I'm part Mexican!

[Mycroft]

A few weeks back I'm at this public building with a little extra time, and there is this pretty young woman there, and out of politeness and because we're sharing the same space for the moment, we exchange a few banal words. I ask her if she's a student because we're not far from a college, she's got books with her and she's about the right age. It turns out she is. That follows by asking what she's studying. That's where I get the racist rant.

It turns out her ambition is to learn human resources and then either join the army or Homeland Security. I didn't learn what the lure of the Army was, but she proudly stated she wanted to join Homeland Security because she has some "strong opinions about immigration."

She's against it. All of it. Some of them want to come over here and be terrorists, and others just want to come here illegally and take advantage of our social services. Those are the worst, she says, the Mexicans. She knows about the Mexicans first hand because last year when she almost lost her apartment and she needed help, she went down to the social services office, but they wouldn't help her. She believed they would have helped her if her skin were a different colour, (darker) but since it wasn't and she didn't have a baby, (and why should she be punished for making the right decision?!) but they helped all the Mexicans who were there.

About then she noticed the stare I was giving her wasn't the normal encouraging stare one usually gives a pretty woman. Maybe she has a clue as to how awful she sounds, because she adds, "Oh it's okay. I can talk **** about Mexicans if I want to. I'm part Mexican myself" I didn't ask her which part, but I certainly wanted to. There wasn't anything about her that suggested Mexican or any kind of Spanish, but if she says it I'll accept it as true. It didn't occur to me later to ask her why she didn't bring it up at the social services office if she really believed they would only help minorities.

then she went on to tell a story of how back in High School there was a Mexican girl that wanted to fight her because she had been talking **** about Mexicans. She got right up in that Mexican girl's face and told her she was part Mexican too and can say what she wants, and then she would have fought that girl, but the SRO officer was right there and she couldn't do that. She sure did want to, though.

So I leave, hoping she never makes it into the Army, Homeland Security or any aspect of Human Resources. Part of me is wondering if she was pulling my leg because it's just not very often anymore that you hear people express their bigotry so openly. How bizarre it was that she really seemed to think that claiming kinship with Mexicans somehow made anti-Mexican bigotry acceptable.

Edited by jhunter1163: 

To properly mask profanity.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Its crazy, like how so many black people run around saying ****** this and ****** that, and then tell you how theyre allowed but you arent

 

[332nd]

Its crazy, like how so many black people run around saying ****** this and ****** that, and then tell you how theyre allowed but you arent

Like how so many people who identify with a group will?

 

[JadeStonesFromSaturn]

All sounds extremely typical in the area I live (Southern California). Not a day goes by until I run into some white (or black) person who endlessly bitches about the "Mexicans". Seems she's hit all the cliches, "terrorists", "criminals", "coming to abuse our social services", "I was denied X form of assistance because I'm white!" It becomes comical after you hear it so often...

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Heh, I work at a welfare office and White people seem to play the race card more than anyone else. I still don't understand the illogic behind that.

 

[Skeptic]

It didn't occur to me later to ask her why she didn't bring it up at the social services office if she really believed they would only help minorities.

You're asking for logic from a racist.

So I leave, hoping she never makes it into the Army, Homeland Security or any aspect of Human Resources. Part of me is wondering if she was pulling my leg because it's just not very often anymore that you hear people express their bigotry so openly. How bizarre it was that she really seemed to think that claiming kinship with Mexicans somehow made anti-Mexican bigotry acceptable.

"Some of my best friends are..."

 

[slingblade]

Its crazy, like how so many black people run around saying ****** this and ****** that, and then tell you how theyre allowed but you arent

So, do you let that stop you, or do you say it anyway?

Why would you allow others to control your speech like that? Say what you want. So it irritates some people, so what? They'll get over it, won't they?
Surely you're free to say what you like?

 

[I Ratant]

So, do you let that stop you, or do you say it anyway?

Why would you allow others to control your speech like that? Say what you want. So it irritates some people, so what? They'll get over it, won't they?
Surely you're free to say what you like?

.
That word, begins with n.....
I wouldn't recommend its use.
Let the dummies use it.
I hear it all the time with many of the people I know.
The whites... it's -always- a curse.
The non-whites.. depends.. sometimes a mention of affection, sometimes a curse.
It may be a curtailment of freedom of speech, by not using it, ever, but it's also similar to swinging your arms. That has to cease before your arm hits my face.
Words get slung and everyone can hear them.
Some folks might take umbrage... even though not knowing the u.. word.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

A few weeks back I'm at this public building with a little extra time, and there is this pretty young woman there, and out of politeness and because we're sharing the same space for the moment, we exchange a few banal words. I ask her if she's a student because we're not far from a college, she's got books with her and she's about the right age. It turns out she is. That follows by asking what she's studying. That's where I get the racist rant.

It turns out her ambition is to learn human resources and then either join the army or Homeland Security. I didn't learn what the lure of the Army was, but she proudly stated she wanted to join Homeland Security because she has some "strong opinions about immigration."

She's against it. All of it. Some of them want to come over here and be terrorists, and others just want to come here illegally and take advantage of our social services. Those are the worst, she says, the Mexicans. She knows about the Mexicans first hand because last year when she almost lost her apartment and she needed help, she went down to the social services office, but they wouldn't help her. She believed they would have helped her if her skin were a different colour, (darker) but since it wasn't and she didn't have a baby, (and why should she be punished for making the right decision?!) but they helped all the Mexicans who were there.

About then she noticed the stare I was giving her wasn't the normal encouraging stare one usually gives a pretty woman. Maybe she has a clue as to how awful she sounds, because she adds, "Oh it's okay. I can talk **** about Mexicans if I want to. I'm part Mexican myself" I didn't ask her which part, but I certainly wanted to. There wasn't anything about her that suggested Mexican or any kind of Spanish, but if she says it I'll accept it as true. It didn't occur to me later to ask her why she didn't bring it up at the social services office if she really believed they would only help minorities.

then she went on to tell a story of how back in High School there was a Mexican girl that wanted to fight her because she had been talking **** about Mexicans. She got right up in that Mexican girl's face and told her she was part Mexican too and can say what she wants, and then she would have fought that girl, but the SRO officer was right there and she couldn't do that. She sure did want to, though.

So I leave, hoping she never makes it into the Army, Homeland Security or any aspect of Human Resources. Part of me is wondering if she was pulling my leg because it's just not very often anymore that you hear people express their bigotry so openly. How bizarre it was that she really seemed to think that claiming kinship with Mexicans somehow made anti-Mexican bigotry acceptable.

Edited by jhunter1163: 

To properly mask profanity.

Sometimes they really are airheads when they open their mouths.






BTW, the disappointment when one meets what appears to be an attractive person until they open their mouths is not limited to men meeting women.

 

[fuelair]

.
That word, begins with n.....
I wouldn't recommend its use.
Let the dummies use it.
I hear it all the time with many of the people I know.
The whites... it's -always- a curse.
The non-whites.. depends.. sometimes a mention of affection, sometimes a curse.
It may be a curtailment of freedom of speech, by not using it, ever, but it's also similar to swinging your arms. That has to cease before your arm hits my face.
Words get slung and everyone can hear them.
Some folks might take umbrage... even though not knowing the u.. word.

If I follow you correctly, I suspect you misunderstood the deeper meaning of what Slingblade actually said as opposed to the words in which she said it!!

 

[slingblade]

.
That word, begins with n.....
I wouldn't recommend its use.
Let the dummies use it.
I hear it all the time with many of the people I know.
The whites... it's -always- a curse.
The non-whites.. depends.. sometimes a mention of affection, sometimes a curse.
It may be a curtailment of freedom of speech, by not using it, ever, but it's also similar to swinging your arms. That has to cease before your arm hits my face.
Words get slung and everyone can hear them.
Some folks might take umbrage... even though not knowing the u.. word.

Yeah. I was hoping it might be obvious that I get all that.

But these people who complain about its use seem to imply that they resent not being "allowed" to say it.

Is that out of respect, or fear, or what, exactly?

"They can say it, and it's fine." Apparently, it's not fine. Lots of people make this same complaint, so they must not think it's "fine."

"They get upset when we use it." Yeah, and you get upset over their using it. They seem willing and able to deal with that consequence. You could, too, couldn't you?

"If a word shouldn't be used, it shouldn't be used. It ought not matter who says it." I don't know if that's true or not, really, but let's go with it. It should be obvious that we don't get to control the speech of others. We can only control our own. If you feel a word shouldn't be used, then don't use it. But regardless of your opinion, you don't get to tell others how to speak, and expect their obedience. You seem to resent this being done to you. Why would it be permissible for you to do it to others?

I mean, seriously, what's the problem? You understand and respect the idea, or you understand it but you don't agree, or you don't understand and you resent it, or something else entirely....but no matter which, you're still allowing other people to tell you how to speak. You're making this choice, and no one else.

If you wouldn't use that word, if you find it offensive, then one might understand you don't like to hear anyone else use it. But the argument that "they're 'allowed' to use it, but we're not 'allowed,'" is misleading. Who "allows" them? They simply choose to. There are repercussions: other people don't like it, and they say so. It doesn't seem to affect the situation. You could do the same. What really stops you?

Using a certain word or not is your choice alone. Blaming other people for the words you do or don't use seems childish and futile.

 

[I Ratant]

It's fine with "them"....
I found it disrespectful and ignorant when I first heard it almost 70 years ago, and have had no reason to change my first impression since.
That it is common usage in both an affectional and disrespectful manner with "them" is their problem.
That "they" get upset hearing it applied by "us" in the original disrespectful manner as the ignorant still use it shows a disconnect with reality.
It's a bad word.
No one should use it.

 

[slingblade]

It's fine with "them"....
I found it disrespectful and ignorant when I first heard it almost 70 years ago, and have had no reason to change my first impression since.
That it is common usage in both an affectional and disrespectful manner with "them" is their problem.
That "they" get upset hearing it applied by "us" in the original disrespectful manner as the ignorant still use it shows a disconnect with reality.
It's a bad word.
No one should use it.

Yeah, I just want to know why it's such a burr under Pipeline's saddle.
He's the only one really stopping him from using any word. Blaming other people for his own choices....I dunno, man....

 

[AnnoyingPony]

My class once had a discussion on Affirmative Action. Everyone seemed to think that the only way to qualify their argument was by saying they were part black/Asian/Mexican/Native American/etc.

 

[I Ratant]

70 years ago when living at Fort Jackson SoCar... we had a black housekeeper assisting my mother.
Apparently back then skin color made no impression on me.
Later associations with blacks also didn't have any emphasis on color over personality.
It's what inside that matters, not the exterior.
None of us chose our parents or where we're born.
That shouldn't even be a factor in interpersonal relationships, except as learning experiences with differing backgrounds.
Up to my sophomore year in high school, I'd never encountered rampant racism, until we were stationed in Virginia, from 1954 on.(We were at Ft. Jackson maybe a year, until Dad was sent to England, and we moved back to New Jersey. No segregated schools in New Jersey, or Kansas, or Germany as the Army shipped us around.)
Segregation was the law of the land in Va.
I thought having separate facilities for the "coloreds" was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen.
Next to religious prejudices, it still is.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

Mexico had quite a bit of immigration from Europe throughout its history, mostly from Spain but also from Italy, Germany and Ireland. According to Wikipedia, up to 17 percent of the population of Mexico is Caucasian:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Latin_American#Mexico

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexicans_of_European_descent


And, of course, the vast majority of Mexicans are actually mestizo, or of mixed European and Indian descent.


So perhaps she was a white person of Mexican descent, despite not being Latina. You don't have to be brown to be Mexican.

:Shrug:

Not that it would excuse any of garbage she was spewing, of course.

 

[Brattus]

A few weeks back I'm at this public building with a little extra time, and there is this pretty young woman there, and out of politeness and because we're sharing the same space for the moment, we exchange a few banal words. I ask her if she's a student because we're not far from a college, she's got books with her and she's about the right age. It turns out she is. That follows by asking what she's studying. That's where I get the racist rant.

It turns out her ambition is to learn human resources and then either join the army or Homeland Security. I didn't learn what the lure of the Army was, but she proudly stated she wanted to join Homeland Security because she has some "strong opinions about immigration."

She's against it. All of it. Some of them want to come over here and be terrorists, and others just want to come here illegally and take advantage of our social services. Those are the worst, she says, the Mexicans. She knows about the Mexicans first hand because last year when she almost lost her apartment and she needed help, she went down to the social services office, but they wouldn't help her. She believed they would have helped her if her skin were a different colour, (darker) but since it wasn't and she didn't have a baby, (and why should she be punished for making the right decision?!) but they helped all the Mexicans who were there.

About then she noticed the stare I was giving her wasn't the normal encouraging stare one usually gives a pretty woman. Maybe she has a clue as to how awful she sounds, because she adds, "Oh it's okay. I can talk **** about Mexicans if I want to. I'm part Mexican myself" I didn't ask her which part, but I certainly wanted to. There wasn't anything about her that suggested Mexican or any kind of Spanish, but if she says it I'll accept it as true. It didn't occur to me later to ask her why she didn't bring it up at the social services office if she really believed they would only help minorities.

then she went on to tell a story of how back in High School there was a Mexican girl that wanted to fight her because she had been talking **** about Mexicans. She got right up in that Mexican girl's face and told her she was part Mexican too and can say what she wants, and then she would have fought that girl, but the SRO officer was right there and she couldn't do that. She sure did want to, though.

So I leave, hoping she never makes it into the Army, Homeland Security or any aspect of Human Resources. Part of me is wondering if she was pulling my leg because it's just not very often anymore that you hear people express their bigotry so openly. How bizarre it was that she really seemed to think that claiming kinship with Mexicans somehow made anti-Mexican bigotry acceptable.

Edited by jhunter1163: 

To properly mask profanity.

Mm? I'm gonna guess that like me you're white.
I'm also gonna guess that unlike me you are not an uneducated working class dog trying to find honest work.
Because if you were then you would see that unless your skin is brown and you are related to the manager there is no work to be found.

A simple glance at the state of California will show you the irreversible damage the Mexicans have done to the United States.
They do suck the social services dry.
There are schools every other block on every street filled with Mexican children who's parents do not belong in this country legally.
Business staffed to the hilt with under the table non tax paying payrolls.

Those business all owned by white people just like you that think it's not PC to call a citizen from Mexico a Mexican.
People just like you that love the Mexican work force that illegally saves your company tons of money, while at the same time screws the state and country that made your company possible to begin with.

NO! I do not want to buy a tamale!
NO! I do not want to buy a ripped DVD of a movie you recorded at the theater with your camcorder!
NO! I do not need another taco truck parked outside my home!
NO! I do not need another burrito joint opening up in the local strip mall with free government grant money.
NO! I do not need another Mexican market that refuses service to all non brown people!

If any of the non brown people dare to complain about the refusal of service or not being able to find a job then they are horrible racist scum
who want to mow down little brown baby's at the border with machine guns.

I am an American. I have to compete in the job market with Mexicans who work for less but make more because they don't pay taxes.
Taxes needed to keep the state and Federal governments going.

Immigration is at least half the reason why the Federal government is now shutting down. Also half the reason social security is destroyed.

But hey! Because some other white people over 100 years ago that I am no way related to owned slaves I am supposed to keep my mouth shut and embrace their culture.

Anything less makes me a racist scum who likes to mow down the little brown babies at the border with machine guns.

 

[Juniversal]

Its crazy, like how so many black people run around saying ****** this and ****** that, and then tell you how theyre allowed but you arent

Do you have some irresistible urge to drop the n bomb? In this day and age you'll honestly find many don't care if you use the word in a fleetingly in conversation. Well as long as no offense is meant.

Regardless I always found the question "why can they call each other *ggers but I can't" to be completely dumb and self explanatory (mind you I can tell you that generally most see the *gga and *gger word as two completely different words).

So, do you let that stop you, or do you say it anyway?

Why would you allow others to control your speech like that? Say what you want. So it irritates some people, so what? They'll get over it, won't they?
Surely you're free to say what you like?

I know where you're coming from but this sentiment comes off to me as very fantastical. The real world is different in practice then on paper. On paper it may sound good to say what you want when ever and where ever but in practice....not so much.

I wouldn't condone anyone walk up to a girl and call her a female dog because some woman jokingly call each other that.

 

[Halfcentaur]

Mm? I'm gonna guess that like me you're white.
I'm also gonna guess that unlike me you are not an uneducated working class dog trying to find honest work.
Because if you were then you would see that unless your skin is brown and you are related to the manager there is no work to be found.

A simple glance at the state of California will show you the irreversible damage the Mexicans have done to the United States.
They do suck the social services dry.
There are schools every other block on every street filled with Mexican children who's parents do not belong in this country legally.
Business staffed to the hilt with under the table non tax paying payrolls.

Those business all owned by white people just like you that think it's not PC to call a citizen from Mexico a Mexican.
People just like you that love the Mexican work force that illegally saves your company tons of money, while at the same time screws the state and country that made your company possible to begin with.

NO! I do not want to buy a tamale!
NO! I do not want to buy a ripped DVD of a movie you recorded at the theater with your camcorder!
NO! I do not need another taco truck parked outside my home!
NO! I do not need another burrito joint opening up in the local strip mall with free government grant money.
NO! I do not need another Mexican market that refuses service to all non brown people!

If any of the non brown people dare to complain about the refusal of service or not being able to find a job then they are horrible racist scum
who want to mow down little brown baby's at the border with machine guns.

I am an American. I have to compete in the job market with Mexicans who work for less but make more because they don't pay taxes.
Taxes needed to keep the state and Federal governments going.

Immigration is at least half the reason why the Federal government is now shutting down. Also half the reason social security is destroyed.

But hey! Because some other white people over 100 years ago that I am no way related to owned slaves I am supposed to keep my mouth shut and embrace their culture.

Anything less makes me a racist scum who likes to mow down the little brown babies at the border with machine guns.

I haven't met many people who don't let irrational over generalizations cloud their judgement in some form or another. It's something the human mind seems naturally prone to doing. People do it small petty places, and some people let it apply to more complicated issues that really end up making them look foolish. Even the way these days people like to imagine the world as being either racist or non racist, it's not really that black or white, and it's just another example of the way people like to make sweeping over generalizations to understand issues. This doesn't mean it's excusable at all.

Even though there is a big issue with Mexican immigration at the moment, the way you are portraying it in your post above is founded in overly emotional and irrational over generalizations. This doesn't make you a baby killer, but it shows you're letting your frustrations cloud your rational thinking. This doesn't mean there are not issues with Mexican immigration that need to be addressed, but you are definitely sacrificing part of the reality of the situation to an emotionally charged rant.

 

[bluesjnr]

Yeah. I was hoping it might be obvious that I get all that.

But these people who complain about its use seem to imply that they resent not being "allowed" to say it.

Is that out of respect, or fear, or what, exactly?

"They can say it, and it's fine." Apparently, it's not fine. Lots of people make this same complaint, so they must not think it's "fine."

"They get upset when we use it." Yeah, and you get upset over their using it. They seem willing and able to deal with that consequence. You could, too, couldn't you?

"If a word shouldn't be used, it shouldn't be used. It ought not matter who says it." I don't know if that's true or not, really, but let's go with it. It should be obvious that we don't get to control the speech of others. We can only control our own. If you feel a word shouldn't be used, then don't use it. But regardless of your opinion, you don't get to tell others how to speak, and expect their obedience. You seem to resent this being done to you. Why would it be permissible for you to do it to others?

I mean, seriously, what's the problem? You understand and respect the idea, or you understand it but you don't agree, or you don't understand and you resent it, or something else entirely....but no matter which, you're still allowing other people to tell you how to speak. You're making this choice, and no one else.

If you wouldn't use that word, if you find it offensive, then one might understand you don't like to hear anyone else use it. But the argument that "they're 'allowed' to use it, but we're not 'allowed,'" is misleading. Who "allows" them? They simply choose to. There are repercussions: other people don't like it, and they say so. It doesn't seem to affect the situation. You could do the same. What really stops you?

Using a certain word or not is your choice alone. Blaming other people for the words you do or don't use seems childish and futile.

Bloody well said! I truly hadn't considered it that way, I'm ashamed to admit.