An incident occurred on "National Taco Day" which highlights American cultural ignorance and underscores how profiling can stem from said ignorance. I subscribe to a Latino empowerment group, Presente.org. An update was sent which explains:
"Not all Latinos grow up eating tacos. The idea that we do is just another harmful stereotype of Latino people and cultures. But that stereotype was embraced, validated, and propagated by Fox News Channel host Brian Kilmeade. During a celebration of “National Taco Day” on the October 4 Fox and Friends broadcast, Kilmeade asked meteorologist Maria Molina, "So what are the tips we need to know? You grew up on tacos, correct?" But Molina was born in Nicaragua — tacos aren’t even commonly eaten in her country!"
Presente.org is demanding an apology from Kilmeade to Molina. I signed the petition, but I have some concerns. Americans tend toward both extremes, ethnocentricism and ethnic slurring. There's a lot of talk of "we" and "they" but there's no such thing as a full-blooded American, save the native American Indians. White settlers are just a hodge-podge of people from different countries. We're all immigrants."We" are all also "they." And ethnic profiling and polarization is rampant. But not all stereotypes are negative. When is an ethnic stereotype profiling, discrimination and bullying and when is it not? How should we handle profiling?
National Taco Day Insult Underscores Racial, Ethnic, Religious Profiling Issues - News - Bubblews
I grew up on wine lore from my Grandpa Kinney, that wonderfully mostly Irish guy who drank Cask Cream Sherry daily and Manischewitz on Sabbath. I don't know why. We weren't Jewish.
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