Southern California Voices / A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES : Gripe : ‘Mexicans Have Some Serious Catching Up to Do’ in The Media

You may have noticed the billboards all over town for a local radio station. “2 fat Mexicanz,” they say. And then, “Baka Boyz. Morningz.” The accompanying pictures vary from the nude “Baka boys” hiding their privates to the two of them posing Gidget-style behind a surfboard. The worst one shows them seated on toilets, their trousers down around their ankles. One eats from a pizza box on his lap. A potato chip bag looms in the foreground in front of the other.

I am of Mexican heritage and I find the billboards disturbing.

I believe one of the great challenges for Mexican Americans is to achieve a positive image, especially in today’s business environment. Image may be seen a minor issue when compared to illiteracy, poverty and crime. But the problem of perception is an important one. We need to collectively assess how we’re portrayed in the media since it’s both a litmus test for societal perceptions and a mechanism for creating and sustaining new perceptions. Minorities have known this for a long time. That’s why they struggled for representation in the media. Television was just one of those fronts but it was an important one. African Americans led that fight. As a result, blacks on television are now common: from television sitcoms to news anchors to superstar athletes touting products. A real victory. So where do Latinos stand? I don’t watch much television but from my perspective we never gained an equal footing. When I think of Mexicans on television I think of the comedians Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez. There’s Juan Valdez the coffee bean picker and Rosarita of refried bean fame. Sure, there are a few Latinos on the local news but there’s nobody on the Tom Brokaw’s or Barbara Walters’ level. If TV is any indicator of the perceived status of a group, I submit that Mexicans have some serious catching up to do.

Why should we care? Because the conspicuous absence of Mexicans coupled with the negative portrayal of the few there are signal a reversal of the gains made during the Chicano movement of the 1960s. The unionization of the farm workers, the establishment of Chicano Studies departments, bilingual education and the implementation of affirmative action--these things weren’t free. It took work and sacrifice by our parents’ generation.

I’m not trying to single out the Baka boys. I’m as guilty as anyone of losing touch. My grandmother, born in Mexico, hated to speak English. She felt it was a harsh and restrictive language. As a child, I never adequately learned Spanish. My grandmother was a complex person and the language barrier between us kept me from fully appreciating her intellect. So, what do we do now, paint signs and take to the streets? I don’t think so. That was a solution for another time.

We can’t waste time with this radio station either. If they’re willing to sponsor such an offensive ad campaign then it’s unlikely they’d respond to direct protest. Let’s find out who their sponsors are and stop buying their wares. Follow up with letters to the manufacturers and remind them that we will not support a product that flies in the face of our dignity. Take advantage of the technology at our disposal. Write the letters on your computers. Send copies on floppy disks to your friends. E-mail your brothers, sisters and cousins.

If we don’t act, we’ll be sending another message--that the new generation of Mexican Americans are satisfied with a grotesque image of ourselves, laughing, eating like pigs on toilet seats, willing to endure the stench of the putrefaction of our pride.