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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Horrors / Chow Let's Not Pretend That Trapping Mexicans with Tacos Isn't Racist

Posted by on Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 11:35 AM

Sigh:

A restaurant in South Carolina has been criticised for printing and selling T-shirts with the slogan "How to catch an illegal immigrant" accompanied by a cartoon drawing of two tacos placed beneath a box trap.

Taco Cid, in West Columbia, insists the T-shirts are a "witty and comical statement" about undocumented migration in the US, but the Mexican restaurant has been accused of racism.

...Taco Cid responded to criticism this week with a statement on its website. The writer used capital letters for emphasis.

"Our T-shirts were created as a witty and comical statement regarding ILLEGAL immigrants," the statement said. "There are NO racial nor hate remarks towards any specific ethnic group."

Dear Taco Cid,

Make your shirts, wear your shirts, sell your shirts—I say good on you for being brave enough to advertise your bigotry. It's offensive, sure, but it makes you easy to avoid.

However, please don't try and pretend that joking about trapping Mexicans with your delicious tacos, Looney Toons style, is anything other than a play on tired, racist stereotypes. You're smart enough to know that, right? Because if you're not smart enough to realize the inherent racism in trapping Mexicans with tacos, then I have to assume it's because generations of hillbilly inbreeding have rendered you incapable of little more than fucking your sister-cousin, stuffin' delicious tacos, and using them to set up elaborate traps, Looney Toons style, to catch Mexicans on the weekends.

And that would be a shame.

 

Comments (27) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
TVDinner 1
I thought tacos were gringo traps ingeniously designed by Mexicans to lull bigots into post-prandial stupors. But that's me.
Posted by TVDinner http:// on January 8, 2013 at 11:42 AM
Karlheinz Arschbomber 2
On the scale of stoopid that happens in SC, or Jeebusland overall, this is nothing.
Posted by Karlheinz Arschbomber http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arschbombe on January 8, 2013 at 11:43 AM
biffp 3
Did you send that letter to the restaurant or local paper or are you just demonstrating your PC chops for the choir in Seattle?
Posted by biffp on January 8, 2013 at 11:47 AM
4
Good thing Taco Cid let everyone know how witty his played-out nonsense is, otherwise I don't think anyone would have noticed.
Posted by die Giesthander on January 8, 2013 at 11:48 AM
Fnarf 5
You're not going to trap too many Mexicans with those nasty hard-shell tacos.
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on January 8, 2013 at 11:50 AM
Kinison 6
Does the stranger get most of its stories from Gawker and Reddit? I read about this 2 days ago.
Posted by Kinison http://www.holgatehawks.com on January 8, 2013 at 11:51 AM
sperifera 7
I'm not sure that they're smart enough to know that it is racism, after all their PR states that they are closed on Sundays, since that is a day of worship... Christian bigotry all wrapped up pretty with bows is still racism.
Posted by sperifera on January 8, 2013 at 11:53 AM
lostboy 8
Cienna, I assume you meant either "capable of little more than" or "incapable of much more than."
Posted by lostboy http://plus.google.com/104883658551712008719 on January 8, 2013 at 12:18 PM
9
Have you seen that photo of the hipster trap?
Bear trap with neon sunglasses, a can of PBR and a Holga camera. Is that a harmless joke or not allowed either?
Posted by Don Johnson on January 8, 2013 at 12:23 PM
bleedingheartlibertarian 10
I just spent a couple of weeks in Mexico, and I have to say...they really do eat an awful lot of tacos down there.

Or at least I did.

Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian on January 8, 2013 at 12:23 PM
Rotten666 11
There is an Italian joint in Costa Mesa called the Spaghetti Bender. This made me laugh, cause I'm pretty sure Taco Bender has become an offensive term for Mexicans.
Posted by Rotten666 on January 8, 2013 at 12:24 PM
12
But if they made a t-shirt where they replaced the tacos with poutine I would buy it because then it WOULD be a "witty and comical statement regarding illegal immigrants".
Posted by sisyphusgal on January 8, 2013 at 12:30 PM
13
They DO eat a lot of tacos in Mexico. But none of the tacos look like that. Some of my friends in Mexico even thought it was funny, because those are clearly not real tacos.
Posted by redemma on January 8, 2013 at 12:31 PM
Pick1 14
@6 Oh wow, you're so cutting edge!

2 days for a news cycle on a non-major story? They might as well not report it at all!

The quote in the story about not buying their tacos, not because of the racism, but because they make shitty tacos was great.
Posted by Pick1 on January 8, 2013 at 1:04 PM
Knat 15
@11: Considering Cartman throws the term at Caesar Milan as an invective in the "Tsst" episode of South Park, I think that's a safe assumption.
Posted by Knat on January 8, 2013 at 1:12 PM
TheMisanthrope 16
Of all the actual racism there is in the world to get pissed over, people are getting pissed over this?

For shame.

Fucking white people.

/This Mexican thought it was mildly funny. An old joke, but funny.
//Used to go tweaker fishing with light sticks on rods.
Posted by TheMisanthrope on January 8, 2013 at 1:35 PM
COMTE 17
As an equally witty reposte, I propose creating a t-shirt with text to read "How To Catch A Taco Cid Customer", and replacing the two tacos with images of one of the following:

Twinkies
Lotto Tickets
Cans of Coors Light
Swanson "Hungry Man" TV Dinners
Pit Bulls
Honey Boo Boo
Confederate Flags
Blocked up 1978 Chevy Camaros
David Duke
Those big busted sillhouetted chicks one sees on the back of Dodge Ram Trucks

After all, I'm sure the owners of Taco Cid would have no problem seeing any of these as a "witty and comical statement" on their customers and not be upset that they might be fomenting some sort of silly "raciall or hate remarks" towards them, right?
Posted by COMTE http://www.chriscomte.com on January 8, 2013 at 1:39 PM
The Max 18
On behalf of my state and the people of my state, I apologize. I apologize personally for not having done enough to make the owners of this business aware that this sort of misbehavior is not acceptable. I am ashamed that these people think they can operate while displaying this kind of Hate. Please believe me, we're not all like that.
Posted by The Max on January 8, 2013 at 2:15 PM
Dr_Awesome 19
"Tweaker fishing"? Do tell...
Posted by Dr_Awesome on January 8, 2013 at 2:20 PM
Will in Seattle 20
I agree with @13. What you whites think is Mexican food is anything but.

More like feast food without the crunchy goodness that is usually there.

(not saying I'm Hispanic, but a lot of my relatives are, and I spend holidays with them)
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on January 8, 2013 at 2:39 PM
prompt 21
@20 What do you mean "you whites"?
Posted by prompt on January 8, 2013 at 3:45 PM
bleedingheartlibertarian 22
Wait, are we saying hard-shelled "tacos" makes it racist, but if they had instead (say) a nice pastor with the pineapple, onion, and cilantro on a small, hand-made corn tortilla, it wouldn't be?

I'm so confused.
Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian on January 8, 2013 at 3:49 PM
dirac 23
No stereotypes implied here at all: "I have to assume it's because generations of hillbilly inbreeding have rendered you incapable of little more than fucking your sister-cousin..."
Posted by dirac on January 8, 2013 at 3:56 PM
TVDinner 24
@17: Did I hear my name?
Posted by TVDinner http:// on January 8, 2013 at 4:10 PM
25
Props to 8, 16 and 23. I totally share the thoughts you express... and they seen missed by most..
Posted by SamWayneSmith on January 8, 2013 at 4:14 PM
TheMisanthrope 26
@23 [That'sTheJoke.jpg]
Posted by TheMisanthrope on January 8, 2013 at 4:16 PM
27
Mexican is not a race.
Posted by casusbelli on January 8, 2013 at 4:57 PM

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