I think the economic, rather than racial, angle is far more likely. I’m also a white boy and my wife is Mexican (and we’re both bilingual)... but again, we simply haven’t had any occasion to even test the theory that that makes any difference. I believe the “mordita” part (which is the way things work in nearly every other part of the world outside of the US, not just in Mexico!), but I *don’t* believe everything I read in the papers. Having driven the drive a number of times over the last year and having had my wife and numerous friends work in the slums and garbage dumps of Tijuana, I just haven’t seen the ubiquitous violence most US media is claiming.
So you call people who have had such experiences liars?
Nice job Vicar.
You aren't driving far enough east. Try it in the Los Cruces, NM, El Paso, TX, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua area. Daily the local news in the Albuquerque area has stories about killings (1,400 murders in Juarez alone in 2008, more in 2009, and on track in 2010 to top that), kidnappings, drugs. You name it, it's bad.