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Racist humor no laughing matter

July 12, 2005

BY JESSE JACKSON





African Americans and Hispanics face what the Chinese would call interesting times. Together we can forge an alliance that would represent the majority in the 50 largest cities of America. Divided, we can be pitted against one another, leaving both of us wrestling in a ditch. The choice between alliance and division won't be easy. It will require leadership, vision, generosity and mutual understanding.



That's why the publication of racially offensive Memin Pinguin stamps in Mexico is so destructive and dangerous. And it is why the brusque dismissal by President Vicente Fox of protests from African Americans, from the White House, and from Mexico's own black population is so disturbing.

Memin Pinguin is a racially stereotyped black Mexican cartoon character, with exaggerated features, regularly mocked by whites and generally depicting blacks as lazy and ignorant. This is a cartoon, but the comedy masks tragedy. It's comedy with a demeaning punch line, reflecting the racism that's still a reality in Mexico and the United States.

Black Mexico, a group organized to give voice to black Mexicans, wrote Fox to object to the stamp that ''rewards, celebrates, typifies and makes official the distorted, mocking, stereotypical and limited view of the black community.''

Fox responded that he had grown up reading the Memin Pinguin comic books and that the character is ''loved in Mexico'' and ''has absolutely nothing discriminatory about it.'' Fox helped push through an anti-discrimination law in 2003; he is not blind to the blight of racism in Mexico. But here, as in his reluctance to apologize for his earlier statement that ''not even blacks'' would take the jobs being done by Mexican immigrants, Fox is sowing discord, not reaching out for unity.

The spokesman for the Mexican Postal Service, Carlos Cabellero, justified the stamp as celebrating ''a traditional character that reflects part of Mexico's culture.'' But that is exactly the problem: Memin Penguin reflects the dark side, not the sunny side, of Mexico's culture.

In the United States, racial tension between Hispanics and African Americans can be easily sparked. We are disproportionately poor. We struggle for low-paying jobs and scarce low-income housing. Our children must survive mean streets often divided by gangs organized along lines of race. Our leaders compete for political office and political power. Division is easy to sow; unity is hard to build.

Together, we can make a powerful coalition. We can elect mayors in cities across the country, as demonstrated by Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles and Harold Washington in Chicago. Together we can build a coalition for economic justice, fighting to raise the minimum wage, to provide workers the right to organize, to demand investment in our cities and schools. Together we can unite on a program to keep immigrants from being exploited and minorities from being locked out. Together we can fend off attacks on U.S. civil rights laws and affirmative action. Together, we can help recognize our neighbors to the South and build good neighbor policies.

But to stay together, we must talk together. We must see the world through the others' eyes. That's why I've argued that it is important for Americans to start learning Spanish. Similarly, it is vital that Mexicans, as our neighbors and necessary allies, become sensitive to the racially hurtful elements of their culture.

Today, the Mexico of Vicente Fox grows ever more nationalist, even as its economy becomes more intertwined with that of the United States. Objections to the racial stereotypes of the Memin Pinguin stamps can evoke a brusque nationalist rejection. But there is a huge price to pay, both in Mexico and here, if Mexico's independence is expressed through racial division.

My organization, Rainbow/ PUSH, is reaching out to Hispanic groups in the United States to join in a working alliance. We have asked Fox to withdraw the stamp, which now apparently is already sold out. We ask him to issue stamps that celebrate the contributions of real black Mexicans rather than honor cartoons based on derogatory racial stereotypes of them. In this country, we will work to find common ground with Latinos. Let us join together in mutual respect, not be torn apart by mutual prejudices.