While in NYC... Equal Opportunity Stereotypical Iconography

I will begin by confessing: I love Rice to Riches. They are the yummy goodness that only rice pudding can be: thick and savory but not overly sweet and mushy. To top it all off, you get to sample flavors, just like you can in FroYo places, or ice-cream joints. When you walk into this shop a customer is greeted with the no-nonsense hip vibe of Virgin Atlantic and Wagamama. It's groovy minimalist design for sure.  That's always hard to pull clean and understated as Apple or Braun have shown. So I imagine someone took great care to plan branding and signage for the shop.

My story begins when I first visited to Rice to Riches in 2009. I never really noticed this sign on the wall until I went again sometime later on the same year.

I wondered if Rice to Riches was making a point of saying they don't hire people who wear Sombreros to make their pudding? Or were they stating that the Americans who work there are dressing up as a Mexican cartoon character in solidarity for our sister nation? Or were they inferring that an "American worker" is not the dreaded undocumented worker who happens to be Mexican? Either way, I wanted an answer and to give Rice to Riches the benefit of the doubt. So on December 16, 2009 I emailed Rice to Riches via the site's comment box.


"So I had a question: First of all, I love, love, your store and your flavors. I am a Boston-ite but whenever I am in the big City, I come over to taste your rice pudding. I am never disappointed. My question is: Could you tell me what you're trying to convey with your sign that tells your customers you only hire American workers? I support the sentiment but have a huge problem with the stereo-typical depiction of the non-American work-force being A. Mexican and B. Wearing sombreros. I wonder if there is a more benevolent explanation for your sign and if so, I would love to understand it.

Thanks kindly for your time and serious attention to a matter which is important to me, being the daughter of hard-working Mexican immigrants.

Cheers,

Daphne"

So unfortunately I never heard back. However, the last time we visited Rice to Riches, I saw this new signage:

 




Seems Rice to Riches decided to spread the stereotyping around.

37 Spring St
(between Mott St & Mulberry St)
New York, NY 10012
Neighborhood: Nolita

(212) 274-0008

http://www.ricetoriches.com

Raza de New York...!!!!

New York raza, share the word and the invite! fb.me/15VwbAA8h

— William Nericcio (@eyegiene) April 9, 2013

Mextasy and Tex[t]-Mex on the Road @ School of Visual Arts, NY | "Bandit, Succubus, Gigolo, Maid, & Fiend: 20th and 21st Century Latina/o Bodies in the Imagination of the Americas" | William Nericcio

Here's the promo:

Bandit, Succubus, Gigolo, Maid, & Fiend
20th and 21st Century Latina/o Bodies in the Imagination of the Americas


William A. Nericcio
University of Guelph, October 27, 2011 | Thursday


A brief multimedia presentation examining dominant trends in the representation of Latinas and Latinos in American popular culture. From Hollywood to Madison Avenue, specific and damaging visions of Latina/o subjectivity have infected the synapses of Americans, and Mexicans alike--these "ethnic mannequins" (Speedy Gonzales, Charo, the Frito Bandito, etc) come to dominate consciousness, leading to a renaissance on racialized hatred currently en vogue in the U.S. from New York to California, from Arizona to Georgia. If Lou Dobbs says that Mexicans are "diseased" and John McCain contends (with a straight) face the illegal immigrants are starting forest fires, and Rush Limbaugh tells his listeners to tell "Mexicans" to go back to their country, what is the result? Research would seem to suggest these collective efforts have led to a resurgence of anti-Latino hate and hate crimes at the very moment demographically that the lands of Uncle Sam are more decidedly Latino/a. 

The presentation will feature excerpts from Tex[t]-Mex, Eyegiene, the Tex[t]-Mex Galleryblog and art from Mextasy.

an early version of this presentation was delivered at the
University of Guelph a couple of years back...

Here are some image notes for the SVA presentation...

lou dobbs

http://textmex.blogspot.com/2011/09/lou-dobbs-in-venezuela-just-kidding.html

more here

eyegiene piece on cristina rivera garza

 

izel vargas piece

http://textmex.blogspot.com/2010/02/essay-on-izel-vargas-now-available-via.html

http://textmex.blogspot.com/2009/01/xicanosmosis-semiotic-visions-of-izel.html

 

Margarita Cansino, aka RITA HAYWORTH | pre-electrolysis...

source

click to enlarge



and.... post-electrolysis... (I think!)...

source

Dolores Del Rio, Mexican Movie Star Extraordinaire, Now Adorns the Backsplash of the Textmex Galleryblog!

Azucar Chaser for the Weekend Ahead

If you find yourself getting upset over reading repetitive Latino stereotypical tropes in the news this weekend, then wash your mind with this animated gif of Doña Celia Cruz.
Image: Via tumblr

Real Life, Unexpected Lucha Libre Moments: Like When a Community College Gringo Professor Body Slams a Chicano/a Studies Undergraduate!

body slam the image for the story via jezebel...

Jay Leno to the Associated Press: "Undocumented Democrat"

 

We dare you to read the comments after the video. Apparently Leno is finished because he's a truth-teller and we'll all be worshiping the nation of Islam soon enough.

Jon Stewart Reports on Republican's Philosophy of Inclusion

Here's a hint: Not so well. Not so well.

Cuidado! Watchale! Darth Vader is Watching YOU!!! Border Patrol Drone, VADER, Tracking Undocumented Sojourners in the U.S. Southwest

Click the bad guy for the story via the LA Times...

Here's a quick infographic on how the next-gen migra system works... Sleep Dealer ain't science FICTION!

 

Too Light to Be Called African-American

Another chapter from the Stereotype novela. How does one guess African American looks African American? Let Tim Graham, a conservative ‘Media Watchdog and erudite tweeter’, posit this question for you. He tweenks that newly appointed MSNBC, Karen Finney's skin is too light to be recognized as African-American.

Via Jezebel

  Original Story

Progress! Associated Press Drops 'Illegal Immigrant'

The largest news-gathering outlet in the world will no longer use the term "illegal immigrant." Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll informed readers of the decision via the  Associated Press blog.
 
"The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term
 'illegal immigrant' or the use of 'illegal' to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that 'illegal' should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally," Carroll wrote.


Read ABC/Univison's coverage on the story:

 

¡Muy Chistosa La Jan Brewer!

Oh goodness. We're still cracking ourselves from the comedic genius of Arizona Republican, show-us-your-papers-if-you-are-brown, Jan Brewer.

Ms. Brewer thinks Mr. Obama doesn't get the issue of  frontera danger and furthermore, refuses to come down for a reality tour. If Potus came by he might get a sighting of a woman successfully climbing an 18ft high fence, just like John McCain, witnessed and tweeted about. Maybe that was McCain's early April Fool's joke? Some conspiracy theorists have been hard at work to disprove the events as they were tweeted by McCain.

For Next Easter but Not for Your Head

Another Tex(t)Mex cultural deposit into Easter celebratory traditions of America: Chocolate Cascarones!
Ever heard of cascarones? It’s a tradition where folks fill empty eggs with confetti and then crack them over other peoples’ heads for Easter...

 

Here's the DIY:
Image: Brit+Ryan+Co

Easter Loathing Mexican-Americans! Cesar Chavez, Google, and the Latest Anti-Mexican-American "Scandal"