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June 29, 2005 by Phil Barron · · · Post a comment ⋅

Stereotypes from our neighbor to the south

Mexico’s goodwill ambassador?

Looks like Mexican President Vicente Fox has yet another reason to apologize to African Americans:

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.

Mexican officials may deny the offensive nature of the character, but others see it plainly enough. A 1996 report on poverty alleviation in Latin American countries, issued by the Inter-American Development Bank, singled out the racist cartoon in its overview of social attitudes in the region (emphasis mine):

Racism appears to be increasing as Blacks assert their identity. Several entertainment and eating establishments ban Blacks. One Peruvian hotel stated publicly that Blacks smelled bad and that their odor meant added costs in cleaning up. Newspaper advertisements in Peru place jobs openings specifically requesting Blacks as cooks and chauffeurs. In most Latin American countries, newspapers run cartoons with Blacks as primitive cannibals. A popular comic book found in Latin America features Memin Pinguin, a little Black Mexican boy who closely resembles a monkey. The authors believe Memin Pinguin to be among the most offensive publications anywhere.

Considering President Fox’s recent verbal gaffe, you’d think the Mexican government would be more sensitive, or less clueless, or some combination of the two. Not likely, however, if this is representative of the thinking behind the postage stamp:

Publisher [of Memin Pinguin] Manelick De la Parra told the government news agency Notimex that the character would be sort of a goodwill ambassador on Mexican letters and postcards. “It seems nice if Memin can travel all over the world, spreading good news,” de la Parra said, calling him “so charming, so affectionate, so wonderful, generous and friendly.”

Memin will definitely spread something, but it won’t be good will.

In a situation like this, where two cultures maintain divergent viewpoints, sometimes a correlative argument can make things clear. Maybe it’s a good time for Frito-Lay to dust off this former corporate mascot:

One stereotype deserves another

Yeah. That might get the point across.

UPDATE (06.30): When an issue brings Jesse Jackson and the Bush White House to common ground, you know it’s real.

Filed Under: Blogged
Tagged: Mexico, Race

Comments

991CommentsAye%2C+yii%2C+yii%2C+yiiii2005-06-29+21%3A37%3A48Phil+Barron to “Aye, yii, yii, yiiii”

alice on June 30th, 2005 12:28 am

oh that’s hysterical. the frito-lay bandit. a man who used to read the comic book and enjoy it posted to my site, questioning the racism of the illustrations. perhaps i should direct him here :o) http://blogalice.com/mexico
Waveflux on June 30th, 2005 9:30 am

I saw the cover images of back issues you have posted on your site. Seeing the character in a larger context - that is, with non-black people who aren’t drawn as grotesque caricatures - is even more alarming than the stamps.
Frankie on June 30th, 2005 11:33 pm

While reading the news today about Memin Pinguin in Mexican stamps, I was reminded on how difficult is to form an opinion when you have no information on the subject.
Come on you guys, the truth is, you never red the comic, you don’t know anything about it, and if the stamps didn’t exist, you would probably don’t know about the character.
When I was little, I really enjoyed reading the adventures of a very friendly, smart, funny, and very loving character named Memin Pinguin. He loved his mother very much, and was not ashamed to show it. Is funny, because when I was little, I never thought of his color, I thought of his adventures. And I don’t think it is an insult to the black community, but the opposite.
I am concern that Mexico is being treated in this site as a racist country. That country receives a great number of immigrants from all around the world every year, you will never be ask the question -What’s your race? Your ethnicity?- That question doesn’t exist in any document and nobody ever will ask you that.
Memin Pinguin has been having fun since 1954,
Was the black community in the States having fun at that time?
Carla on July 1st, 2005 1:48 pm

Too me this is blatantly racist even outside of the context of race relations in the USA. The character is specifically mocked because of his large lips and dark skin. How can that be construed as anything other than a negative commentary on the appearance of black people? To say that Mexico doesn’t have a race problem is ridiculous. All one has to observe is the mistreatment of Mexico’s black or indigenous communities. In the way of anecdotes, my sister spent the summer in Mexico last year. I cannot begin to tell you how many people openly stared at her and didn’t look away, because of her race. How the kids in the program she worked for referred to her ( not affectionately) as La Negra Fea……..
CBKiteflyer on July 1st, 2005 4:39 pm

To Frankie:

So you think that asking people to identify their race, either orally or in a document, is a sign of racism?? Nonsense! Racism is so endemic and pervasive in Mexico that people don’t even bother to acknowledge it. You don’t have to ask a person’s race because Mexicans, like most people in Latin America, are extremely aware of even the slightest differences in skin color. Mexico likes to pretend that it is all one race of Mestizos and therefore racism cannot exist. In fact most Mexicans don’t even acknowledge that there are any black Mexicans. I urge you to read about the blacks in Costa Chica, and the terrible existence they have led for generations. I agree with Waveflux: even more offensive than the stamp are the comic books in which normal looking whites appear side by side with grotesque monkey-like blacks. –A Proud Mexican, who is not willing to be blind to a problem everybody knows exists.
Frankie on July 1st, 2005 5:35 pm

Memin Pinguin is a cartoon, that’s why he is shown like that in the comic. I am really dissapointed to hear from a Proud Mexican, that Mexico has a real problem with racism. I don’t have any more comments on the subject, perhaps telling you that what CBKiteflyer is referring to about la Costa Chica, is not a problem with race, but a problem with poverty, and that’s a different subject, a real subject that President Fox should be discussing instead of this.
I am a Proud Mexican, a Guerrerense I must say, from Chacagua.
tovanche on July 1st, 2005 7:03 pm

The U.S. is the most racist country in the world. I guess it makes them feel better about themselves to try to find someone more racist.
CBKiteflyer on July 1st, 2005 9:07 pm

To Frankie,

Let me recommend some interesting reading. It may open your eyes a bit:

http://www.fsa.ulaval.ca/personnel/vernag/EH/F/manif/lectures/black_mexicans.htm
buttheadrulesagain2 on July 3rd, 2005 12:24 am

I write this in respect of your brief article about a mexican comic character called Memin Pinguin.

I have read both points of view (against, and in favor of), and must say I don’t agree with you, but understand why you are offended. I guess those “exaggerated” facial features you mention are things American white population (the racist part of them) use to make fun of black people in a racist manner. I guess you think Mexicans have the same customs and way of thinking (social structure, status, etc) than the US, but it isn’t.

First of all, Memin is a cartoon, whose looks where intended to be funny, and as the main character of the strip, he was meant to contrast with the other characters in the exageration of his facial features in a funny (but not offensive way). You may think “yeah, right, how do you know he wasn’t meant to be offensive?”. I can tell that recalling the way he was conceived by Guillermo de la Parra and his wife. He was inspired in a cuban boy (yes, not every black skinned person looks like Beyonce or Will Smith) that happened to have thick lips. If he has wide opened eyes, I tell he has the average cartoon eyes.

Second, it wouldn’t make sense that Guillermo de la Parra’s wife called a character meant to be an offense, like her husband (Memín is a diminutive for Guillermo). Pinguin is how her husband was called when he was a young boy!

Third, it is obvious that you don’t have an idea of the character’s story in the strip. Do you even know who is “El Periquillo Sarniento” the page you linked refered to? Basically, he (Memin) is a poor boy living in a neighborhood in Mexico. There he relates with boys of different situations (with every color of skin you can imagine). Some of his friends are poor, others are medium class or rich. Most of the time he basically does three things: 1. Innocent mischief 2. Help his beloved mother (Who ,by the way, only compares to Aunt Jemina with the handkerchief she uses on the head) 3. Help his friends (all of them) solve their problems with his good hearted nature and intelligence (which he didn’t lacked of).

I won’t say racism doesn’t exist here in Mexico. But I should say that racists are the minority here (most of us are mestizos, this is, with mixed heritage). Heck, I guess most mexicans have arabian, chinese, african, spanish, french, native american blood in different proportions. Here true racism leans on wealth status, and is a big problem, but race isn’t a matter of hate or discrimination. And for CBKiteflyer, I guess you are right about discrimination against native mexican descendants, but I guess it’s more based on poverty. Here we have a lot of people with accentuated native mexican facial features and no one bothers them (but the racist minority I talked about earlier). Here we don’t have race “ghettos”, white communities, chinese communities, black communities, etc (exception are native mexican descendants, but it is because of historical and self decition reasons). Theses things we know only through your movies and TV series. We can’t help but laugh at many of your sitcoms “adressed” to the black community (Sister-Sister, Kenan and Kel, and a bunch more). We always ask “why is only black people in the surroundings?”. Here in Mexico, you can find skin diversity in a single four member family (like mine). So you can’t compare our ways of thinking with the ones in your country.

Onto the stamps: let me think what the hell can be offensive with these particular drawings: Memin doing a honorable job as newspaper boy? Memin holding his school notebook under his arm? Memin dressing elegant (oh, my mistake, for sure he was depicted as a PIMP)?

The last nail in the coffin for your opinion should be this: In the caribbean, where most people have black skin, Memin was a read must for children, and governments from these countries praised the comic book. No one besides the US has thought Memin was racist. Remember that black people aren’t exclusive to the US!

PS: the link is you posted CB, doesn’t work. And remember “cada quien habla como le fue en la feria”. Nor I can say racism is inexistant in Mexico, nor you can say that negative experiences of some black people in Mexico is a good sample of the mean sitation. But it’s clear racism isn’t the same way and intensity like in the US.
Andy2005 on July 8th, 2005 12:39 pm

Memin Pinguin is not racial. Did anybody think that Fat Albert was racial??? This was an oversized African American, whom by the way carried similar characteristics as Memin Pinguin, they both had a noble heart and tried to help others. People are blowing this way out of proportion. The only ones that see a racial stamp are those who are obsessed with everything being racial. Memin Pinguin isn’t even based an African Americans, it’s a carribean boy. Don’t be offended it has nothing to do with the great and mighty USA.

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