A lovely picture of the landscape for some balance.
Lest anyone accuse me of exaggerating some of the fundamental fucked-up-ness of West Texas and other pockets of wingnut goodness out there, a fellow resident of Alpine still stuck there sent me this recent editorial that ran in the paper. Apparently there’s some NAFTA-related controversy out there involving truck full of Mexican cargo, and the usual white racist crew can’t imagine Mexicans make anything that’s not more people or illegal drugs.
Thanks to a rare benevolent move on the part of the U.S. Congress, we can expect a delay in the Mexican trucks that were to traverse the beautiful Big Bend. A provision of the now-infamous NAFTA treaty provided a one-year pilot program that would have allowed Mexican trucks complete access to U.S. markets.
If, and when, the Mexican trucks do come, they can be identified by the fact that their drivers will be wearing large sombreros and firing indiscriminately toward puppies, kittens, small children and any other sizable object using the highway. This action should not be taken as random violence. It is simply a well-established Mexican safety measure. The owners of these trucks learn that air-horns are cheaper than air-brakes and act accordingly.
I give you a moment to consider that this is an editorial run in the main newspaper in town. Now, the Avalanche isn’t exactly a cosmopolitan rag or anything, but it is considered like a real newspaper, the main voice of the community that painstakingly details all the sporting events and basically anything else of note that is a cut above gossip. (Gossip doesn’t necessarily need a print form, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t freelances with Word and copy machines that are willing to go that route.) I bring this up because the aftermath of the Jena incident, with residents whining that their town wasn’t racist, was sculpted to fit into the preconceived notions of the media and our blue state, urban brethern, all eager to believe that this kind of super-blatant racism has to be going under the radar. As you can see from this editorial, it’s often, in these small towns, formally endorsed by the supposed pillars of the community, which would include in many cases the school board. Those who characterize Jena as a town thick with racist sentiment are probably closer to the truth than a lot of us would like to admit.
When the trucks roll, one wonders what their cargo will be. Illegal drugs, illegal aliens, international terrorists and lots of vegetables are the obvious choices.
As Jack Bow of City Drug recently stated, “Pharmacists are the only drugs dealers who won’t make money off this deal.”
If the international terrorists make one move toward the Alamo, they are dead meat. Knowing that many Mexican fields are irrigated with raw sewage encourages me to buy California produce.
Where it’s irrigated with pig shit. That said, ever since the neighboring town of Marfa became some sort of cosmopolitan mecca that attracts all sorts of artists and musicians (I just got a note from a friend there who saw Sonic Youth there—Sonic Youth!—making me faint from jealously because when I lived in West Texas, we were still buying tapes at the hardware store), they might know from this organic produce now.
The guy who sent me this who blogs at MexFiles (do remember that we’re not all bad, that there’s pockets of smart, liberal people in nearly every backwards shithole in the country, and to be fair, Alpine probably has more than most), also included his complaining letter to the editor, which was not published. Which is pretty surprising, actually, because when I lived there, you could have submitted your grocery list to the editor and have it run, because they were that desperate for content. (Gossip did make its way into the letters to the editor.) So, as a favor to him for staying in West Texas and putting up the good fight, here is the entire letter:
To the editor, Alpine Avalanche:
As a sometime correspondent for several local papers, as well as working for the last thirty years for various editors in the U.S. and Mexico, I am loathe to criticize editorial decisions or fellow writers. However, I question how George Covington’s “The trucks aren’t coming (at least not yet)” made it into the September 27, 2007 Avalanche in the form it was printed.
Although Covington may have meant to be humorous, his descriptions of Mexican “drivers [who] will be wearing sombreros and firing indiscrimately towards puppies…” was offensive, and not just to the Hispanic half of Alpine’s population. Frankly, it was the sort of thing I have never seen in print outside of white supremacist publications.
Additionally, there were serious factual problems with Covington’s article. A little checking would confirm that the trucks driven on American roads are mostly Mexican built, with the same brakes, headlights and safety devices. If anyone at the Avalanche had bothered to read news coverage of the accident (The Monclova Zocalo had extensive coverage, as did all Mexican papers and on-line news sources), it was obvious this was the kind of tragedy that can happen in any rural community. A truck carrying liquid fertilizer, no matter what safety precautions are taken, is likely to explode if a drunk driver rams his pickup into it.
If the Avalanche is unable, or unwilling, to hire Spanish-speaking staffers Mexico Trucker (http://mexicotrucker.com) – which has extensive coverage of the incident — is a reputable source of information the trucking industry.
There may be legitimate reasons to keep Mexican trucks out of the United States. But, suggesting that Mexican trucks will be carrying “illegal drugs, illegal aliens, international terrorists…” is not one of them. If Covington is suggesting that drugs or aliens are regular cargo, then his criticism should be of the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement divisions of Homeland Security, not the truckers. If he is suggesting “international terrorists” are coming from Mexico, a quick check with Homeland Security will reveal that the only “terrorist” to have crossed the Texas Mexican border was a Minnesotan detained in Brownsville in 2004 with the intent of joining a Somali jihadist group.
Minnesota, Somalia… and Brownsville … are all long way from the Big Bend. While I applaud the Avalanche’s attempts to expand editorial concerns outside the immediate Alpine area, I suggest the paper begin regionally, and check the regionally available sources in both our local languages.
Richard Grabman
34 Responses to “Home brewed racist drivel”
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Did he seriously just suggest that Mexican immigrants are targeting KITTENS?
I found Mexican drivers in Mexico City to be no worse or better than those in Boston, NYC, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or DC.
Ridiculous.
There may be valid concerns about inspections and conditions of trucks, and about proper certification and training of drivers, but this editorial is really over-the-top stupid with a cherry on top!
Besides, every cyclist knows what idiots Texas truckers can be.
The worst thing about the backlash against political-correctness is that writers like this jackass can very nearly get away with being openly racist by hiding behind the notion that they’re just being “un-PC.”
Those who characterize Jena as a town thick with racist sentiment are probably closer to the truth than a lot of us would like to admit.
There’s no question Jena’s a racist town. That ship sailed when the city tacitly agreed that there as nothing wrong with a “whites-only” tree in the schoolyard, and didn’t slap down the kids responsible for the nooses.
Honestly, I don’t think that kittens, puppies, or little children should be driving on the highways of Texas (or any state/country). If all it takes to get them off the road is a little airhorn consider me for it.
I just couldn’t wrap my mind about the fact that this wasn’t a bad parody.
There are many many very good reasons to oppose the NAFTA corridor superhighway, but racism is not in any way one of them.
OT: Oy, could these antispam numbers be ANY harder to read?
Howdy,
People in west Texas act like this Mexican truck thing was just dropped on them! I spoke to people in Alpine four years ago advising that they start thinking about a bypass because of the one way streets there. Nobody acted! Now everybody is whining!
There is a bit of racism out here but the bulk of the people are very respectful.
This is unbelievably stupid. Like Brain said, not ”playing the PC game” (as I heard it described once) is no excuse to be a racist asshole. Besides, as someone who just moved to DFW, I am more scared of the drivers from Texas than the drivers from Mexico. Anybody who has been on the Mixmaster downtown will tell you that. This reminds me of a story, though. I help teach an ESL class, and one of my students from Peru was saying how “All Asian drivers are bad”. After banging my head on the dry-erase board, I had to remind that class that stereotypes are totally not acceptable. After all, don’t white people say that Latinos are bad drivers? She totally got it when I said that. Too bad not everybody gets a clue so easily.
How can you possibly oppose this editorial? We must protect the kittens!
Was that a joke? Like, let’s take all the stupid stereotypes people have about Mexicans, and mock them? I can’t believe anyone could write that seriously.
Amanda- Did ya know Betsy Brooks is the editor???? She has basically turned the paper into a gossip column.
My husband does maintenance and repair on the boxes and chassis…chassises? chassiss? whateverthehell the plural of chassis is, and some of them are coming from Mexico. The majority are from elsewhere in the US. (works out of Dallas, TX).
All of them suck. There is no difference b/w the ones from Mexico and the ones from Wisconsin.
They all, regardless of origin and once they hit a yard for transfer, must pass a Federal Highway Safety Inspection that is comprehensive, detailed and, btw, pays quite nicely. They are all subject to inspection by DOT at any time, anywhere on the road if they happen to run across a rolling weigh station or at the permanent ones at the border of any two states.
So, yeah, someone’s either stupid, wrote on something they know nothing about, or smoking crack. Or some combination thereof.
I’m clearly not up to date on racial stereotyping, but when racists start accusing Mexicans of shooting puppies and kittens? I suppose they figured they aren’t racist because they didn’t say that Mexicans eat puppies raw.
I don’t understand the kittens and puppies thing. Is this a real stereotype that actually exists in the wild, or did the author make it up on the spot?
Grammar, the author is just upset because the puppies and kittens are already dead when he intentionally runs them down with his pickup, Texas Style.
Dagnabbit! Next they’ll shoot the armadillos too!
I don’t understand the kittens and puppies thing. Is this a real stereotype that actually exists in the wild, or did the author make it up on the spot?
Maybe we could ask Gustavo Arellano.
A lovely picture of the landscape for some balance.
Big Bend is an extremely pretty area.
wtf is the deal with that last paragraph about toothpaste?
“whateverthehell the plural of chassis is”
Uteri.
This is a good sign. Trucks are good.
The Koolaid is wearing off.
Not long ago the boogy monsters that came when the lights went out were amorphous demons.
I’m from Mississippi. Thank you for pointing this out. It does get tiring, making a good point and having people respond with “So, do you guys wear shoes?”
“My husband does maintenance and repair on the boxes and uteri…”
That doesn’t sound right…::looks suspiciously at Matt::
He’s a gynecologist?
Amanda- Did ya know Betsy Brooks is the editor???? She has basically turned the paper into a gossip column.
She’s not anymore. It’s a couple from Odessa.
The article was way over the top, but there really is a problem with trucks and truck drivers coming over from Mexico.
As of January of this year, all trucking companies in the US had to use very low sulphur diesel; a truck based in Mexico doesn’t have to have such at the base. American drivers have to have a commercial drivers license, and they aren’t all that easy to get; truck driving schools will charge around $2,500 for the instruction to take and pass that test; Mexican drivers will be using Mexican licenses.
DOT inspections are tough in the US, and the various state DoTs normally inspect trucking company bases, to check inspection and safety records; for Mexican trucks, all that can be done is random on the road inspections.
The list could go on and on, but I won’t bore you with it. The bottom line is that the emissions and safety standards required of American trucking companies aren’t required in Mexico, and while any Mexican vehicle hauling into the US has to conform while in the US, the only way to catch non-compliance is with on-road spot checks, rather than DOT inspections of truck base facilities.
All risible racism aside (let’s face it, the author of this piece is rather beneath contempt; to call him sophomoric would insult sophomores everywhere), NAFTA is a fucked-up thing that will only benefit the world-domination ambitions of U.S. corporatism. The motivations behind NAFTA are one and the same as the motivations behind the Iraq invasion. It’s also why the Republicans-in-charge are willing to alienate their base by championing open-borders immigration. (Nothing but respect for 96.5% of undocumented immigrants, myself, mind you.) NAFTA is an execrably bad thing. We are all peons to corporate overlords.
But shucks, y’all knew that.
Hate the truck, love the Mexican, is my motto.
Aw, no, wait a minute, come on now. The author was serious?
(shrugs, gives “Ida Know” look)
A while back I suggested that as a substitute for uteruses. It didn’t take, so I must exact my revenge on English in other ways.
No, he’s a tractor/trailer mechanic!
But with all the talk of boxes and uteri, I can see the mistake.
It’s all Matt’s fault, of course.
I maintain that the proper form of the phrase is “fucked-upded-ness,” but that might just be a regional variation….
The regs for Mexican trucks will be the same as the ones for Canadian trucks. (Canadian trucks have been crossing the border for years)
1) Pass DOT inspection.
2) Bring in and take out only, no running freight point to point within the US.
I keep up because I am a driver myself.
Finally, sanity and civility in this highly charged debate.
You folks are correct. There is no difference in Canadian, Mexican nor American carriers. It is simply the fear of competition that drives the debate and a certain underlying racism against anything other than white that promotes the fear and hysteria
Fuck a bunch of Mexican-haters.
That said, again, let me repeat: Anyone who supports NAFTA is an unmitigated tool. Ta!
Amanda,
A couple from Odessa?? Sheesh, we went from dumb to dumber! Ever read the Odessa American????? Yeah, not very educated there either!
Some of prior trucking comments are not exactly true.
The trucks that have to use low sulpher diesel is based on the year the truck was made. HOWEVER, most gas stations only supply the low sulpher diesel. So even if they were Mexican trucks, if they bought fuel in the US, they would be getting the low sulpher diesel.
Also, CDL (Commercial Drivers License) is based on the weight of the truck. Most states dictate what weight class requires a CDL. And most of the trucks are not inspected at their bases, because if the truck is at its base, it more than likely isn’t running. So most DOT’s inspect on the highway at check points. In Texas, they are inspected by the Highway Patrol. And its rare to find a truck that passes anything. It could be a brand new truck, and you will still get a ticket for something. Alot of times its used to generate revenue. Beyond that, alot of times,they inspect only trucks that require DOT registration. Again, that is based on weight of the vehicle. I know this, because I run a trucking company. The trucks out of Mexico are probably worse than those on US roads already….but some of the ones on the roads already are pretty bad!!! Lots of ways to get around all of these inspections too. They aren’t on every highway, or road. And even if they are on the major highways, the check points are open MAYBE 25% of the time. There just aren’t enough people to handle the traffic. (Again, I run a trucking company, and live on one of the busiest trucking corridors in the US).