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Tuesday, 30 January 2007 14:33 |
| John North
Editor & Publisher |
"This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico. Quit catering to the damn illegal Mexicans."
ÇƒÓ Among the complaints by U.S. citizens cited
by The Associated Press in the Pizza Patron flap
ï
I was disappointed to learn about the recent controversy that erupted over Dallas-based pizza chain Pizza Patronës decision to accept pesos ÇƒÓ the Mexican currency ÇƒÓ in its 59 stores located in the Southwest.
To
my dismay, it seems that xenophobia afflicts numerous U.S. citizens in
that region, who have reacted with fear and anger at this perceived
intrusion into the land of the almighty dollar. In the aftermath of
Pizza Patronës announcement on its peso policy, thousands of angry
e-mails reportedly were sent to the company, including an undisclosed
number of death threats.
Some U.S.
citizens have long complained about the waves of impoverished illegal
Mexican immigrants arriving in this country ÇƒÓ and the resulting costs
and problems. Others have expressed fear over the growing use of
Spanish in an area where English has held sway so long. To them, I can
only suppose, Pizza Patronës acceptance of pesos for pizzas signified
yet another threat to national sovereignty.
As for its
decision to accept pesos, the chain, which has stores in Texas,
Colorado, Arizona, California and Nevada, says it was motivated by a
desire to better serve its clientele, which is 60 percent Hispanic.
Pizza Patron officials said their research showed that many of their
customers are traveling to and from Mexico and, therefore, often are
left with pesos that are not accepted by many U.S. companies.
It seems to me
that the company is merely offering a convenience to its customers ǃÓ
and tapping into our nationës capitalistic business ethic by joining
with the many other companies that are gearing their marketing toward
the $800 billion spent annually by Hispanics in the U.S.
I especially was
interested in remarks made recently by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos
Gutierrez, who said that a free-trade zone across the Americas is a
future vision he holds, but that it will not happen anytime soon.
He labelled as
untrue talk he has heard about plans for a common currency in the
Americas, along the lines of the Euro in the European Union. With a
laugh, the new currency is rumored to be called the Amero, Guiterrez
added.
To that end, the
commerce secretary noted that there seems to be a significant number of
people who are confused by the Security and Properity Partnership of
North America ÇƒÓ a program aimed at improving the North American Free
Trade Agreement ÇƒÓ fearing that it is the beginning of an EU-type
alliance for the region including the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Guitierrez said the rumors and concerns over the pizzas-for-pesos flap appear to be largely spurred by xeonophia.
To me, whatës
alarming here is the underlying fear by certain U.S. citizens of a
cultural invasion by people who they appear to regard as inferior and
who historically have catered to them. As much as I love my country, I
donët think we hold the sole franchise on talent and intelligence.
Moreover, there
also seems to be an assumption that many of the people with pesos are
here illegally. Based on his own research, this "peso profiling" is
unfair, according to Ruben Navarrette Jr., a columnist and editorial
board member of The San Diego Union Tribune.
The panic over
the pesos-for-pizzas issue by Americans strikes me as sheer folly,
especially at this late hour, given the already-huge Hispanic
population in the U.S.
Speaking
pragmatically, the planet is shrinking and, rather than espousing
anger, fear and isolationism, I think U.S. citizens would be much more
likely to assure themselves of continued happiness and prosperity by
embracing this opportunity to learn about ¨? ÇƒÓ and accept ÇƒÓ others, with
their different languages, currencies and cultures.
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