Moments of Racial Discrimination in My Mostly-White Arizona Town
I grew up in Pewter, Arizona, population 4,500. Located in Northern Arizona, its a place built upon cowboy ethics. Its a place where people like to discriminate against others who dont look like them. However, its tough to discriminate against other races if there are none. There were a few Native Americans, but they lived outside of town- in a place we liked to call Magic Casino Land. They rode into town on happy clouds of marijuana smoke and sold us drugs, so we couldnt discriminate against them. So, we did the best with what we had while growing up.
Wig-rish Freddy Munoz was a Filipino kleptomaniac who spoke quickly and in a high nasal voice. When his family moved to town we didnt know where the Philippines were. So, we called him Beaner and tortured him as if he were Mexican: stuffing burritos in his locker, throwing Taco Bell hot sauce packets at him, asking if he parents drove with a mattress on their car roff, you know, the usual. However, Freddy was crafty and became popular by giving them things he stole: gum, baseball cards, cafeteria corn dogs, dry erase markers that were sniffed for a buzz. Once again, there was no discrimination in town.
Until the fateful day when all of the white kids who wanted to be black decided to be Irish. House of Pain hit the charts hard with Jump Around. Being Irish became as dangerous as being Black. Kids traded in their Raiders parkas for Celtic jerseys. They learned Notre Dame is a university in Indiana. There were requests for corned beef and cabbage in the cafeteria.
Freddy tried to move with the change and turn his Filipino eyes Irish. He even stole a shirt from a novelty shop that read, Fuck Me Im Irish. He wore it under another shirt at school and showed other students when teachers werent around. It was a bold attempt, but it didnt sit well. He became Wig-rish, which somehow stood for Wannabe-Nigger-Irish. Discrimination was back on . . . until his family moved back to the Phillipines a year later.
Juan Wong There stood only one ethnic food restaurant, Pedro Wongs. They served Mexican and Chinese food. Not until I was much older did I learn that pork fried rice is not meant to accompany a burrito on a plate. I thought that the fortune cookie was an odd variation of the taco. Pedro Wongs wasnt just a clever name to describe the mixed cuisines either. Pedro Wong was the owner and he was half Mexican and half Chinese. He had twin sons named Jorge Wong and Juan Wong.
Perhaps What Drunken Juan Looks Like Now
Pedro should have thought those names out a little better, because while Jorge was relatively well liked, Juan was teased brutally. We called him the Wrong Wong. Every once in awhile he would snap and charge kids, swinging his fists so wildly it would throw him off balance and he would fall. Then we taunted, Wrong Way Wong.
After Juan graduated high school, he decided to capitalize on his fathers success in the restaurant industry and open his own. He called it Juans and he sold only Mexican food. This outraged customers. I heard one man say, Itll be a cold day in hell before I let a Chink cook my Mexican food. Even though that same man would most likely eat a #5 special at Pedro Wongs which was 2 tacos, an egg roll, beans, and a fortune cookie.
Juans Restaurant was a failure and Juan became a drunk about town, often heard drunkenly slurring, Im the Wrong Wong.
Scottish Haters The farthest stretch of racial intolerance was against another white person. Bobby Grady loved telling people he was Scottish. He wasnt born in Scotland, nor were his parents, or their parents, or theirs, and so on. However, he was sure that he was 100% Scottish and proud of it.
Not Bobby, but the thought is there
When Braveheart opened, he went overboard. He began speaking in a Scottish accent and cursing the English occupation. He grew his hair long and started purchasing replicas of medieval weaponry. He didnt just want to be Scottish, he wanted to be William Wallace.
Heres a term you never hear a teacher yell across the parking lot: Bobby! Bobby! Stop swinging that sword. I mean it! Put it back in your car right this minute. However, I heard it many times.
We ignored him until the day Bobby made the mistake of wearing a kilt to school. Now, William Wallace was stabbed, imprisoned, drawn and quartered, hung, castrated, disemboweled, and then his bowls were burned in front of him. Yet, he never forsook his Scottish heritage. All it took for Bobby was one redneck beating behind the wood shop for being a faggot in a skirt to make him forget his Scottish pride completely. He was known after that as Queer Heart forever more.
Eugene Posted: 11/12/2006by: KillTV Right on target,Eugene!!!! You condescending fuckwad Posted: 11/11/2006by: AV Out of morbid curiosity I decided to check the comments on articles on here for the first time today, and I have come to the following conclusion:
You, Eugene, are a condescending fuckwad. GRADING articles? Who the fuck are you? And don't bother responding (though I'm sure you will anyhow, as you're hitting "Refresh" on this webpage every 20 seconds) because if I do read it, it won't be for quite a while. ahhhhhhhhh Posted: 11/9/2006by: Jamie now that spelled relief.
Thank you. I actually cracked a smile. My homepage Posted: 11/9/2006by: Oscar Thank you! My homepage | Please visit Well Posted: 11/8/2006by: Milton damnit I have to agree with Eugene. I agree 100% with that.
I had a black guy tell me that there is no such thing as a racist black person because racisim only counts when its a white against a black.
Good article. We had a few of those guys growing up as well. well... Posted: 11/8/2006by: antony i don't really care about politics in america. i don't believe in democracy, so it's hard for me to care about who is in power here. the only thing that remotely interest me about these elections is debate over illegal immigration, and for the most part, i like the democratic parties stance on this issue the most. personally, i think we should open the border with Mexico and close the border with canada. canadians are filthy, trite and wholly distasteful creatures, they're even worse than the urban black population. So, antony! Posted: 11/8/2006by: Chris Matthews What's your take on these elections returns!
Quick, before I go to Bellafonte for his crazy comment...! ooooo... Posted: 11/8/2006by: antony witty. antony Posted: 11/8/2006by: C. Nickson So....
essentially you are saying that your team got beat by a team playing a failed abortion at QB?
Seems about right... *sp Posted: 11/8/2006by: antony -elasticity...BAH
