We start the morning, with, of all things, a discussion on Mexican stamps:
The Mexican government has issued a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, just weeks after remarks by President Vicente Fox angered U.S. blacks.
The series of five stamps released for general use Wednesday depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico.
The boy, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.
Activists said the stamp was offensive, though officials denied it.
“That’s offensive!.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Is too.”
“Is not.”
Which just goes to show how silly I am- a story about an allegedly racist stamp and all I can think about is how government is the same everywhere.
*** Update ***
LaShawn Barber writes:
Whenever I see racist caricatures of blacks from back in the day, I cringe. To think there was a time in the U.S. when whites openly mocked and ridiculed blacks with these exaggerated stereotypes, and blackface comedy was all the rage.
And then, after reading the CNN copy about the cartoon caricature:
Hapless but lovable? Who wrote this garbage? Probably some white, American, liberal journalist.
Discuss. Go read the Poorman (it is deep in the post).
Jim Allen
$6.50 for a stamp?
That’s offensive.
And, yeah, so’s the picture. People who compalin about it will probably be attacked for excessive political correctness, but, jeez, why even put out a stamp with something that dubious? Don’t they have fluffy kittens or pretty flowers in Mexico?
Mr.Ortiz
Maybe you were joking, but just in case, that’s $6.50 Pesos, or about 60 US cents.
Mark
Maybe you were joking, but just in case, that’s $6.50 Pesos, or about 60 US cents.
60 cents for a stamp is still outrageous!
Jim Allen
Yeah, 60 cents is still outrageous, even for fluffy kittens or pretty flowers.
And what’s up with using a dollar sign for pesos? Why can’t they get their own currency thingie?
Marcus Wellby
Holy smokes!! If you collect stamps it might be a good idea to get yours hands on this one, could be out of print soon indeed.
Hell, if I were the head of the Mexican Post Office I’d be putting pictures of Selma Hayak on all the stamps,
Mr.Ortiz
If it weren’t for Vicente Fox’s spit-take inducing comments a few weeks ago, I’d swear this was a manufactured controversy to make a quick buck from stamp collectors.
over it
Well, I do not know that much(read “I know absolutely nothing”) about Mexican history….so….maybe in Mexico it is not offensive. It is offensive to OUR country because of our historical treatment of ‘minorities’. If it were a USPS stamp I would be shocked. But it’s not.
I guess what I am saying is….for something this inconsequential….not our country–not our business.
over it
Sorry for the double post…
I agree with Mr. Ortiz. In fact, I bet that the majority of the stamps end up being purchased by Americans. I read that there is only a limited supply being printed(like 400,000).
I find that thought somewhat amusing.
James Emerson
Personally I miss the the national chain of pancake houses called; ‘Lil Black Sambos.’ The ‘Sambo’ character was caricatured on every pancake house. Midnight black with exaggerated lips being forever chased by that buttery tiger. You could see it from half a mile down the road. They had pretty good pancakes too. In retrospect, they were a pretty offensive sight to behold, but at the time they were accompanied by more the respectable ‘Uncle Ben’ and ‘Aunt Jemima’ line of products, the less respectable ‘Coon’ chicken stands, and of course there was the ongoing campaign of lynchings and the burnings…so no one really complained much about ‘Sambos’. Slowly over time, as social mores changed the landscape, the chain disappeared.
I hear they were eventually bought out by ‘Dennys.’
Jim Allen
But after Denny McLain was convicted of racketeering, extorsion and drug trafficking, they thought about changing the name back to Sambo’s.
Trent Lott
I miss the little black sambos I used to have on my plantation. Some of their pancakes were pretty tasty too, if you know what I mean.
Mr.Ortiz
I’d probably be more upset if I were black but, as it is, I think this is being overblown. Is it racist? Yes. But in a stupid, ignorant way, not a scary, inciteful* way. Most Mexicans don’t see how it can be offensive if the character is “lovable”, just how lots of Americans see nothing wrong with the statement “Asians are good at math” because it’s a positive thing. There’s not much you can do other than shake your head and hope the next generation will know better.
*As in “inciting violence”. Not sure if that’s a real word.
Mr.Ortiz
I’ve given this a little more thought and decided it’s more sinister than I initially thought. While I don’t find the stamp itself outrage worthy, it is certainly a symbol of rampant and socially accepted racism in all levels of Latin American society. In that context, it is something to be scorned.
Don
Well, this left-of-center poster wants to complain about this: Where’s the URL for where I can buy some of these?!
Kimmitt
Egad that thing’s offensive.
ppgaz
I agree, that is one ugly and repulsive stamp. Not the picture itself as much as what it represents. I think a nice US stamp depicting two mexicans trying to start their car is just the right retort. Just kidding, hold your fire.
BTW, I don’t think Denny’s acquired Sambo’s. Sambo’s went BK and closed their stores. Some locations were taken over by Denny’s, I think, but I seriously doubt that Denny’s took over anything else. There wasn’t really anything else in terms of assets by that time.
If anyone has more info on that, pass it on.
M. Scott Eiland
My uncle has lived in Hong Kong since the early 1980’s, and I was fortunate enough to be able to visit him there just after my graduation from high school in 1984. One of my more lasting memories is of the doubletake I did when I was at a store and spotted a tube of toothpaste with a caricature of a man in blackface wearing a top hat. The brand name of the toothpaste? “Darkie.”
It’s been twenty-one years–I sometimes wonder whether that toothpaste–with its rather distasteful symbol–is still on the shelves in post-PRC takeover HK.
Fernando
Don’t be stupid , you are just pandering for that pimp Jesse Jackson. Don’t know how the White House fell for it; morons. Mem
Peso Pesado
>And what’s up with using a dollar sign for pesos?
>Why can’t they get their own currency thingie?
>Jim Allen
John Cole
I just want to know how you made the upside down question marks.
Mark
Who really cares what Mexico does! Don’t the NAACP have bigger things to worry about? Like maybe illegal immagration, or illegal aliens who have been deported coming back over and killing little girls. I quess if it doesn’t concern the black race directly it really isn’t a issue for the REVERand!!!! Jesse Jackson. I say get a life you bunch of Racist “Black” Mexican Haters.
Monica
hey Jim Allen,
Just so we’re clear, the “$” sign is UNIVERSAL and can be used for any currency.
Juan N. Santillan
TO John Cole; To make the symbol
CHARLES MCKELLER
How can i buy these stamps online? Would like to purchasae some. Can someone help me?
Frank Barone
I think the little guy is kinda cute. Where can I buy some here in the U.S.
John
This is totally ridiculous! We should take care of our own businesses. I mean, what president Fox said a couple of weeks ago about “mexican people with dignity doing jobs that black people won’t do” WAS racist, but knowing something about this “memin pinguin” character is a totally different thing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, it’s a character from the early 1940’s, I saw some of his comic books, and they’re funny, they even try to “teach” moral values, something almost unknown for our culture. Mr Bush and company and we, should be trying to avoid kids taking guns to school, killing each other at 11, stopping our racist help to Israel against palestinians and all the things we should be taking care of in our country and not messing with other’s problems.
Ken
“And what’s up with using a dollar sign for pesos? Why can’t they get their own currency thingie?”
Er, it’s the other way around – the USA uses the Mexican symbol.
The “$” sign is actually a disfigured “8” and refers to the old Spanish/Mexican real de ocho coin. This was known as the Spanish Dollar in English. When the USA became independent, the Currency Act of, I think, 1792 laid down that the US dollar would be the same weight in silver as the real de ocho.
Tonto Tinto
Esto es tan est
don
Where can US citizens buy these stamps?
don
Where can US citizens buy these stamps?
don
Where can US citizens buy these stamps?
Monica
Why was my post deleted? I didn’t use offensive words.
elchupanegro
To Fernando:
I have to say that, as a black man, I agree with a lot of what you said. If black people had more pride and thought better of themselves then this whole stamp incident wouldn’t raise a single eyebrow. Do I think Mexicans harbor racist feelings for black folks? Sure. But so what. For the life of me, I can’t understand why any black person would lose a wink of sleep over how some Mexicans (or any other group of people) felt about them. So long as those racist sentiments are not systemtized or made a part of governmental operations, I could care less how these people feel about me.
Yeah, the silly stamp is insulting. And I’m sure that these stamps taught many young Mexicans to feel the condescending love and appreciation for black people that Fernando now feels himself–feelings that existed among the Mexican population since the territory was colonized. But again, who gives a damn.
Oh, and I agree that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and nothing more than a couple of race hustlers. Using every racial slight to increase their visibility and their earning power. You never see these two clowns cause such an uproar over the tens of thousands of black-on-black killings that take place in the U.S. every year, or the out-of-wedlock pregnancies and excessive drop-out rates in the black community.
elchupanegro
To Fernando:
I have to say that, as a black man, I agree with a lot of what you said. If black people had more pride and thought better of themselves then this whole stamp incident wouldn’t raise a single eyebrow. Do I think Mexicans harbor racist feelings for black folks? Sure. But so what. For the life of me, I can’t understand why any black person would lose a wink of sleep over how some Mexicans (or any other group of people) felt about them. So long as those racist sentiments are not systemtized or made a part of governmental operations, I could care less how these people feel about me.
Yeah, the silly stamp is insulting. And I’m sure that these stamps taught many young Mexicans to feel the condescending love and appreciation for black people that Fernando now feels himself–feelings that existed among the Mexican population since the territory was colonized. But again, who gives a darn.
Oh, and I agree that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and nothing more than a couple of race hustlers. Using every racial slight to increase their visibility and their earning power. You never see these two clowns cause such an uproar over the tens of thousands of black-on-black killings that take place in the U.S. every year, or the out-of-wedlock pregnancies and excessive drop-out rates in the black community.
elchupanegro
To Fernando:
I have to say that, as a black man, I agree with a lot of what you said. If black people had more pride and thought better of themselves then this whole stamp incident wouldn’t raise a single eyebrow. Do I think Mexicans harbor racist feelings for black folks? Sure. But so what. For the life of me, I can’t understand why any black person would lose a wink of sleep over how some Mexicans (or any other group of people) felt about them. So long as those racist sentiments are not systemtized or made a part of governmental operations, I could care less how these people feel about me.
Yeah, the silly stamp is insulting. And I’m sure that these stamps taught many young Mexicans to feel the condescending love and appreciation for black people that Fernando now feels himself–feelings that existed among the Mexican population since the territory was colonized. But again, who gives a darn.
Oh, and I agree that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and nothing more than a couple of race hustlers. Using every racial slight to increase their visibility and their earning power. You never see these two clowns cause such an uproar over the tens of thousands of black-on-black killings that take place in the U.S. every year, or the out-of-wedlock pregnancies and excessive drop-out rates in the black community.