From The "Everything Is Racist" Files
Brentwood AOL Patch editor Dennis Wilen was fired for running Lalo Alcaraz' cartoon satire of Cinco de Mayo attitudes in this Arianna nabe. Click up the cartoon at the link. Also, note the name Lalo Alcaraz. He's a Latino cartoonist! What...is he a...self-hating Latino?
The story is here, at Alcaraz' site (Alcatraz has since hired Wilen):
For Cinco de Mayo, I commissioned three stories: The real history of Cinco de Mayo as related by a professor at Mount St. Mary's (Brentwood's only college), the best places to celebrate with nachos and beer in Brentwood and a cartoon from my friend Lalo Alcaraz about how the Battle of Puebla is understood in Brentwood.I was thrilled to score a cartoon from a cartoonist of Lalo's stature at Patch's standard rate of $50.
This was the same week that AOL and HuffPo honchos announced a Latino outreach initiative, probably to coincide with Cinco de Mayo. I thought they'd be pleased.
The cartoon went live just after midnight on May 5; I Tweeted about it, per AOL policy, and posted a link on Brentwood Patch's Facebook page. The headline Lalo and I wrote? "It's Cinco de Mayo - do you know where your gardener is?" I thought the cartoon -- marked as opinion -- perfectly expressed Brentwood's reality and it still makes me laugh.
Early the next day I got a call from my regional editor directing me to remove the cartoon and delete my Tweets and Facebook posts. Someone in AOL's New York headquarters decided Lalo's image of two Latinos "reenacting the Battle of Puebla" (a housekeeper with a broom and a gardener with a leaf blower) constituted "blatantly racist stereotypes" (it could have been "patently racist".) They were objectionable, said my boss.
"Wait!" I said. "Lalo IS a Latino. He is the country's first nationally-syndicated Latino cartoonist (La Cucaracha.) He has written books and won awards! Are you calling Lalo a racist?"
"New York finds it objectionable, " was the reply.
The next morning my boss, and her uber-boss, the West Coast editor, called me up to tell me I was fired for violating my employment agreement with AOL by posting "racist" material.
This is the problem that occurs when liberalism (political correctness) and true free speech intersect. I'm using liberalism and political correctness (PC) interchangeably because they have the same origins.
The Latino view of Brentwood is "two Latinos 'reenacting the Battle of Puebla'" is not palatable to the liberals. The Latino view of the jobs is it "pays the bills." It may not be the best job in the world, but they have a job.
The liberal view is that they aren't oppressing the masses. Meanwhile they justify internally that they aren't paying the minimum wage, paying taxes, etc is justified because it is unfair, they don't have to pay their fair share because the government is evil, everyone else does it, the conservatives cheat too, etc.
(I know the above paragraph is a jumbled mess. But those who can look in on the liberal mindset get nothing but a jumbled mess back. The dichotomy of being an honest cheat and a liberal cheat can boggle the mind.)
So bruising the PC idea that the Latino is a lovingly, loyal employee and enjoys washing your tighty-whiteys just makes the liberal heads spin.
Jim P. at March 13, 2012 10:09 PM
Uh, Amy... it's Alcaraz, not Alcatraz. You're thinking of that big decaying prison near Frisco. ;-)
qdpsteve at March 13, 2012 10:49 PM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/from-the-everyt.html#comment-3068665">comment from qdpsteveThanks, tired. Will fix.
Amy Alkon
at March 13, 2012 10:50 PM
AOL is still around?
Nolo Contendere at March 14, 2012 6:27 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/from-the-everyt.html#comment-3069145">comment from Nolo ContendereActually, I have had AOL since the early 90s, and while all of you have probably had to change your email addresses multiple times, I have not. Additionally, AOL's Project Phoenix is pretty great. It's what I'm now using for my personal email -- although I haven't been able to get my column email box down enough to transfer (it seems to eat some emails when that happens), but I'll have to bite the bullet soon.
Amy Alkon
at March 14, 2012 6:45 AM
But surely the embarrassment of still having an aol address made soem of us want to change.
KateC at March 14, 2012 7:21 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/from-the-everyt.html#comment-3069186">comment from KateCI'm too cool to be embarrassed by that. (Or I've been too embarrassed throughout my life for it to mean much anymore.)
Amy Alkon
at March 14, 2012 7:27 AM
From the column "New York finds it objectionable." As a new yorker, I'd like to state that I thought it was pretty damn funny.
If running that can get you fired, it's going to be impossible to run anything that's not ridiculously boring.
flighty at March 14, 2012 7:29 AM
The real beauty of PCisms and racism lables is that it is completely arbitrary. After making it near illegal to fire anyone for any reason, libs have left themselves an easy out, of we can fire you for racism. But since everyone is racist, and it is entirely subjective and determined by liberals what the definition of the day is they can fire anyone for no reason at all.
Joe J at March 14, 2012 7:58 AM
I thought Gus Arriola "Gordo" cartoonist, was Latino a long time ago.
jefe at March 14, 2012 10:30 AM
Leave a comment