," Derbez said.
While Mexico has a few, isolated black communities, the population is dominated by descendants of Mexico's Spanish colonizers and its native Indians. Comments that would generally be considered openly racist in the United States generate little attention here.
Attn Fort Worth Star Telegram: Repeat after me,
illegal alienThe fact is many Mexicans didn't see the remark as offensive.
illegal alien
illegal alien
The fact is many Mexicans don't see the breaking of U.S. laws as offensive.
I have a serious problem with the Mexican illegals clogging the hospital system. My son complained of a stomachache one day last year and mommy intuition told me to take him to the doctor (he never complains about stomachaches). Doctor sent us to the Children's hospital for a sonogram since he was suspicious of a serious problem. Sonogram show appendicitis, the nurse took us around to the emergency room to check us in and it was wall-to-wall Mexicans, no white or black people in sight. We went straight in and my son had an emergency appendectomy but I tell ya, if I had of gone to the emergency room first, we'd still be sitting there waiting. It burns me up that all those illegals clog the hospital and get free care while us legal American citizens play second fiddle. We not only have to wait in line for hours at the hospital but pay ridiculous prices for health insurance while illegals get our state of the art care for free.
End of rant.
Apologising to Al Sharpton is also an insult IMHO.
They are illegal in this country. If the US actually took the borders seriously they would not have access to this source of cheap labor. If they found Americans who would work for minimum wage doing backbreaking labor instead of union types who have more pay, that's market forces. Fox is subverting the US economy.
Spin spin spin. Has anyone bothered educating civil rights leaders here about the inherent racism that goes on in Mexico, against her own citizens? I wonder how it would play if Jesse Jackson gave a speech about how wrong it is, to drive out your indigenous population to a foreign land. Perhaps some of these do-gooders would like to trace back the ruling party's family trees? See anyone who is Indian?
Dear Jesse,
Please don't take President Fox's comments as a slur on African Americans. You see, he was actually paying *you people* a compliment. He sees you as being one step above half his own country's population. I'd say it was mighty white of him.
See you in church,
Robert Byrd
You have a good point about moving to find a job.
Greed is driving illegal immigration.
Testify!
P.S. Not that I'm looking, mind you, but where might I find these illegals willing to scrub old ladies? It sounds interesting and the price is right. :-)
Apropos of nothing, it's only 5:26 AM here in L.A. and already the LAPD helicopter is buzzing my neighborhood. Crime waits for no man!
Ah! The ghetto bird for an alarm clock. Drives you nuts, doesn't it?
There are home health agencies getting illegal Mexicans to be home health aides for $5/hr here ON THE BOOKS using fake ids. My mom lost a job to one of these rackets. Also, she has a very wealthy patient she tends to and he got a letter from the US government inquiring about sponsoring a Mexican migrant to be a housekeeper (a legacy of the Clinton administration!).
It is illegal market forces. If their wasn't this illegal labor force below the border, a lot of these jobs would be forced to hire legal, and pay more. Because of this mass of illegal labor, the market can pay less and still fill jobs.
There. That's better.
I agree.
thanks for that :-)
What Fox has said has been said many times before...and right here by several politicians.
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