July 21, 2004

Random Scenes of Hysteria From Across the Sunbelt

* Cali heads! Remember Prop 187? The 1994 anti-illegal immigrant initiative that alienated an entire generation of Latinos in the Golden State? Well, Arizona now has it's own version of it, and it's going to be on their state ballot this November. Maybe it has something to do with all those fearful ex-Californians who since retreated to the Grand Canyon State during the latter nineties? What Arizonians also need to realize is that Prop 187 galvanized a new generation of Latino voters, activists, and politicians too...

* Not that Latinos are immune to the nativist spell. While both George Bush and John Kerry ratchet up the spending to woo the prized Latino Vote, using Spanish-language advertising in key battleground states like New Mexico, Arizona, and Florida, here's something to keep in mind (from yesterday's NYTimes):

    ...many Hispanic families have been in New Mexico for generations and some take a dim view of immigrants.

    "You know what the problem is with this state?" said Erlindo Castillo, a librarian in Santa Fe, in an interview afterward. "Too many Mexicans.''

    "They come here for the free services and to take our jobs, and then they send all the money back across the border," said Ms. Castillo, an American flag in one hand, a Kerry poster in the other.

    --
    "For me, this is about us having kids over there in Iraq, dying for no good reason," Mr. Sanchez said. "Republicans are crazy if they think they're going to get the Hispanic vote in New Mexico this year. They come here and say a couple of words of Spanish? What is that to me, you know what I mean?"

* The Hmong Challenge. Remember the looming Hmong influx I first mentioned back in April? The first of these refugees are now arriving into the states -- into Minnesota, California, etc. -- and the existing community here is set to grow by 50% over just the next few months. Here's an NPR story today (with streaming audio) that outlines their settlement issues and the challenges they face. Somewhere out there, Patrick Buchanan is letting out a blood-curdling scream.

* Yello Grrls Unite! I first caught this at Oliver Wang's indispensable Pop Life blog: The organization, Asian Women United, has released survey results on the general attitudes and perceptions folk have of Asian females in media. They've posted a selection of quotes gathered from the survey, such as:

    “I can personally identify with (being the target of) the bullshit stereotype of ‘exotic Asian whore beauty’ that stems from white people seeing Miss Saigon and believing that every Asian woman is here because she was saved from a life of prostitution by a white man. My girlfriends and I were in Downtown Minneapolis on Washington Ave. We are all Korean adopted women, fairly attractive, and conservatively dressed for the evening. Anyways, while my friend and I waited for my other friend to come out of the Loft Literary center, two tall Caucasian college students from the U of M walked by and asked, "How much?" Then ten minutes later, a car stuck in traffic after the Gopher Basketball game, stopped in front of us and screamed, "Me love you long time." We do not speak with broken accents, and we did not come from a life of prostitution in a third world country. Since there are hardly any other images in the media about Asian women, whatever is shown in the media will become a ‘stereotyped’ truth that will continue to box me into a role I don't want to be a part of.” (Female/31/Korean adoptee)

Don't miss it.

* Finally, I've been completely remiss in not highlighting Juan Tornoe's excellent Hispanic Trending blog -- that is now the go-to-place in the blogosphere for up-to-date news and commentary on Latino marketing and advertising. Since he started his blog, I feel less compelled to throughly comb through the daily newswires for specific stories dealing with Hispanic marketing because I know he's doing a such a great job. Peep it today.

Posted by thomas at July 21, 2004 12:56 PM | TrackBack