October 5, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
News
Pence’s ‘Mexican Thing’ Remark Draws Ridicule, Criticism from Latinos
By Russell Contreras and
Amy Taxin, Associated
Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
(AP) — Latino scholars
and activists are criti-
cizing Republican Mike
Pence for referring to
“that Mexican thing,” at
the vice presidential de-
bate as he tried to brush
“
MexicanThing
was
trending on Twitter as
Latinos widely made
fun of the remark with
memes, gifs, and satiri-
cal versions of Trump’s
“Make America Great
Again” red cap.
“Proud to be ‘that
Mexican thing!’” Javier
Martinez, a New Mexico
Democratic lawmaker,
M ex i c a n -A m e r i c a n
syndicated
cartoonist
Lalo Alcaraz said the mo-
ment the words came out
of Pence’s mouth “I knew
it was going to be big.”
Alcaraz drew a cartoon
of a Latino man holding a
card that read, “my vote.”
Above the man read the
words: whip out that
Mexican thing again.
S o m e
Latinos,
however,
saw little
humor in
Pence’s
remarks.
A lead-
ing House Democrat,
Rep. Xavier Becerra of
California, said Pence’s
words brought back
painful memories.
“As the son of immi-
grants, I’ve lived with
the ‘Mexican thing’ all
my life,” Becerra told The
‘I never would have believed that into
my 50s I would witness a candidate
for president and vice president main-
streaming the same hurtful rhetoric’
aside criticism of Don-
ald Trump’s comments
about Mexican immi-
grants.
They said Pence’s re-
mark was dehumanizing
and tinged with sexual
innuendo.
Pence’s comment came
ater Democratic vice
presidential Tim Kaine
pressed the Republican
on Trump’s remarks last
year comparing Mexican
immigrants to rapists.
“Senator, you whipped
out that Mexican thing
again,” Pence said.
By Wednesday, #That-
tweeted Wednesday.
There was no immedi-
ate comment from the
Trump-Pence campaign
about criticism of Pence’s
remark. The campaign
has been trying to in-
crease its appeal to Lati-
nos and other minorities
“
president and vice pres-
ident mainstreaming the
same hurtful rhetoric.”
A top state lawmaker
in California, Kevin de
Leon, said Pence’s re-
marks were “absolutely
disgraceful.”
“He said it like we’re an
irritant, (like) he is both-
ered by our presence and
our contribution to the
fabric of this great na-
tion,” said de Leon, whose
mother grew up in Mex-
ico.
Pence’s words also led
to the creation of a web
address, ThatMexican-
Thing.com, that redirects
visitors to Hillary Clin-
ton’s campaign website.
In addition, the Latino
voting rights advocacy
group VL Action Net-
work registered the web
address, www.thatmex-
icanthing.org, “to drive
eligible voters to register
The way Pence used the word “Mexican” and
“thing” seemed the suggest Mexican-Ameri-
cans were objects, not people
who tend to favor Dem-
ocrats and could prove
pivotal in key states, in-
cluding Florida.
Associated Press. “I nev-
er would have believed
that into my 50s I would
witness a candidate for
to vote against the scape-
goating and complete
dismissal of the Latino
community.”
AP PHOTO/PATRICK SEMANSKY
Some scholars and activists mock the remark, while others say it brought back painful memories
Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence answers
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine during the
vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.,
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016.
Alexandro Jose Gra-
dilla, a Chicana and Chi-
cano Studies professor
at California State Uni-
versity, Fullerton, said
the way Pence used the
word “Mexican” and
“thing” seemed the sug-
gest Mexican-Americans
were objects, not people.
“It was very revealing,
especially because of the
way Trump has used the
word ‘Mexican’ in the
past,” Gradilla said.
Some see the word
“Mexican” as going be-
yond describing a nation-
ality and sometimes be-
ing used as a slur against
U.S.-born Latinos.
Associated Press writer
Amy Taxin contributed
to this report from Santa
Ana, California.